Wood Badge Project
This website is the Wood Badge Project for Steven Cornish, 1st Plenty Venturers.
Once a leader has completed the Advanced Sectional Techniques course, Wood Badge Project and had their Leader Assessment, they are presented with their Woodbeads.
What are the Woodbeads?
In 1887, Sir Robert Baden-Powell (B-P) was posted to Cape Town, South Africa. Shortly after his arrival trouble broke out with the Zulu warriors, led by their chief Dinizulu. On special occasions, Dinizulu wore a necklace some 2.5 - 3 metres in length consisting of over a thousand beads, ranging in size from tiny emblems to others four inches in length. It was considered sacred by the warriors and there was a belief that if it was ever captured all resistance by the natives would cease. Before long B-P did capture Dinizulu and the necklace, which he took home to England later as a souvenir.
In 1919 at the conclusion of the first Scouters' training course at Gilwell, B-P wondered what to give the Scouters to signify passing the course. He found the necklace and presented two beads from it to each, instructing them to go out and buy a leather bootlace, tie a bead at each end and hang it round his neck.
Once the original beads ran out, replicas were made at Gilwell and have been ever since.
For more information about Scout Leader Training & the symbols of Adults in Scouting, see the Leader of Youth & Training Symbols page on the Victorian Branch website, Leader Training section.
My experience & thoughts on Leader Training
Is Leader Training worth the Effort? YES absolutely!
The Venturer Advanced Sectional Techniques course (previously known as Stage 4 course) that I attended was held over 4 weekends in September & October 2002 in an 8 week period. This is quite a commitment, a full weekend away every two weeks. The first two weekends were at Gilwell, the 3rd weekend various locations and the final weekend back at Gilwell.
The course builds on what Leaders learn in the Basic course. Topics & sessions covered included: Leadership, Queen's Scout Award Scheme, Dealing with Teenagers, Programming Ideas, Managing the Unit, Promotion & Retention, and much more.
The third weekend of the course was an action packed Activities weekend, which was designed to expose Leaders to activities they might not have done before, and give them ideas about where they could take their units in the future.
On Friday night we met at the Branch HQ around 8.30pm then went to Snowgum for a gear demonstration. After that we went to Albert Park to stay in the 1st Victorian Sea Scouts hall on Albert Park Lake.
On Saturday we rose early was we were going to Government House for the Queen's Scout Award Presentation. This was excellent to see, as it is strictly by invite only. Each Venturer being presented their QSA was allowed 3 guests, which is usually their parents and their Venturer Leader. I am always very impressed by the amount of work & the variety of tasks the Venturers complete to get their QSA.
Next we were off to the Chinese Jos House in Sth Melbourne to see a temple from another religion, which was very interesting. After that a BBQ lunch at one of the Training Course Leader's Scout Hall. After that we went to play Mini Golf at the nearby course. Late Saturday afternoon we went to Eumeralla Scout Camp at Angelsea where we had a tour of Boss Hurst's house, after we had setup our gear for the night.
Saturday night we had a 'International' theme night where all course members were required to dress up according to the theme. We cooked a 5 course dinner, with each course being from a different country.
Sunday we went horse riding in Angelsea in the morning, then headed back towards Melbourne after lunch. We stopped off at the Waterslide in Geelong for a slide, spa & swim. We were going to go do an introduction SCUBA dive, but the instructor was unavailable at the last minute, unfortunately. Finally back to Branch HQ late in the afternoon.
Other activities during the 4 weekend course included: lots of team building games, building a self-supporting flag pole, a Scouts Own, some service to Gilwell, a Cub campfire, a 10 minute skit, a first aid 'accident' response, finishing up with a dinner in the Gilwell Lodge.
As you can see from the above list, the Venturer Advanced Sectional Techniques training course was packed with training sessions, mixed in with lots of fun activities, learning and teamwork.
I strongly recommend to all Leaders of all sections who have not done the Advanced Course for their section, to do it. It does not matter how long you have been a Leader, you will get lots out of it.
You could consider the Wood Badge as the 'Queen's Scout Award for Venturer Leaders' (or the Aventurer Cord in Scouts, or the Yellow Cord in Cubs). It is a challenge and a commitment which requires planning, enthusiam, participation, trying new things you might not have done before, extending yourself and most importantly learning. These are the qualities you expect from your Venturers (or Scouts or Cubs) for earning the highest award in their section, so why not accept the challenge yourself and do your Wood Badge?
Remember the Venturer motto "Look Wide".
Yours in Scouting
Steven Cornish, 1st Plenty Venturers
