Pilot new programme training

I'm not going to say too much because it was a pilot training plan so I expect changes to be made to the final version. I was doing Skills Builders  & Unit Meeting Activities, UMA's. It was supposed to be a 45 min session, and even with Bev covering a lot of the factual content in her morning session at the Trainers conference, more time was required. (It would have been useful to have some examples of a Skills Builder to show).
I am starting to see where the dots join on the new programme, but only because I have looked closely at the 3 training plans we have up to now. One activity to encourage leaders to focus on the challenges of skills builders & UMA's was to ask them to use a paper aeroplane to record the issues then fly them to the next group to come up with some answers. This worked well, but because of the duplication on the planes next time, I will use the other idea which is bunting. There was potentially lots of discussion which I had to cut short, as usual trainers had a mountain of ideas to get round some of the challenges raised. The most recurring ones were:

1. Cost
2. Judging the girls ability for the starting skill level
3. Implementing several activities at once in a meeting
4. Encouraging girls to make a skills builder choice

I brought along with me the girl decision making resources, but other than mentioning them, I didn't get chance to focus on how they could be used with the new programme. I also loaned out Participation on a Plate and didn't get it back so need a new copy for next time.

I haven't yet figured out how the training plans for the new programme could be fitted together, as there is too much discussion to be had if they are all added into one training. However delivering them individually will take too long - what could be done to make each plan have its own identity?

Regional Training Conference 2018

The emphasis has been very much on the new programme unfortunately we didn't quite get the resources  we hoped at the weekend, to deliver the training for the new programme at the weekend. Three of the training plans were piloted and there appears to be common issues across all three. The big reveal date is now 21st July, with a year to transition, but it feels like the vast majority of leaders are intending to transition to the new programme as soon as it is available.

The weekend was on the theme of a race meeting and included a race night with monopoly money, and a free sweep stake where the joint winners of the Grand National got mini prosecco bottles & chocolate coins for their winnings. There were some nice touches and it was a really good example of what a residential event should look like. I think we all appreciated not having to drive to Foxlease, and a lovely meal and decent nights sleep at the Holiday Inn just off the M5 at Taunton was a really good idea.

We covered the basics of guiding in an ice breaker with Heros chocolates and ended on an exercise based on GG values where we selected our favourite quote and made a horse key ring as a keepsake. We had a really fast run through the new programme, and tested the 3 pilot training plans in the afternoon, before stopping to watch the Grand National which aptly had 3 female jockeys this year. We incorporated county trainers support groups before dinner which was useful in light of the new programme.

Sunday was given over to Dr Elly Barnes from Educate & Celebrate who ran an excellent example of how a training should be run. The session was all about making us LGBT+ friendly in our trainings and it provided food for thought as well as a lovely song about a pair of penguins who tried to hatch a stone that was called Tango! Dr Barnes was very complementary about the GG gender policy & toolkit. There are some really good resources at http://www.educateandcelebrate.org/resources/ which could be used in unit activities.

I've already added a couple of things to follow up on to my PDP.

Sunday morning after Dr Barnes training on LGBT+ language

Growth Mindset for the new programme

It's been a slow read but I'm just about coming to the end - there has been a lot of repetition which has been one of the problems for me. As well as a lot of the ancedotes being from various USA team sports. However it strikes me we could learn some lessons in selling the new programme to leaders at trainings. I've already heard it said its "very like the Scouts programme" and "this is how the guide programme used to be years ago on cards in a box".

How could we harness the growth mindset that Carol Dweck talks about to support leaders to foster learning and nurture the resilience for their girls to be successful with the new programme? Could we include the drivers for change for the programme and what it means for the girl of the future rather than just focussing on the changes? The Sunday papers, today, have carried a story about how the workforce of the future will have to re-train in their lives because of the changing nature of work and the increased length of time they will be expected to work. Should we be selling the skills builders and revised awards structure as preparation for these challenges in support of the changes? I challenge you to consider how you could build the growth mindset into your next training plan?

Paperback £10.99 - never really drops in price on Kindle

GDPR Quiz - Level 4 coffee break teaser?

The latest Guiding (Summer 2018) page 49-50 has a lovely 7 question quiz that would fit neatly into the Level 4 Safe Space training. It's multiple choice so the wrong answers provide an effective talking point themselves. The answers are printed at the bottom of page 50 along with a pointer to the guidance we all received with our membership cards.

Our Plan for membership growth and retention

I've seen this before at a Commissioners Training but didn't know which resource it was from.

First time I've seen something in this workshop type format aimed at Commissioners.