TRAINING FOR LEADERS OLD AND NEW 69 PEOPLE 17 WORKSHOPS 34 GAMES EXHANGED 53½ LIMERICS PENNED
Contents: Ground rules……………………………………..…………p3 Workshop summaries…………………………….……….p4 - 11 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Bored Meetings Facilitation skills Youth Led Actions and Campaigns Promoting Positive Behaviour Mentoring Inclusion Values, History, Democracy Safeguarding
9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Geocaching Comms with Chloë Action Projects Open-ish Space Leading for the Future Delivering Leading for the Future in your District 15. Bushcraft
Games, games, games exchange…………….…………….p12 Feedback The most surprising thing……………………………p13-14 Something I learnt……………………………………p15 Something I will take home (ACTION!)………...……p16-18 Leadership qualities……………………………...……p19 Brilliant! Do again……………………………………p20 Not so good / you missed a bit…………………………p20
Aims and Objectives: leaders keenly discussing something and sitting by the aims for the weekend (see top left!)
We worked together to come up with some…
Talk to EVERYBODY Enthusiasm Participate fully Turn up to sessions on time Listen to everyone! Don’t talk people down Be respectful of everyone’s opinion Create a positive atmosphere Don’t play on your phone in sessions Think about the language you are using Remember who has the keys to your room!
Don’t dominate a workshop – have balance Be aware of other people (especially quiet people) Give people opportunities! If you don’t know, then ask! Get up on time Be considerate of your room mates! Alcohol free space Have fun After cocoa, QUIET Take photos
Key
WORKSHOP SUMMARIES Bored Meetings Playing the string game Learnt what bored meetings were I will introduce the idea to my Venturers
Bored Meetings is a resource created for, by and with young people from across Woodcraft Folk to help groups to think about their roles and the values, knowledge and skills that make us work well together and make change happen. The toolkit is a five-stage journey; the toolkit is focused on making change in your local community or a national and international level. This short workshop was a whistle stop tour of getting to know each other, the community, planning for action, campaigning, and seeing what difference you've made.
Facilitation skills Learning what sort of learners we are I will try to apply the idea when running group nights, adapt for different needs
This session explored what being a facilitator means, the skills needed, learning styles for participants, overcoming challenges and difficult issues and things to remember for running a great session. Participants in this workshop went on to facilitate sessions later in the weekend. The aims were to: 1. 2. 3.
Understand different types of learning styles & consideration in sessions Explore the role of a facilitator – skills knowledge and values Consider all the planning and activities needed for running sessions
Top Tips Remember intro and outro Point out links Allow the participants to find the knowledge Pitch it right Respond to group dynamics Prepare – be organised Know the objective: what’s the point?
Favourite moment Something I learnt What I will go away and do
Youth-led Actions and Campaigns Young people have always been at the forefront of creating change, be it on civil rights, gay equality or climate change. Young people have a vested interest in the future and they are leading campaigns and actions on the issues that matter to them at a local, national and international level. This workshop explored the role of young people in change making, the process of campaigning, the challenges of youth-led campaigning and how to overcome those, aiming to:
Consider the role of young people in national and global campaigns.
consider the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats of youth-led campaigns.
think about the issues affecting young people on a local level and reaching an agreement on these.
Promoting Positive Behaviour Pretended to be pioneers – played games with kid roles Learnt what it’s like to be 10 – 12, the complex stuff going on in your life at that age Will take learnings back when running group nights
This workshop involved a practical exploration of the behaviour we wish to encourage at group night and the strategies group leaders can adopt to support such behaviour. In the session we explored what behaviour we expect of adults and children at group night, gained an increased personal understanding of what ‘pushes your buttons’, and identified suitable strategies for managing the types of behaviour we do not wish to see at group night We came up with some Helpful hints: 1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Remember that a behavior that is noticed increases ‘Thank you for putting your cup in the dishwasher’ in other words ‘Catch the child being good’ Request respectfully, do not order or command Be clear about expectations, write them as a group – Remember the younger members will have expectations too A problem behavior that’s ignored decreases i.e. Ignore the bad behavior Settle for less than perfection. Give them choices, and say ‘You decide’, this shows you respect them and teaches responsibility.
Woodcraft Folk also have a number of partnership links with support agencies e.g. National Deaf Children's Society, National Autistic Society, Downs Syndrome Society, Young MINDS, SENSE
Mentoring Mentor speed dating was great Learnt where boundaries lie in mentoring relationships Talk to others locally about mentoring
Mentors: not necessarily experts in a subject but extremely good listeners and an inspiring source of support. These were some of our thoughts after a double workshop on Woodcraft Folk's mentoring scheme, which is one of the main ways we can empower young leaders in the organisation. We discussed our own experiences of being mentored, the qualities of a good mentor, and what the ground rules might be for an effective mentoring relationship, including expectations, confidentiality and timescale. Our own listening skills were particularly tested in a discussion activity where each speaker had to summarise the points of the previous speaker before being able to make their own point. An interesting idea that came up more than once was that the relationship is a very twoway one, where the mentor can learn from their mentee, and the mentee can give feedback on how the mentor is doing. All in all, very humbling and inspiring!
