Policy and Procedures
This page does not cover all policies and procedures in place at Ravens but should cover most of those you need to be aware of. They are in place to protect not only Cubs but other members of Scouting, Leaders and Parents/Guardians. We treat safety, safeguarding, diversity and inclusion very seriously.
Safeguarding and Safety expectations
Parents, Guardians and Leaders MUST challenge and report any safeguarding or safety concerns to the next highest level leader present.
Challenge and Report:
- Any Cub that is alone before or after a meeting
- Any young person that you believe may be lost or injured
- Any activity that you consider dangerous and that is not supervised
We expect all concerns to be challenged on the spot and brought to the attention of a Scout Leader. This applies to all Cubs or Young people, not just your own. You will not be expected to deal with the incident after bringing it to the attention of a Leader, after which it will be managed in accordance with Scouts UK rules and relevant laws.
Contacting Leaders
Parents/Guardians MUST IN ALL INSTANCES BELOW contact a Raven Cub leader directly. Scouts is run by independent volunteers in different sections within 1st Garforth. DO NOT expect that any contact made to a leader in another section automatically means that this information is passed to us – contact us directly to prevent incidents.
Parents/Guardians MUST contact a leader in the event of an emergency, someone different is picking up or dropping off your Cub, a Cub is to stay at the Scout hut for Scouts as part of the moving on procedures, there is a problem collecting your Cub and you will be late. This should be done by text/phone.
Parents/Guardians MUST inform a leader of any changes to address, contact details, dietary requirements or medical information.
Parents/Guardians SHOULD contact a leader to: check the details of an activity, let us know of an injury or your Cub is unwell, you wish to know more about our policies, procedures, Scouting, the Group or check what details we already have for your Cub. You can contact us by email, phone or text.
Leaders may contact you during the session or event in the case of an emergency, that your Cub is unwell, ask you to collect your Cub due to a change in circumstances or because we have a question regarding who is picking up or dropping off your Cub, Please keep your phone number used in your consent form up to date and on your person and note this call may come from any leader.
Arrival and Departure
Arrival
When Cubs arrive, they MUST AT ALL TIMES be accompanied by their Parent/Guardian until they meet with a Leader. This is for Safeguarding and to prevent an occurrence that Cubs is not meeting and a Cub is left alone.
Parents/Guardians MUST inform a leader in advance if a Cub not to arrive at Cubs with someone that isn’t their usual Parent/Guardian. This can be done by text, phone or email.
Departure
Parents/Guardians MUST be present to pick up their Cub at the end of a session and Cubs CAN NOT leave the premises without a Parent/Guardian present.
Parents/Guardians MUST contact a leader if they are to be late and no less than 2 leaders MUST remain with the Cub until they are picked up.
If you require additional arrangements put in place that may mean your Cub is allowed to leave without a Parent/Guardian, you should contact us so we can put a plan in place.
Car sharing
You MUST inform us by text, phone, email or in person that another person will be dropping off or picking up your Cub. We will not allow any Cub to leave our care with anyone but the usual Parent/Guardian unless we have prior knowledge and consent.
Leaders WILL challenge any individual that may be regarded as a Safeguarding concern if we have not been informed of a change of Parent/Guardian.
When a Cub arrives with another Parent/Guardian, that Parent is responsible for the Cubs safety until they arrive. This means that Parent/Guardian is consider the Guardian for that Cub and MUST accompany the Cub to the Main Hall where a Leader will mark them as present for the session.
These rules apply to EVERY session SEPARATELY. If this is likely to be a common occurrence, discuss this with a Leader and we will put a plan in place.
For Camps and Offsite activities any Guardian must drop off and pick up Cubs at the designated place
Parking
DO NOT park on Barley Fields Close. Park in the Barleyhill Road Car park and walk to the Scout hut. This help to keep roads safe for our Young people and keeps access clear for residents of the street.
DO NOT park in the Car park at the Scout hut. This is for leaders and Parent helpers only.
DO use the car park if you are a visitor or a registered Parent Helper for the evening.
DO NOT Block the Car park gates as this requires access at all times by emergency vehicles
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There are rules we expect every Cub and Parent/Guardian to follow to keep everyone safe.
These include not only official Scout UK rules but also the Pack rules that you must follow by being a member of Ravens Cub pack.
Safety and Safeguarding
We are committed to ensuring our Cubs are safe at all times, will keep you informed of who you can contact at all times and what would happen in the case of an emergency. These rules are outlines in our Scouts Purple Card.
We are committed to keeping all young people safe from neglect, physical, sexuals and emotional harm. These rules are outlined in our Scouts Yellow Card.
Accessibility and Additional Needs
We are committed to ensuring that our Cubs have access to all the resources they need to thrive in Cubs.
Whether it’s physical, neurodiverse or mental health needs, we understand and will work with you to help your Cub make the most of Scouting.
Mobile Phones and Electronics
We DO NOT allow the use of any mobile phones or electronics at Cubs. This is to prevent damage and prevent bullying/cyberbullying.
If you do have circumstances where your Cub may need a phone, please talk to a leader and we will make arrangements for them to be safely stored while at Cubs and returned at the end.
Food and Drinks
We DO NOT allow Cubs to bring ANY food to Cubs. Cubs do not know the dietary restrictions or allergy of other Cubs, Leaders or Parent Helpers so we restrict bringing any food to Cubs. We DO NOT allow chewing gum as this provides a choking hazard and not all Cubs are able to dispose of it responsibly.
