Scouts thriving in SEND schools in the Isle of Man
In 2021, Guy Thompson began his long-held ambition to offer Scouts to young people with complex and/or additional needs on the Isle of Man.
As Island Commissioner, he was keen to promote diversity. Now, there are six ‘Rainbow’ Scout groups in the Island’s SEND schools, which are specifically for young people with additional needs.
In recent years, Guy's built a programme allowing young people with additional needs to participate in mainstream activities. They’ve able to offer kayaking, archery, grass sledging, and bushcraft.
We spoke to Guy to find out more.
Hi Guy, can you tell us about yourself?
Of course, I’ve been the Island Commissioner for Scouts in the Isle of Man for the past 10 years. I run our Scout groups for young people with complex and/or additional needs. I’m also an assessor in mountaineering and rock climbing.
I’ve been involved in Scouts for almost two decades. Recently, I’m proud to have been made an MBE in the New Year Honours List for 2024 for Outstanding Services to The Scout Association on the Isle of Man.
Can you tell us about the groups you run?
When I first started as Island Commissioner, I was keen on Scouts being more inclusive, so I wanted to bring Scouts to young people with additional needs.
We know some young people with additional needs can be in mainstream Scout groups, but it can be harder, especially for those who may need 1:1 support. We looked at working with SEND schools where teachers have specialised knowledge and can support with the care aspect.
We’ve now got six additional needs groups, with three in schools, one in a university, a small Explorer group, and a group who meet outside of school. Each of our groups has about 12 young people in them, with varying abilities. However, we’ve found the young people are all able to adapt and overcome problems themselves.
We’re known as ‘Rainbow’ Scout groups as our uniform is blue or purple tops and neckers with all colours of the rainbow. Our funding comes from generous local benefactors, and they’ve been very supportive so far.
Can you tell us how you adapted your Scout venue?
We’ve our own Scout venue and campsite that they come to. I designed the Scout venue and campsite 10 years ago and we made sure it was inclusive then. We took out steps, installed ramps, added disabled toilets and so on.
Our climbing wall’s specially designed for anyone to be able to use it too. Instead of being a vertical climbing wall, it’s sloped, which makes it less daunting and more accessible to those with additional needs.
The climbing wall is currently being revamped, with thanks to a kind grant of £50,000 from trusts, benefactors and charities on the island. We went to Liverpool to do some training in adaptive climbing around five years ago and since then we’ve used the wall lots, but it’s just for Scouts and Guides.
What’s the reaction been to the climbing wall?
The wall’s been a great success. Our young people enjoy climbing, and their parents and carers also couldn’t believe what they’d been missing out on. One dad was surprised, as his child had never been able to go climbing before. When climbing, we can put extra holds in to help people get their foot on. I can also self-belay all the way to the top to climb alongside people and help them.
What else do you do in this group?
We light fires and try gardening. We go on walks to the top of hills, find sheltered spots and cook survival meals. We’re planting potatoes soon, so we’ll dig those up in July and cook them. We’ve recently done an aviation badge, where we visited a local aircraft museum and the airport fire station. We made paper aeroplanes too. In June, we’ve got our annual sports day coming up for two of the groups. There’ll be a tug of war, soft archery, egg and spoon race, and a sack race.
How has it been making adaptations and how do you make sure to keep everyone involved?
It’s been easy. We just take our time and never split up. Whatever we do, do as fast as the slowest. If we go on a walk, we walk at their pace and if anyone’s faster, then we stop and look at trees until we’re back together.
We try and follow our young people’s interests. Some like certain activities, while others don’t, so we just go with the flow. When we do fire lighting, we use flints and steel. Some love it and use cotton wool to practice on. Others aren’t so sure, so we taught them to chop wood safely with a bushcraft knife instead.
We’ve had seven young people do their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) with us. We know it’s not for everyone, but we get the whole group involved in the activities and adapt to the requirements as needed. For example, everyone came on the expedition.
We know it’s possible for young people with additional needs to do D of E, so we’re proud and happy to support it. Not everyone wanted to camp, so they camped in their gardens instead, which’s still challenging as it involves the same skills to put up tents and so on.
Why did you choose to run in schools?
Scouts offer opportunities these young people wouldn’t get to do otherwise. We brought Scouts to schools, as we learned from parents and carers that once these young people are home, it’s harder to get them to go out again in the evening to something like Scouts.
Our young people do Scouts for half a day during school hours normally. We provide them with diaries, so when they go back to class, they can write down what they did in Scouts. We used to have purple diaries, but Scout Store ran out of stock. They only had the Pride ones left in stock, which were perfect as they matched our Neckers!
How have you found the support from adults and volunteers?
It’s been great. Some teachers become leaders and some parents and carers are occasional helpers too. We get them to do a DBS and some safety training, safeguarding and first aid. The teachers really look forward to it too, as it’s so different to what they usually do. They also offer support with behaviour management, so we can focus on running activities.
We really get to know them, and they know you, so now the bus arrives, and they all come over quickly in a hurry of excitement. We’ve found young people have coped well, and sometimes it’s the adult volunteers who are more shy, reserved or unsure of what’s possible.
Have you had any experience working with young people with additional needs before this?
I had no experience before this, but I was keen to have more inclusion and diversity on the island. We know the Isle of Man generally has more people from white, middle-class backgrounds and there’s no inner-city areas, so we’d struggle to get more inclusion and diversity that way. I decided to focus on disability inclusion and making Scouts open to all in that sense.