Reflecting Your Community (‘who do we include?’) Learnt about the principles of inclusivity Will work on making Woodcraft more accessible
In this session the participants first drew up a list of the kinds of things to consider, to make groups reflect our communities. This included things like ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation and social class. We then looked at four case studies in groups, of successful examples of inclusive work both in Woodcraft Folk groups and other organisations. Each group looked at one of the case studies and then fed them back to the whole workshop. We wrote up a list of general principles for inclusion. From these principles people then worked in pairs to do a SWAT analysis (identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) for their own district. From the SWAT analysis people then wrote down some individual actions for them to take to their group.
Values, History, Democracy Everyone being given a piece of Woodcraft history from http://heritage.Woodcraft.org.uk/ and acting it out Learnt all about the aims and principles Will take way being able to communicate clearly what Woodcraft Folk is!
All members – old and new – came to discuss what Woodcraft Folk is all about. Drawn from the newly re-launched ‚Introducing Woodcraft Folk‛ training course, this session provided an opportunity to reflect on what our values are, how we use them to inform the way we work and why the world so sorely needs them.
Safeguarding The importance of communication between leaders and parents
Session aims To clarify what is meant by ‘safeguarding’ and ‘child protection’ To ensure all Woodcraft Folk members are aware of the principles of the Woodcraft Folk Safeguarding Policy To support all Woodcraft Folk members to explore how practice supports safeguarding of children and young people at group nights, on camp and other Woodcraft Folk events To inform all Woodcraft Folk members how they should raise concerns or safeguarding worries To signpost all Woodcraft Folk members to sources of further information, training and support
Geocaching Placing the geocaches Learnt what geocaching is Will do some with my district
The workshops started with a general talk about Geocaching and then looked at the steps of searching for your local geocaches. Once we found the profiles for the local caches we looked at the key information such as location, hint and its log. With this information we split into two groups to head out to find some geocaches in the local area. The caches found were:
Sidetrack – Cheshunt
River Lee: Fallen Giant
Waltham Abbey Scout 1
We also took out with us two new Woodcraft Geocoins, Woodcraft Cheshunt and Woodcraft Leaders Old and New, which have started their adventure. Finally we returned to the room to discuss how this all linked to Hands In this year.
Comms with Chloë Thinking about how to advertise Woodcraft in our communities How to advertise at fetes and schools Teaching what Woodcraft is to those who haven’t heard of it
Summary: We thought briefly about other organisations’ straplines, some of which clearly indicated what the organisation did, and some of which were extremely vague. Then we explored how to promote Woodcraft Folk, including the various descriptions often used, and the materials available to help us promote our groups. People gave lots of different examples of how they promote their group, including local events, area websites and running a bike surgery. An impressive number of them were ways of actively involving the public in activities, rather than just handing out information. Lastly we divided into two groups, one group planning a new idea of creating a road show to take to local schools to engage them in Woodcraft Folk activities, the other discussing ways of using national resources and campaigns etc. to improve promotional activity.
Action Projects Hearing all the other examples of action projects Learning what ‘youth led’ means Apply for an action project!
This workshop looked at TREE’s £500 fund for local groups to run a youth led project in partnership with the local community to have a positive impact. We first looked at the key criteria of an action project that the youth panel use to judge whether to reward the money or not. These are:
Youth Led Positive Impact Community Partnership Thought out and planned
Then members of the groups spoke about their experiences of action projects and top tips were noted down from these. The group then broke up into their local groups to either map their local community to see who they could do a project with or used the top tips and ideas to plan their own Action Project. See: http://Woodcraft.org.uk/action-projects
Open-ish Space This session was an opportunity to talk about things which came up in workshops throughout the weekend; we used a modified version of the open space technique to give space for fringe discussion. Topics discussed included: - 50 things to do before you are 11¾ (National Trust initiative) - The future of badge work in WCF - The future of Venturer committee - What makes a good Leader
Leading for the Future This workshop used the Leading for the Future resource to help participants explore what they thought leadership is and helped them to begin to develop their leadership skills! (Leading for the Future is a resource created with children, young people and adults from across Woodcraft Folk to support local groups to explore and develop their understanding of leadership, learn new skills and grow in confidence as young leaders. It is a set of activities, exploring different aspects of leadership, developing new skills and putting them into practice)
Delivering Leading for the Future in your District In the ‚Delivering Leading for the Future in your district‛ workshop, we first started by talking about why youth leadership was important, both inside Woodcraft and outside. We then talked about what exactly makes up the resource - 12 sessions each an hour long, split up into 4 sections, focussing on the individual, our groups, our communities and the wider world! We then tried short activities from 3 parts of the book - looking at leaders in our lives, the different personalities that we see in all types of groups, and also wider campaigns for social change and how we’ve been involved in some of them! It was a bit of a whistle-stop tour of the resource, but it set a good scene for the group to think about how they were going to use the resource in their own groups.
