A more engaging learning experience

How can we change the Wood Badge for the better?

We realise that to be a good volunteer there’s no need to have a Wood Badge.

However, we think there should be an opportunity to become an even better volunteer by doing further learning. We want to make the Wood Badge is something that you’ll want to do!

So, if we made the wood badge optional - How would it work?

All adult volunteers, from section leaders, to managers, trustees and everyone in between, would be able to earn a Wood Badge.

If you choose to earn one, you’ll only ever need to do it once. Once you have it, you’re a Wood Badge holder.

If you change roles, you will not have to repeat learning. You may still need to do some specific learning for your new role. We want to make sure the learning you do is always appropriate to what you’re doing and what your interests are.

For all adult volunteers there will be some Core Learning to be completed – you can watch the Core Learning video on our Testing Hub for more details. Keeping your Core Learning up to date will be a requirement to qualify for a Wood Badge – and to be a volunteer with the Scouts. If you wish to do further learning to help you in your role, or to help your team with a specific area of expertise - you can choose the learning that you’d like to do.

Doing further learning can count towards earning your Wood Badge.

There’ll be a whole host of learning to choose from, like:
• Running an event
• Practical skills
• Management styles
• Leadership
• Working with young people
• And much more!

Each piece of learning will be worth a number of points. To earn your Wood Badge you’ll need to complete learning that adds up to a total value of points.

You get to decide what learning you engage with.

So, how will it be organised and tracked?

We’ll have a new online tool that’ll take care of the admin by automatically recording all of your learning.

You’ll also be able to add prior learning that you have achieved within the Scouts or elsewhere – perhaps through work, school or other organisations.

You’ll just need to be able to show that you can apply your learning in a Scouts context.

It really is as easy as that!

What do you think about this vision of an optional Wood Badge? Please tells us your questions and feedback through the form linked below – we want to make sure this works for you!

Making Mandatory Learning Simpler

You told us that you struggled with the amount of mandatory training required to do your volunteer role. So, we’re taking a new approach to your learning.

Instead of completing many large, one-size-fits-all batches of training that don’t feel valuable and relevant to you as an individual, we're breaking our learning down into bite-sized pieces. These pieces can be mixed and matched to suit your needs and background.

A small selection of these pieces will form a programme of Core Learning that will be required by all volunteers, regardless of position. We’ll then offer a range of relevant learning and additional topics to give you the freedom to explore your own ongoing development and build on your core learning.

We’ve reviewed our current training scheme.

We’ve done our research.

And we’ve run workshops to identify four core learning topics.

Safe Scouting

Data Protection

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

And the Essentials of Scouting

Safe Scouting includes safety and safeguarding. You’ll learn what you need to know to keep our young people, and yourselves, safe.

Next, we have Data Protection. You’ll learn the basics of Data Protection. You’ll gain practical skills to protect and respect the personal data you get access to. We want to ensure that we’re trusted, as Scouts, to manage data safely and securely.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is all about making sure everyone feels welcome and included. You’ll learn how to be actively inclusive in practice – how to start challenging unconscious bias; how to encourage and welcome diversity; and how to provide safe, accessible and inclusive spaces for both our Young People and everyone else in the Scouts.

Essentials of Scouting will be our basic introduction to who we are and what we do. You’ll learn how to start putting the Scout Method and approach into practice to give young people skills for life.
With this approach to core learning, we can help new volunteers get going with Scouts quicker. We want to provide a personalised pathway of learning and help you put it into practice.

Over the coming months we’re defining and developing the core learning and we’d like your help.

You’re the heart of this project so please complete the form linked below to give us your feedback or questions about the suggested core learning.

We’ll be testing new content for our core learning with a range of volunteers so watch this space for the chance to participate, or sign up to the volunteer experience group at scouts.org.uk/experiencegroup to get opportunities direct to your inbox.

We asked lots of people across Scouts about our Training Scheme. We were told that it’s much too complicated and that most people don’t feel like it gives them the support they need for their roles. We understand. 

When a new volunteer goes to our website, we meet them with what seems like three simple steps. 

However, those steps lead to overwhelming amounts of information. Volunteers find themselves struggling to understand what they are meant to do and why. 

We tell new volunteers that a Training Advisor will help them, but often we don’t have Training Advisors available. 

In the end, if you, as volunteers, figure out what training to do, you're still told to download your certificates from the e-learning and send to the right person, or to find the right person to validate your training. 