We MAY provide food at Cubs following any allergies or dietary restrictions of all our Cubs. In the case that a Cub can not have food that others can have, we will do our best to find a suitable replacement so that the Cub doesn’t feel left out. We will contact you if we need any additional information. This food is not intended as a substitute for any meals unless stated otherwise or for offsite activities/camps.
DO bring water or fruit juice in a water bottle to Cubs. We allow and actively encourage our Cubs to bring water to Cub to drink water or fruit juice. Water will be available at nearly all activities unless stated otherwise. We do not allow fizzy drinks or energy drinks and this WILL be disposed of,
Any food, chewing gum or drinks we find WILL be disposed of immediately and not returned at the end of the night.
Toilets
We do not limit any Cubs access to toilets. Leaders will say in the circumstances in which they must ask to go but in general Cubs can go to the toilet without approval from a Leader.
Moving On
Before/during the term that your Cub reaches 10½, we will contact you in regards to Moving On to Scouts with more details as to how Cubs move on to Scouts. We recommend that Cubs join Scouts at 1st Garforth. These meet on Tuesday 7:45-9.30pm (Delta) and Wednesdays 7:40-9.30pm (Burma). However you are not limited to joining Scouts in these Scout Troops, for example if you cannot meet at these times on a Tuesday or Wednesday we can help to arrange joining another nearby Scout Group that meets on a different day.
During the last 3-4 weeks of a term your Cub can try Scouts at different Scout Troops to meet the Scouts, Leaders and see where they might enjoy going the most or where their friends are. During this time your Cub should still take part in Cubs and join the Scouts sessions as well.
Parents/Guardians MUST contact us directly when a Cub wishes to stay to the Scout troop that meets after us (Delta). It is your responsibility to inform us of this and to arrange travel to and from the Scout Group.
Diversity and Inclusion
Scouts is open to all and we are committed to making Scouts open for all and it is our main priority to ensure that everyone feels welcome and comfortable. We promote conversations with Parents/Guardians to promote awareness of issues , identify any Cub that has additional needs and put in place Reasonable Adjustments.
Reasonable adjustments are a Key policy in Scouts and are actions that young people with disabilities or that may otherwise not take part in Scouts access the Scouts and scouting activities, as far as reasonably possible, to the same level as young people without disabilities. This involves us Leaders working in partnership with parents/guardians, to identify needs and support strategies.
When you join our Cub pack, in the consent forms we will ask for details relating to any injuries, conditions or disabilities your Cub may have, be diagnosed with or may have undiagnosed. This is so that we can provide the best quality activities in Cubs and to make sure your Cub can take part in all activities and help us to put in place reasonable adjustments. We ask additional questions that you might not often see on consent forms to ensure that we are best prepared when planning activities for our Cubs so that everyone can take part and earn badges. This is treated as Sensitive Personal Information and is stored and not shared with any other leaders as such under GDPR and DPA laws.
Unfortunately as Scouts is run by volunteers, we cannot provide 1 on 1 support for Cubs but we can facilitate 1 on 1 Parent Helpers or specialists so that your Cub can join our pack. Feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions regarding this.
Safeguarding
All Leaders MUST be trained in Safeguarding of young people as a mandatory, recurring course in Scouts. The welfare of children and young people is our priority and everyone has a duty to report safeguarding concerns. You have the right to report any concerns in confidence and free from harassment. All Safeguarding concerns MUST be reported directly to the Scouts UK HQ Safeguarding team.
Safety
All Leaders MUST be trained in Safety as a mandatory, repeating course in Scouts. All activities and venues MUST have risk assessments in place and MUST be accessible within reason (physically or digitally) to show the plans in place to mitigate risk, hazards and danger. You may ask to view these at before an activity and any reasonable time.
Fire and Fire Safety
Fire building is considered an essential Scouting Skill and measures MUST be put in place by Leaders to keep all parties safe. We WILL run regular fire drills and MUST keep all parties informed of what to do in the case of a fire or other emergency. The fire meet point is in the Scout Hut car park.
First Aid
All Leaders MUST be trained in First Aid at the minimum level of the First Response course. This is a mandatory, recurring course in Scouts. All Leaders MUST have the skills and knowledge necessary to manage an incident and provide basic first aid.
Gross misconduct
The following are classed as gross misconduct and will not be tolerated in any form. This applies to Cubs, any other member of Scouting, Leaders and Parents/ Guardians. This will lead to immediate suspension from Scouting following the review of Section Leaders, the Group Scout Leader and District Leaders and may lead to a ban from joining other Scout Groups. These do not cover every eventuality but include:
- Bullying
- Harassment
- Theft
- Physical Violence
- Serious insubordination
- Any action that may intentionally cause physical and emotional damage to another individual and damage to the Scouting experience or property
Bullying is characterised as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, abuse or misuse of power through means that a recipient is undermined, humiliated, denigrated or injured.
Harassment is ‘unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating people’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment’. Harassment may also be any conduct that focuses on characteristics outlined by Equality Act 2010. A person may be harassed even if they were not the intended ‘target.’ For example, a person may be harassed by jokes about a different ethnic group if the jokes create an offensive environment.
