Skills for life in Swindon

Adult Training

Every volunteer in Scouting is required to complete some training which is tailored to their role. Your training can help you learn new skills to support you in getting the most from your role.

We run regular training courses through Zoom for most of the key modules.

Our adult training programme is split into three parts, detailed below.

If you hold the role of Section Leader or Assistant Section Leader, we will expect you to validate all these modules within three years of starting. For some modules, you’ll likely want to attend one of our training courses, whereas you may already have the skills to validate other modules right now. It’s worth a chat with your Training Advisor or Group Scout Leader to agree what’s right for you.

If you are a Section Assistant, the only requirement is the initial training modules in Step 1 – but we encourage you to do other modules too, as these will help you to support the delivery of a great programme. You are welcome to book on to any of the training courses we run. Again, do speak to your Training Advisor or Group Scout Leader if you’re unsure what’s best.

In the first five months in role, we'll require you to complete a set of e-learning modules.

Once you’ve completed the e-learning for each module, then please send a screenshot or photo of the certificate to your Training Advisor or Group Scout Leader.

You’ll also need to have a conversation with your Training Advisor or Group Scout Leader about other training to help you in your role.

Once you’ve completed these items, you’ll be ready to move on to the next stage of your training.

We offer regular training sessions, held on Zoom where possible, to help with the initial modules below:

  • Delivering a Quality Programme – how we deliver quality Scouting, and make sure it meets young people’s needs
  • Programme Planning – how we plan and review our programmes
  • First Aid – the skills and knowledge to enable you to manage an incident and provide basic first aid
  • Running Safe Activities – how we plan and run exciting but safe activities
  • Skills of Leadership – tools to help us to effectively lead young people and other adults
  • Administration – information and best practice on how we manage administrative tasks in Scouting
  • Promoting Positive Behaviour – tools for promoting positive behaviour and managing challenging behaviour

You can book onto our training sessions to complete the final set of modules to achieve your Wood Badge:

  • Practical Skills – helping you to gain and teach practical skills
  • Fundamentals of Scouting – how do our Fundamentals and our Religious Policy help you to deliver a balanced programme
  • Scouting for All – practical advice about how we can all ensure that Scouting is inclusive for everyone
  • Introduction to Residential Experiences – helping you to understand the part that nights away from home play in our programme
  • International – an overview of the international focus of Scouting, and how this features in our programme
  • Supporting Young People – sharing the varied needs of young people, and ensuring we all create a supportive environment for everyone
  • Growing the Section – ways in which we can all contribute to the growth of our Section or Group
  • Working with Adults – key skills and techniques for working with other adult volunteers

Once you have completed all the modules, you will be presented with your Wood Badge, the sign that an adult has completed their leadership training. In certain key areas (safety, safeguarding and first aid), you’ll still need to keep your knowledge up-to-date by completing regular refresher training.

First Response

First Response training is split into two parts: theory and practical.

Part 1: Theory element

2.5-hour e-learning plus 2.5 hour Zoom session: This route for completing your First Response training is kindly provided to us by Hampshire Scouts. You will first need to do the e-learning, and can then attend a Zoom session.

  1. The e-learning can be completed here. At the end, make sure you complete the form (select the Swindon option).
  2. The Zoom session should be booked here. There are a range of date options available – you can choose any. (We are hoping that Wiltshire Scouts will soon be able to offer us Zoom sessions as well).

Part 2: Practical element

A short 30 minute practical session is required to complete your First Response training. These will be made available by Wiltshire Scouts, but at the moment demand is much higher than the availability of courses.

You might be able to find a space at the /bookings/?fbclid=IwAR0-y1sU_crr6N1PBLMahp4WPJXb9oo1JdZ9EAFpJgNO_pg71pnGncnsV4E" target="_blank">Devizes training booking link; if there are none available then we recommend trying again another time or contacting the County Training Manager to find out when training may become available.

Once you have completed your First Response training, it will be valid for three years.

If you have an external First Aid qualification, you may instead be able to complete a shorter e-learning. This applies if you have a 3-day First Aid at Work, the 1-day Emergency First Aid at Work or a St John Schools First Aid (or similar). If you are unsure what is required, please contact us using the link above.