Last updated 1st September 2022

This policy is aimed at ensuring that the troop is able to offer places fairly to individuals who are best able to make use of that place and to review this with parents if required. It has been created with the intent of ensuring best interests of both current and potential new scouts and to reduce the overhead in running the group’s scout sections.

General

Scouts covers 3 academic years at the school and in January each year we will set our maximum intake for the Academic Year starting the following September. Usually the number of places will be shared equally between cubs moving up and the new 3rds intake. Our numbers will temporarily increase in the summer term as cubs move up. In the event that we do not have a full take up of places one year we will not offer places to other years unless we project our overall numbers will fall below 36.

Each Academic year intake will be as follows:

  • YP moving up from Cubs in March
  • YP who have joined the 3rds in September

The application process is designed to ensure that the keenest potential Scouts and the most supportive parents stand the best chance of being allocated a place. Places will be awarded on the basis of which Scout & Parent correctly completes ALL the steps first.

New 3rds Intake

In the first week of the Autumn term all 3rds parents will be sent an email from the school system inviting them to apply for a place and advising them of the process. It will be clear that this is the only opportunity available to apply for a place.

We will prioritise the intake of siblings of existing Scouts but they will be expected to correctly complete all the application process steps and will be given a set time within which to complete the steps.

Cubs Intake

At the start of the Spring term in January Cubs parents will be advised of the upcoming move which will take place after the Spring half term. They will be invited to apply for a place and advised that in the event that more Cubs apply for a place than we have spaces available, the process will be competitive.
We will prioritise the applications of siblings of existing Scouts (as long as all the relevant application process steps have been completed within the given period).

Places will be awarded on the basis of which Scout & Parent correctly completes all the steps first.Pupils of Bancroft’s prep school who are not Cubs will follow the 3rds intake process. This policy applies even if the pupil has been on the Cubs waiting list.

Scouts who do not attend Bancroft’s

The troop is a closed troop which means it is only open to pupils of Bancroft’s School but we have the option to keep a place for Cubs/Scouts who have left the school during their time in the pack/troop. However, experience suggests that when Scouts leave the school in later years they have a tendency to become disengaged from the troop but take up a place that they rarely use.
In the event that a Scout or Young Leader leaves Bancroft’s school we will make an individual judgement about whether to hold the place open for that YP and the decision will be based on whether they have a good Thursday meeting attendance record and a high overall level of engagement, however, when the troop is operating at full capacity it is unlikely that we will offer a place.
If a Cub applies for a place in the Scout troop but is not taking up a place in the senior school we will normally not progress their application.

Application Process

The application process is the same for everyone regardless of whether they are a Cub moving up or a new senior school pupils.

The application process is designed to ensure that the keenest potential Scouts and the most supportive parents stand the best chance of being allocated a place. Places will be awarded on the basis of which Scout & Parent correctly completes all the steps first (subject to policy on siblings of existing Scouts) .

  1. Parents advised of application process and advised that it is a first come first served process and that all steps must be correctly completed for the application to be considered. No reminders will be given.
  2. Parents must complete the application form online or send a completed scanned / electronically completed copy of the word or pdf version or the form to scoutleaders@4thefsscouts.org.uk email address.
  3. Young Person must write a short paragraph on why they want to be a Sea Scout and send an electronic copy to scoutleaders@4thefsscouts.org.uk email address.
  4. YP will have a record created on OSM and added to both the payments schedules and parents will have 48 hours to set up the relevant Direct Debits. Setting up the Direct Debits does not guarantee a place however, if other parents have managed the process more quickly then they may be allocated a place first.
  5. Payment by Direct Debit will be taken as follows. ‘Pay Now’ payments will not be accepted and will be cancelled.
    • New 3rds will pay the full Scouts Autumn term subscription element.
    • Cubs moving up will pay 50% of the difference between the Cubs Spring term subscription element and the Scouts Spring term subscription element.
    • All applicants will pay a £10 nominal activities payment which will be deducted from the first payment under the Activities schedule. This payment will be held against replacement uniform/badge costs and return if unused.
  6. Scouts who are not allocated a place will have their Direct Debits cancelled in plenty of time before any payment is made.
  7. Any YP who is not given a place in the troop but who had an OSM record created in order to process the Direct Debits will have their details removed from the system immediately it is clear they have not been allocated a place, in accordance with our general privacy policy.

Retaining a place in the troop

In order to retain a place in the troop both Directs Debits must be kept in place.

Scouts will be expected to maintain a good level of attendance at Thursday evening meetings. In general this means attendance at all meetings except where there is a clash with one-off school events, illness or important family commitments.

‘School events’ does not include regularly run school clubs (including but not limited to swimming club, football club and regular sports fixtures). In the event that school clubs or other extra curricula activities regularly clash with the regular timings of Scout meetings YP will have to chose between one of the other. We cannot accept a YP in the troop if they intend to divide their time between different clubs as this denies the place in the troop to another YP who would otherwise make full use of it.

All absences should be advised in advance and should include the reason. All absences will be taken into account when deciding whether a YP may retain their place in the troop. Attendance records are reviewed at the end of each term and where the level of absence is inadequate, we will withdraw the Scout’s place. Attendance will be reviewed as follows:

  • A scout not attending 50% of a term’s sessions will have their place withdrawn
  • If a scout misses 3 or more sessions in a term, we will write to you and review their place in the troop, taking into account behaviour and overall engagement.

Scouts are expected to be well behaved, respectful and follow leader’s instructions at all times. Where the general level of behaviour is considered to be below the level expected of a Scout we will write to you. In the event we need to write to you a second time we reserve the right to withdraw the place in the troop. We reserve the right to withdraw a place in the Scout troop immediately at any time if any individual’s behaviour is deemed to be dangerous and risking the safety of other Scouts and Leaders or represents a significant disciplinary issue.