Local Policies & Procedures

Like all Scouting Troops, Ramsbury Scouts operates in line with the Scouting Associations Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR), a copy of which can be found here: https://www.scouts.org.uk/por/

For some key policies however, we want to share how we implement them locally to ensure that you, as parents, are fully informed and know who to speak to if you need assistance.

1.     Membership

Policy

Membership of 1st Ramsbury Scout Group is at the discretion of the Lead Volunteer. 1st Ramsbury Scouts are committed to being fully inclusive regardless of gender, race, religion, disability or additional needs.

Procedures

All persons wishing to join 1st Ramsbury Scouts must register their interest via our online registration form which can be found on the 1st Ramsbury Scouts website. Places are allocated based on the availability of spaces, the age of the child and when they registered interest.  Whilst the Scouting Associations POR does not define a maximum size for troops, due to the size of our hall, we cannot accept more than 24 young people in any one section.

Where parents are willing to commit to becoming a leader for a minimum of two years one child may be admitted with them as long as they are older than 5 ¾.  Should a parent leave before their two-year commitment ends then the child that came in with them must also leave and return to the waiting list until such time as a place becomes available.  

Transfers from other groups take precedence over the waiting list as long as there is availability within the relevant section.

Membership is subject to payment of the annual membership subs.  Where membership subs are not paid on time 1st Ramsbury Scouts retains the right to ask that child to leave. For new starters payment of subs must be made before a child can start. We allow one trial session per child prior to payment needing to be made.

Cases of financial hardship can be made to the Lead Volunteer and/or the Ramsbury Scout Operational Chair, using the email address ramsburyscouts@gmail.com, who will discuss options to enable a child to join.

Where children are identified as having additional needs on their registration forms the leader of that section will contact parents to discuss the specific needs in question prior to the child starting with us. An Individual Support Plan will be completed with the child and parents so that we can make all reasonable adjustments to how sessions run to include the child as fully as possible. Depending on the child’s specific needs we may suggest parents attend the first few sessions.

Individual Support Plans will be reviewed on a six-monthly basis and any further adjustments required taken into consideration.  

2.     Attendance

Policy

1st Ramsbury Scouts are required to attend 2/3 of all sessions within any one term unless extenuating circumstances apply.

Procedures

Where children are unable to attend a session parents should inform the leaders via the section WhatsApp group as soon as possible with the reason they are unable to attend.

Attendance is monitored on a termly basis by the Operational Committee secretary and informed to each section leader. 

For those children who have attended less than 2/3 of all session’s investigations will be undertaken to ascertain the reasons why.  1st Ramsbury Scouts reserves the right to rescind that child’s place based on lack of attendance.

3.     Behaviour policy

Policy

Scouting is inclusive to all but relies on a certain level of acceptable behaviour from all involved to ensure everyone feels comfortable and safe, which is especially important during certain activities. 1st Ramsbury Scouts reserves the right to request a child to leave should this not be adhered to.

Procedures

There are various levels of escalation involved to manage unacceptable behaviour:

• The child will be told their behaviour is unacceptable and why by a section leader.

• If the unacceptable behaviour continues the child will be asked to ‘sit-out’ of the present activity.  Their behaviour will be explained to them and what is expected.  The child’s parents will be informed at the end of the session and they will be requested to miss the next session

• If, on return, the child’s behaviour continues to be an issue or improves but then declines again to the point their parents need to be informed, they will be asked to leave the section and will not be allowed to return. 

4.     Safeguarding

Policy

It is the policy of 1st Ramsbury Scouts to safeguard the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk by protecting them from neglect and from physical, sexual and emotional harm. 1st Ramsbury Scouts understand that individuals thrive in safe surroundings, so we are committed to ensuring that Scouts is safe and enjoyable for everyone involved and that safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice.

Procedures

Safeguarding training is completed every three years by all leaders, committee members and trustees. Training is managed via the Scouting Associations online training system.

All leaders abide by the following “cards” system as per the Scouting Associations POR:

• Yellow Card – Safeguarding Code of conduct for all leaders and how to respond to safeguarding concerns.  A copy of this card is carried by all leaders and displayed in the Scout Hut.

• Purple Card – Support for safe scouting and what to do in an emergency

• Orange Card – Code of conduct for our young leaders and how to respond to safeguarding concerns.

1st Ramsbury’s Lead Volunteer has overall responsibility for safeguarding across the sections.

Parents can raise any safeguarding concerns with the section leader, the Lead Volunteer or any committee member/trustee. A decision on next steps will then be taken as per the yellow card procedures and/or advice from the Scouting Association Safeguarding Head Quarters.

None of the above precludes parents directly approaching the police should they have any immediate concerns for the safety of the child.

5.     Late Collection

Policy

All children are to be collected by an authorised adult at the end of their session.

Procedures

If a child is not collected by an authorised adult at the end of a session Scouting leaders will put into practice agreed procedures.

If no information about a change of collection arrangement has been notified to the leaders, then the child’s parents/carers will be contacted using the emergency contact details held on the Online Scout Management System (OSM).  All reasonable attempts will be made to contact the parents/carers listed on the system.

If no one collects the child after 30 minutes and there is no one who can be contacted, then leaders will contact the local authorities social services care team.  During this time leaders will continue to try to contact the parents/carers of the child and inform the Lead Volunteer and/or chair of the Operational Committee.

The child will stay at the scout hut in the presence of two leaders until such time as a parent/carer does collect them or social services arrives.  Under no circumstances will a leader take a child home.  Where leaders are unable to remain in the hut the Lead Volunteer or Operational Committee Chair will organise for a committee member to go to the hut until such time as the parent/carer or social services arrives.