(k)not to forget‌Bushcraft
GAMES, GAMES, GAMES EXCHANGE Headmaster’s lost his pencil Duck, duck, goose Duck, duck, animal Popcorn Giants wizards and elves Flyer Fox and goose Cat and mouse Foot ninja Ratchet Screwdriver Knee Squeeze I love you honey but I just can’t smile Rats, rabbits and rice Child in traffic The chair swapping game thing Zip, zap boing… BANG Pass the lemon (Gordian) knot game Weevils and pog monsters Penguin game
THE THING WHICH
SURPRISED ME MOST ABOUT THE WEEKEND WAS….
I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would I was surprised by the diversity of the people attending and the enthusiasm
How much cake I can eat Surprised to find myself volunteering to work on badge work and kinsfolk That there was still that much enthusiasm to have that wonderful discussion about badge work A high number of young leaders in safeguarding
How well the mix of age groups worked Nice lodges Who came
The number of actions I took away How nice the YHA food is!
That it doesn’t feel like loads of people as everyone is so friendly! How many different approaches to leadership there are
What surprised me was how many new people I talked to Being calm
How collaborative leadership training is. The wealth of resources for new
That I spelt surprised wrong
leaders and the thinking that goes into
Age spread of participants
leadership development
The thing that really surprised me this weekend is how much support is available from other leaders and how far removed our group had become
How many people are interested in badge work
I enjoyed myself
Jumping on the rafters Lots of late teens and twenty somethings –
great to see Enthusiasm of the group How well organised and well-run it was!
Where people come from
Indoor campfire was great fun
A facilitator doesn’t lead
Approach to the training – not demanding
Number of tangents
How much we managed to fit in! Great planning!
How
engaged
and
interested the DF’s and
members of Woodcraft (young and old) to get as involved as possible and take on leadership
Venturers are
Just
How the virtual campfire was so good and a nice thing to do
amazing
Woodcraft
people are! (I always suspected this, but did not realise to what extent!)
How comfortable I feel to talk in front of people, to facilitate and to present ideas
how
The help available
Pleasantly surprised by the amount
How nice the youth hostel is Everyone sharing their views and helping others e.g. advice
The hostel was really nice
of enthusiasm shown by everybody
The intelligence and maturity of Venturers and DFs as a result of a life in Woodcraft How
vital
it
is
for
ALL
The enthusiasm for a badges revival
How excited I am about sharing new ideas with the district I actually made some new friends
THIS WEEKEND I LEARNT…
Different learning skills I have learnt that badges are actually important to Woodcraft Folk Facilitation skills Facilitation skills How to be a good leader Lots of new groups Facilitation skills That the test work program was not dead as I had thought it to be when all the old badges were given away by folk supply How to better facilitate activities and session groups Safeguarding procedures (How to smoulder )– That being a leader isn’t that hard! I have learnt that the most important thing about safeguarding is communication and good planning. I learnt how to facilitate Better facilitation What skills a good mentor needs The importance of facilitation!
The democracy and principles of Woodcraft and solutions to put into practice About how to incorporate Woodcraft values into group night activities How many awesome, motivated and inspiring young people are active in Woodcraft Folk I have learnt that everybody enjoys their role of leadership New games How many resources are available Facilitation Geocaching To find geocaches A new method for thinking about good discussion There is always so much more to learn All about facilitation Geocaching A new song How to run bushcraft sessions and where to get more info Safeguarding Learn from your mistakes That all groups have the same types of behaviours Geocaching How to do geocaching All about mentoring Facilitation Leading is a group thing! Respect your group and they respect you I learnt by listening to the youth that issues and values are very important to the future of Woodcraft Folk geocaching That, often, being a strict, harsh leader doesn’t get people to obey you so well as respecting them More about mentoring We are NOT alone – there is help out there! How to be a young leader!
ONE ACTION I WILL TAKE AWAY IS… CHLOE: make a
LYNN: Geocaching: looking forward to bringing our community in with Woodcraft and sharing this skill in our local area
national template for Waltham Abbey’s ‘parents info pack’
LILY M: Take Bored Meetings ideas back / use it in my group!
