Home : Wayne's Blog (Wayne Bulpitt - UK Chief Commissioner) : Inclusivity comes in many shapes
Inclusivity comes in many shapes
A day at Gilwell and a visit to Belfast for the latest of our 'UK meetings' provided plenty of opportunity to catch up on various projects, meet with our PR company, and to catch up with the Chief Commissioners of Scotland, NI and Wales. I also joined the latest staff induction course at Gilwell to try to explain the volunteer structure within Scouting.
Being inclusive isn’t just about the obvious minority groups
Being truly open to all is very important to me, so I was pleased to see that this month’s Scouting Magazine showcases a new resource we have produced to support leaders in helping young people with speech and language difficulties (over 10% and higher in more deprived areas).
Our launch also coincides with Hello, a campaign for the national year of communication to increase understanding of how important it is for children and young people to develop good communication skills. Many thanks to Matt Todd and members of the adult support team who have produced the support material.
Please use it to ensure that Scouting really is helping to develop young people, who will benefit so greatly from what we offer
Our rules are there to protect young people and us – they must be followed
One of my less pleasant tasks this week has been to review an interim report of our investigations following the very sad death of a young member. Our rules are put in place for very good reason and must be followed at all times.
In particular there is no option to disregard a rule because parents will be present, and no parent can authorise the contravention of a POR rule, even where the parents of all the young people taking part in a Scout activity are present. Please ensure there are no exceptions.
Comments
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By John Beaton
on 06/12/2011 16:39 Wayne
This is a great resource...thanks to the Programme team as I think it will help many leaders understand what at times can be a difficult task of including a young person who maybe finds it difficult to communicate. Does the UK Scout Association have any resources on the way to help us as leaders teach the Young People about someone else's disability/disadvantage or is it all on POL...?
YIS
JOHN
Dear John,
Thank you for your positive feedback on the 'Scouting Speaks to all' resource. The Scout Association is committed to including young people with special needs in mainstream Scouting where possible. In the vast majority of cases, local leaders working together with the young people and their parents, supported by the written resources, are able to identify and provide the support necessary to enable young people to engage in Scouting. These resources can be found on scouts.org.uk under the 'Scouting for all' section of Member resources.
We also offer activity ideas promoting understanding around different disabilities, which can be found on Programmes Online - keywords: 'disability awareness'.
Additionally, within the Adult Training Scheme there is Module 7 - Valuing Diversity, that should be completed by all appointments, as well as Module 36 - special needs, which can be done as part of ongoing learning or special interest.
Paulina Sekrecka, Programme and Development Adviser (Diversity and Inclusion)
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By Sam Gibbs
on 08/12/2011 21:27 Hi Wayne,
This resource is great. I'm really pleased to see the information about Autism in there as often these children come across as having excellent language, but find it so difficult to express themselves, especially when they are angry or upset.
This resource will be really helpful to many Leaders in gaining a basic understanding of speech and language difficulties.
Well done to the team who put this together.
Sam
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By Matt Todd
on 12/12/2011 22:13 Hi John and Sam
Thanks for your kind words.
Matt (author of resource)
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By robin corti
on 19/12/2011 16:27 Wayne, How refreshing it is to see someone reinforcing the need to adhere to the rules at all times as they are there for a purpose.It does cause me some considerable concern to see some people opting out without regard to the consequences.
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