Social care will aim to find the parent/carer but if they are unable to do so that child will become “looked after” by the local authority.

6.     Complaints

Policy

1st Ramsbury Scout Group recognises its responsibility to deal fairly, constructively and consistently with expressions of concern or dissatisfaction from members and non-members, including parents and carers on behalf of themselves or their children.

Procedures

1st Ramsbury Scouts follows the Scouting Associations process for dealing with complaints.  An outline of the process is detailed below along with who you should contact, however a full set of procedures can be found on the Scout Associations website: https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/policy/scouts-complaints-policy/

We will investigate complaints about how you have been treated by Scouting or, if you are a parent or carer of a person attending Scouts, how that person has been treated by Scouting.

We do not investigate

• complaints that relate to matters that are older than 3 months. 

• anonymous complaints.

• complaints that are raised on behalf of other people (except by parents/carers of children in Scouting).

• complaints that we believe to be vexatious or malicious.

Where possible complaints should initially be discussed with your section leader to see what action can be taken.  If this proves to be unsatisfactory or your complaint is of a nature that cannot be discussed with a leader please email the Lead Volunteer, Mike Allman, on ramsburyscouts@gmail.com to arrange a discussion.

Your complaint will be dealt with fairly and objectively. We handle complaints in a positive and pro-active manner and expect resolutions and outcomes to contribute to a process of continuous improvement.

Please bear in mind that adults in Scouting are volunteers and have other calls on their time. Complaints will be acknowledged within 7 days, and we aim to respond and/or resolve a complaint within 28 days.

The complaint investigator may need to speak to you and a number of other people to fully understand your complaint and the circumstances surrounding it. The investigator will make a decision about the complaint and will inform you whether your complaint is upheld or not and the actions that will be taken as a result.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint or the way in which it was handled, then you may appeal. You must appeal within 14 days of being given the outcome of your complaint.

Your appeal must be lodged with the Operational Committee in writing. This can be done via the committee secretary using the email address ramsburyscouts@gmail.com.  In your appeal, you must clearly explain the basis on which you are making the appeal and your preferred outcome to resolve the issue.

The committee in its entirety will review the complaint, subsequent investigations carried out and will provide an answer to your appeal.  If you are still not satisfied with the outcome you may appeal to the Board of Trustees via the same email address as above.

7.     GDPR, Website and Social Media

Policy

1st Ramsbury Scouts is committed to ensuring data is processed fairly and in a transparent manner for a specified, explicit and legitimate purpose in line with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Procedures

1st Ramsbury Scouts keep records for the purpose of delivering Scouting under current Scout Association regulations. These include: 

• Child and parents’ personal details

• Child medical records

• Additional needs questionnaires

• Risk assessments

• Accident, safeguarding records

• Registers

1st Ramsbury Scouts collect parent/carers and children’s data via the Online Scout Management System (OSM).  On accepting their child’s place parents/carers are required to complete their child’s online profile.  Annual checks are undertaken to ensure all relevant fields have been completed.

Information is not shared with any third party unless required for a legitimate reason or where a child’s safety and wellbeing is in question.

Information collected is used by the leaders to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child during their time within 1st Ramsbury Scouts.

Confidential information is information of some sensitivity, which is not already lawfully in the public domain or readily available from another public source, and which has been shared in a relationship where the person giving the information understood it would not be shared with others. In 1st Ramsbury Scouts, leaders are said to have a 'confidential relationship' with families. It is our intention to respect the privacy of children and their parents and carers, while ensuring the safety and well-being of the child attending. 

Parents are required to indicate on their child’s OSM profile what permissions they give in relation to their child’s image being used on our website and/or the third-party social media pages of organisations 1st  Ramsbury Scouts partner with, for example Action for River Kennet. OSM will be reviewed at the start of each year to ascertain permissions given. Where OSM is not completed parents are deemed to have given full permission for photographs of their child to be used.

We know that parents will want to take photos of their children at Scouting events and to share these special moments with family and friends.  We request that you do not share any photos or videos of any other children other than your own on any social media site.  This includes where other children are shown in the background.  Such platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Snapchat.

All adults in Scouts have a responsibility to comply with data protection law when handling or dealing with any personal data. However, ultimate responsibility for ensuring that adequate data protection systems are in place lies with the trustees.

All Information and relevant data is deleted once a child leaves the Scouting movement.

Parents have the right to request a copy of all data held on their child by 1st Ramsbury Scouts.

8.     Move up Process

Policy

1st Ramsbury Scouts is committed to all Scouts being able to complete their full Scouting journey and move sections as they reach the required ages.

Procedures

The move up process occurs twice per year – September and February.  Admittance beyond these months is on an exception basis and is required to be cleared through the Operational Committee.

The Move Up Committee meets shortly before September and February to agree which children will move sections and which children will be offered a place within Beavers.

The Move Up Committee is made up of the key leader from each section, the Lead Volunteer and the secretary of the Operational Committee.

Children are eligible to join Scouts or move sections when they reach the required minimum age:

• Beavers – 5 ¾ years

• Cubs 7.5 years

• Scouts 10 years

Moving sections is governed by the number of spaces available within the section.

Where possible the move up committee will move class groups together but will always ensure that there are children from each year group within a section.

Children moving from the wait list into beavers are assessed based on age and then on when they joined the wait list. Exceptions to this must be discussed and agreed by the Operational Committee.