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outside the Ladies toilets catching Brownies as they emerge! But more of that later.
It was the last meeting of the term yesterday. We always finish the summer term early, because there's so much going on in the schools numbers fall noticeably past this stage. In an effort to encourage the girls to work as a team, I devised a couple of games for them to play as a six. For something I planned the day before, refining in an evening walk with SM, it worked surprisingly well. So well Brown Owl has taken the idea, so we can use it again next term. The second game was a relay race, with each girl having to perform a different activity (running, balancing the bean bag on the head, throwing a ball, egg and spoon). The trick was to find who would be best at each activity and, crucially, where one person would probably be best at more than one, finding the right balance.
We finished the term with three new Brownies being enrolled. One of the Brownies' mothers had been in a pack Brown Owl had run several years ago, which is a lovely link to have.
After last week's meeting there had been a complaint from one of the mothers, along the lines of no-one smiling when the parent arrived (if you do arrive late and we are concentrating on the rest of the girls, then, possibly not - the Brownie is welcomed) and lack of control of the girls when they leave. I always stand at the door and make sure each Brownie leaves with parent/older sibling/designated person; but, if parents stand around chatting I am no longer responsible for their children. It was no surprise when the daughter of this person didn't come this week. However, our oldest Brownie was leaving to move on to Guides and her mother had written a really lovely note, thanking us for the wonderful time her daughter had had and saying how friendly we were and how we ensured all the Brownies joined together. And there'll be no doubt her younger sister will be joining us in a year's time.
But before our final meeting, we had a Brownie outing to Cotswold Wildlife Park. It rained - we have all this glorious weather and it rains on us. Fortunately the rain stopped not long after we arrived and we didn't need it too hot. We wandered along looking at all the animals. We counted 18 girls lots of times. We avoided collecting anyone else (they were all wearing coats because of the rain - it's so much easier spotting Brownie uniform). We saw meerkats and penguins and lions (asleep) and camels and rhinos and red pandas. We got laughed at by some sort of bird. The peacock showed off its tail feathers to us. We visited all the toilets in the park. We had packed lunch and the leaders drank several cups of tea. The Brownies went on the playground and one got stuck at the top of the climbing frame and another got stuck in the zipwire swing. We went to the gift shop and then we went home. Everyone had a marvellous time and the leaders enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine and the chocolate one grandmother gave us as a thank you.
Another year over, two months off and I shall be ready to start again.
It was the last meeting of the term yesterday. We always finish the summer term early, because there's so much going on in the schools numbers fall noticeably past this stage. In an effort to encourage the girls to work as a team, I devised a couple of games for them to play as a six. For something I planned the day before, refining in an evening walk with SM, it worked surprisingly well. So well Brown Owl has taken the idea, so we can use it again next term. The second game was a relay race, with each girl having to perform a different activity (running, balancing the bean bag on the head, throwing a ball, egg and spoon). The trick was to find who would be best at each activity and, crucially, where one person would probably be best at more than one, finding the right balance.
We finished the term with three new Brownies being enrolled. One of the Brownies' mothers had been in a pack Brown Owl had run several years ago, which is a lovely link to have.
After last week's meeting there had been a complaint from one of the mothers, along the lines of no-one smiling when the parent arrived (if you do arrive late and we are concentrating on the rest of the girls, then, possibly not - the Brownie is welcomed) and lack of control of the girls when they leave. I always stand at the door and make sure each Brownie leaves with parent/older sibling/designated person; but, if parents stand around chatting I am no longer responsible for their children. It was no surprise when the daughter of this person didn't come this week. However, our oldest Brownie was leaving to move on to Guides and her mother had written a really lovely note, thanking us for the wonderful time her daughter had had and saying how friendly we were and how we ensured all the Brownies joined together. And there'll be no doubt her younger sister will be joining us in a year's time.
But before our final meeting, we had a Brownie outing to Cotswold Wildlife Park. It rained - we have all this glorious weather and it rains on us. Fortunately the rain stopped not long after we arrived and we didn't need it too hot. We wandered along looking at all the animals. We counted 18 girls lots of times. We avoided collecting anyone else (they were all wearing coats because of the rain - it's so much easier spotting Brownie uniform). We saw meerkats and penguins and lions (asleep) and camels and rhinos and red pandas. We got laughed at by some sort of bird. The peacock showed off its tail feathers to us. We visited all the toilets in the park. We had packed lunch and the leaders drank several cups of tea. The Brownies went on the playground and one got stuck at the top of the climbing frame and another got stuck in the zipwire swing. We went to the gift shop and then we went home. Everyone had a marvellous time and the leaders enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine and the chocolate one grandmother gave us as a thank you.
Another year over, two months off and I shall be ready to start again.
