This policy is aimed at ensuring that the unit 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 explorer scouts and to reduce the overhead in running the group

General

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 scouts moving up in April and those moving up ion September. In the event that there is more demand than capacity, the priority will be as follows:

  • Applicants with existing siblings will be considered first
  • Applicants who are also young leaders from scout groups that are sponsors of the unit will be considered next
  • Other applicants from scout groups that are sponsors of the unit will be considered next, if necessary considering the level of support from each sponsoring group over the previous academic year
  • Applicants from other scout groups and those who are not scouts will be considered next.

Each Academic year intake will be as follows:

  • YP moving up from Scouts in April
  • YP moving up from Scouts 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 Explorer Scout & Parent correctly completes ALL the steps first.

April Intake

In the first week of the Spring term all 4th EFS and 36th EFS eligible scout parents will be sent an email inviting them to apply for a place and advising them of the process.We will prioritise the intake of siblings of existing Explorers 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.

September Intake

In the first week of the Summer term all 4th EFS and 36th EFS eligible scout parents will be sent an email inviting them to apply for a place and advising them of the process.We will prioritise the intake of siblings of existing Explorers 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.

Application Process

The application process is the same for everyone regardless of whether they are an existing scout and which troop they come from.

The application process is designed to ensure that the keenest potential Explorers and the most supportive parents stand the best chance of being allocated a place.  Places will be awarded on the basis of which Explorer & 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 using the Tangles Events system.

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: ‘Pay Now’ payments will not be accepted and will be cancelled.

  • 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: Explorers 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 unit 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 unit

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

Explorers will be expected to maintain a good level of attendance at the regular weekly and termly programme 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. 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 unit 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 unit. Attendance records are reviewed at the end of each term and where the level of absence is inadequate, we will withdraw the Explorer’s place. Attendance will be reviewed as follows:

  • An Explorer not attending 50% of a term’s sessions will have their place withdrawn
  • If an Explorer 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.

Explorers 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 unit. We reserve the right to withdraw a place in the unit immediately at any time if any individual’s behaviour is deemed to be dangerous and risking the safety of other Explorers and Leaders or represents a significant disciplinary issue.