HELEN: I will use the leadership pack to talk through with pioneers
JOSEPHINE: set a geocache
ROSIE: new (possible) Action plan project. Play in Kitale School
KIT: Learn some more bush craft
SEAN: write two articles for The Courier
KIRSTY: send my DFs on lots of training to get them ready to (hopefully) open a woodchip group
ROGER: I will try to be more open to new ideas
JULIE: teach my group new songs and the stories behind them
ROSS: Help Venturers become new leaders
JACK W: I will run an introducing Woodcraft Folk + leadership hybrid in my new district
GHEE: Share the ‘qualities of WCF Leaders’ document
NIC: To get lots of kinsfolk onto the Facebook site
RUTH: Talk to Liz /firefly Elfin group about different ways of promotion
VERITY: Write up the weekend.
LILY B: Get \ involved with running sessions and possibly use Leading for the Future
LIZ: create an engaging programme to encourage young people to take on leadership roles (find the Leading
HANNAH: One action I will take is run a geocaching session or two with the Kingfisher Elfins and pioneers. Also with the Leicester Venturers.
BEN: helping leaders MARIUS: I will facilitate more Help my group think of an action project
Re-introduce badges to Cambridge Elfins, pioneers, Venturers and DF’s!
Better organisation of my group due to support I never knew I had
Duck duck animal!
Follow up Banbury contacts Geocaching and Leading for the future Facilitation skills and catering for others Email Action Projects Get Elfins to talk about disruptive behaviour and set own rules I will teach my Elfin and Venturer groups new games Improve the way I run my Elfin group Release more geocoins Be more confident when leading Explore the National Trust 50 things to do before 11¾ scheme Follow up Declan about Power Better organisation and facilitation skills Try to be more involved in Elfins I will take my Elfins geocaching! (I hope) and do some of the National Trust 50 things to do… Get the Venturers to take leadership of the leading for the future activities. 2. Get our group more actively involved with other groups I will support the leaders more and help out more Geocache with Woodchips. Support the new DF’s taking on leadership roles Drop off a cache Apply for more TREE funding Encourage older group members to get together and do more group work, and apply for the TREE grant Encourage our older group members to get together and to do more group work, apply for the tree grant Elfin games
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY OF A LEADER IS… Having good communication with other people, crucially involving mutual respect Being there to support and facilitate the empowerment and encouragement of young people Understanding issues and using your own and everyone else’s skills to develop to become a young leader
Balance between being respected for the right reason and controlling / directing a group Inspiring my group and empowering them to achieve their goals in line with Woodcraft Folk aims and principles
Making space for young people while still providing a framework for support Helping others gain self-confidence and having opportunities for fun Working with younger children to help them achieve in their life Always wanting the best for the children and young people Being open to input / learning / feedback within the team Being able to relate well to the children you work with Understanding your ‚followers‛ and respecting them Being confident and having a positive attitude Working well with other leaders (old OR new) Encouraging and supporting everyone’s ideas Not DEMANDING respect but EARNING it. Allowing young people to make decisions Being able to create a positive fun session Listening and having fun / enjoying it! Remembering to listen to their peers Valuing all members of the group Being willing to learn and change Commitment or enthusiasm Respect from young people Looking out for each other Understanding / empathy Listening to other leaders Do what you love to do Consideration of others Including everyone Foster inclusivity Understanding Empowerment Inspiring Flexibility Enthusiasm Patience Confidence Creativity Respect Empathy Passion As promised click here for the Leadership Standards document: http://issuu.com/Woodcraftfolk/docs/leadership_standards_final
Not so good/ you missed a bit. o Didn’t do a naming ceremony o Workshop clashes o Would be great to have a song/dance exchange as well as games o Water supply in each room please! o The food wasn’t that good – especially the vegetarian options which ran out twice. o Just that often 2 sessions I wanted to go to were at the same
o o
o o o
time not sure it’s solvable though! Sticky wall in the mezzanine I had lots of good discussions but sometimes felt a disappointing lack of conclusion or solution I agree with the above Clash between action projects and open space Explain consensus hand signals at the start of the weekend.
Brilliant! Do it again o o o o o o o o o
o o o o
o o
Everything Nice to see so many new faces Mentoring workshop was great! Cross – district pollination Good variety All fine, epic people everything was so splendid Getting outside for geocaching Open space was fantastic x 3 Young people in core roles – planned and emergent Facilitation workshop Great to meet new people Virtual campfire was awesome x 3 Great to have a mix of ages and experience BUSHCRAFT! Practical things like geocaching were
o o o o o
great to learn about Everything, genuinely Mix of young and old Easy to get to Facilitation and fire I really like geocaching, looking forward to placing our box with the elfin group (Harlow)