So, we understand, that many of you find that the current Training Scheme has grown to be much too complicated, and that it doesn’t provide the value you're looking for. 

That’s why we’re working hard to review the entire Training Scheme. We don’t want to lose the things that work and have value, but we need to replace the system with something that makes your learning journeys much easier. 

You should feel that learning is valuable and helpful. 

In 2022, we’ll bring you an intuitive and welcoming way to learn. You'll log on and be shown the learning you need to do, the people you need to talk with and the training you need to sign up for. This will be the go to place to find out about your learning journey – don’t worry, we will provide support if you need it!  

No more complicated module matrix, spreadsheets or administrative work – you just log on, and you’ll be supported in finding the right learning at the right time, helping you be the best you can be, in whatever you do with the Scouts. 

When we asked the feedback was clear. Most people find the current Training Scheme complicated and inaccessible. There’s too much reading. There are too many modules that everyone has to do.  

Crucially, most people don’t feel like there is enough real value from doing the training. We need to change that. 

We want you to feel supported and empowered to focus on all the things that make a difference to young people. We want to make the learning accessible to everyone. 

We want you to be able to engage in short bursts of bite sized learning or longer stretches if you have a bit more time available . 

We want to give you the choice to learn on your own or with others. We want to create a space where you’re helped to learn in the way that works best for you. 

We will be reviewing and redeveloping all of our training into bite-sized pieces, that can be mixed and matched to suit your needs. 

We will design each bite of learning with multiple learning styles in mind. We will also make sure you can use accessibility  tools. We want to make sure you can get the most out of your learning! 

We want your learning to feel useful and we will do our best to help you put it into practice. 

When you engage with others in learning – whether in physical or virtual spaces – we want to make those spaces interactive. They should allow you to connect with others, share challenges and best practices and develop a network that can help you. 

We know that it can be tricky to learn new things. But don’t worry, there’ll be guidance to help you make the most of the new learning experience. We will also continue to offer opportunities for in-person and virtual trainer-led learning. 

When we asked, we were told loud and clear that our current training scheme is impersonal. Every volunteer comes to Scouts with their own existing skills and interests, and we should recognise that in their learning journey.  

That’s why we need to change approach. We want to give you a learning journey that adapts to who you are – we want to recognise your strengths, your interests and what you want to get out of your volunteering. We want to help you develop and be the best that you can be. 

We want your learning to actively connect to your practice. If you need to know how to do a risk assessment, tie a reef knot or deal with challenging behaviour from a young person, then you should be able to take out your phone and find it with a quick search. 

When you learn about great programme planning, we want to help you find the great resources available to you. You should be directed to where you find great activities to run in your section, and how to adapt them. 

You should have the chance to connect with others in a similar role to your own to get inspiration – both virtually and in-person. You should be given the tools and resources you need to deliver great programmes. 

This will happen through a digital learning experience, but that doesn’t mean you will be alone doing e-learning. We want to make learning collaborative and social where we can. You told us that learning where you interact with others is the most enjoyable and valuable, but that you need the convenience of being able to engage in your own time. We will try to deliver on that balance! 

In a movement that is all about developing skills for life in young people, ongoing learning is essential for our volunteers. Learning should be an engaging, relevant and enjoyable part of the volunteer journey.  

Learning is a way to connect with other volunteers to share challenges and best practices. Learning is a way to develop new skills and refresh existing ones to create the best possible Scouting experiences for our Young People. 

We'll move away from the heavy focus on validation in the current Training Scheme. We understand that many of our volunteers have felt under pressure rather than supported and enabled, even if that was not the intention. We understand that, to many of you, validation has felt like a bureaucratic tick box exercise. We want to change that. 

We need to create a positive and safe environment for everyone in the scouts, especially our Young People. That is why there will still be a small amount of core learning that everyone needs to do. However, the focus should still be on providing learning that feels relevant, useful and valuable to you! 

On the whole, we want to give you control of your learner journey! You should get to set learning goals that are relevant to you and the team you volunteer with and choose how and when to engage with learning that supports those goals.  

We want you to feel recognised for your learning achievements every step of the way. We want to thank you and celebrate you more along the journey. As part of that, we will also review the Wood Badge, where that fits into the learning journey and how many need to do it. We want to make sure the focus of the Wood Badge is on developing you as a volunteer, person and Scout - as it is meant to be. It should never feel like something you do just because you have to. 

We look forward to inviting a broad range of volunteers into the development and testing of all of our new learning. We want to make sure that what we deliver makes sense to you.