Holiday guiding
Do you want to find out more about holiday guiding? Then look no further because we’ve got you covered!
What is holiday guiding?
Holiday guiding is any guiding that takes place during the school holidays
It can include units that meet throughout the holidays or just for a few days at a time. It can also involve offering tasters to introduce adults and girls to guiding before they make a more regular term-time commitment. It can happen indoors, outdoors, online or be a mixture of all three!
Holiday guiding is a great way to give girls the chance to join guiding
In many counties, waiting lists sometimes mean that potential members may not be placed in a unit until they are nearly old enough to join the next section. One way to ensure more girls are given the opportunity to be a part of guiding is by opening a holiday unit. Instead of running a weekly unit, a term’s worth of programme is condensed and run during one week of the school holidays. This could be in the summer, Christmas, Easter or even half term holidays.
Holiday guiding can help girls move sections
Moving sections can be a daunting prospect. Holding some joint activities during the holidays can be a way to bring units together and give girls who are due to move up after the break a chance to meet their new unit leaders as well as the girls they’ll be joining.
Holiday guiding is also a great way to re-introduce guiding to girls after a break
Girls and adults might feel nervous about coming back together if their unit has had an extended break during the coronavirus pandemic. A few sessions during the holidays might be a good way to break the ice. These could be outdoors or online.
How do I make this happen?
Here are the steps to follow…
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Recruit volunteers
Liaise with other volunteers in your area to see if they would like to be involved. You could approach leaders in training to help and also reach out to students who are looking for a new responsibility during the holidays.
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Plan your programme
Your programme will vary depending on how many girls are taking part, what age they are, how often and how you plan to meet (indoors, outdoors, online). Create your own programme by picking and mixing from the Girlguiding programme, Adventures at home and our flexible guiding games packs for virtual meetings or face to face meetings.
Our templates will help you plan your activities:
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Invite girls
If your aim is to bring girls into guiding, work with your local commissioner to invite girls from waiting lists. If you’re trying to re-introduce members to guiding after a bit of a break, make a personal approach to parents by phone, text or email.
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Cover your costs (and check your ratios)
When you invite girls explain to parents what will be included in the programme and don’t be afraid to charge to reflect this. To keep costs to a minimum, we have grants and funding to cover costs associated with running holiday programmes. Our CashBack and Gannochy Trust-funded Development Workers can help you make an application.
Don’t forget to make sure that there are enough adults to meet the correct ratios if the group is leaving the meeting place.
Bring guiding into the holidays
Want to bring new girls into Girlguiding? Got a waiting list and not sure how to reduce it? Flexible guiding can help everyone to join in the fun and adventure. Former Scottish Chief Commissioner Moira teamed up with her local secondary school for a camp with a difference – find out what she learned.
Flexible guiding in action
Get great ideas and inspiration from around Scotland. These case studies can be used alongside Girlguiding Scotland’s Flexible Guiding Conversation Starters resource.