smallhobbit: (Default)
Questions from [personal profile] annofowlshire 

1. Where in the UK have you not been that you would really like to visit?
Shrewsbury, Chester and the area around North Wales is one area I've not managed to visit.  I'd also like to see more of Scotland.

2. What is the crafting project you're most proud of?
Probably the Klimt garden cross stitch, which took about 20 months to complete






and Mini Hobbit's unicorn cardi:

   



3. What has been your enduring fandom?  Why?
Sherlock Holmes (ACD).  I began in BBC Sherlock, and from there read/re-read all the original Holmes stories.  I found there are so many possibilities and can either remain in Baker Street or retire to Sussex.  Plus it's the setting for the Ferret and the rest of the gang, which allows me to entertain myself in all sorts of ways.  I've also made some great friends through the fandom.

4. Which play that you've seen performed has had the most impact on you?  Why?
I'm not sure there is anything which stands out.  Plays have meant something at the time but looking back I wouldn't say there was anything in particular.  For me, it would be old style musicals, Top Hat, An American in Paris, 42nd Street, Singing in the Rain and White Christmas, all the feel good favourites, which do just that.  Plus Sir Matthew Bourne's productions, with their combination of story, dance and music.

5. What led you to help out with Brownies?
I began with Guides, when the Daughter's guide unit needed helpers and I volunteered.  I became a guider and then took over the unit at a later stage.  A change of job meant I could no longer run the unit, which had to close as no other volunteers came forward.  I took a short break, but then joined the local Brownie unit as an assistant, which was much less time consuming. When we moved to Gloucester I wanted to continue, because I enjoyed the activities with the girls, and was put in touch with the unit in Kingsway.  I was there for 11 years, before retiring in the summer.  I thought I might miss volunteering with the Brownies, but I'm now co-leading a family based group at the church one afternoon a week, so I still have involvement but in a different way.


Perpetuate the meme: I'll leave five questions for the first five who leave a comment asking!


smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Yesterday lunch time I had a text from my ex-Brownie leader to ask if I could possibly help out, as she was ill and couldn't make the meeting. I agreed, especially as all that was required was my presence - each unit needs a qualified guider present, and Flamingo hasn't quite finished her qualification (because, in true Brownie fashion, she'd lost her book).

It was good to see several of the Brownies again.  I'd expected not to know a lot of them, but there were only two new girls.  A number of the Brownies I had known had moved up to Guides, but as some had only recently left their places hadn't yet been filled.

As it turned out I led one of the activities.  One of the other leaders couldn't get there until late, which left two, and, naturally, the leader who'd prepared for the evening was the one who couldn't make it, so it was a case of rapidly reading the instructions and then launching straight in.

It was a simple game: each Brownie has the name of an object or person on a label on their back and they have to guess what they are by asking yes/no questions.  Once they've worked out who or what they are they then need to find their pair, so 'bucket and spade', 'Cinderella and Prince Charming'.  And finally they learnt the other Brownie's real name and something about them.  It worked well and they seemed to enjoy it - I occasionally supplied suitable questions to ask when the girls were particularly stuck.

I definitely don't miss the weekly meeting.  It remains hard work getting them together and ready to listen.  They're fine when they are engaged with something, when they will enjoy it, but a lot of time is spent getting them engaged.

Finished!

Jul. 15th, 2022 09:39 pm
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Last week at Brownies they had fun with water games and enjoyed getting wet.

This week we held a party, firstly to celebrate 1st Kingsway Brownies tenth birthday.  Which was, in fact, in October 2020, but had been delayed until we could really celebrate.  So there were party games and party snacks and cakes.

Also it was to celebrate my retirement as a unit leader.  What was particularly nice was that some of our ex-Brownies, who have gone onto Guides also joined us, and it was lovely to see them again.  It's hard to believe I've been with the unit for 11 years, and before that I've been guiding for about another 8 years.

It was a lovely way to finish.  I have absolutely no regrets, and will be staying in touch.

I was delighted to receive flowers and a vase from the unit:



and also flowers and a vase from the district:


smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Last week I led Brownies for the final time.  One of the things I've always enjoyed doing is running a challenge evening, when the Brownies move round different stations in their sixes, completing a simple challenge at each station, and I had the opportunity of doing that.

It was set in a haunted house, with the challenges in different rooms (or reality different tables in the hall we meet in).  Not quite your usual haunted house, but still.  In one room the skeleton had fallen apart and needed putting back together - paper bones to stick on a piece of cardboard, nothing complicated.  In another room the bats wanted to fly - basic origami bats to make and decorate.  In the third room the ghosts were tired of being white and wanted to be bright colours - a wet wipe tie dyed using felt tips and then opened out, a face drawn in the middle, and with a peg to hold the ghost up.  Successful completion of each challenge was rewarded with a token.

Once they had completed all three challenges I handed out a board to stick the tokens on in the right places.  If the board was correct then that meant they could open the safe, which they all did.  They then each received a prize of lip gloss.  The Brownies definitely enjoyed the evening because this week they were telling Doodles all about it, as she'd not been present at the time.

This week they made paper rockets which were fired from plastic bottles with a bit of hose attached.  They enjoyed that too, and had a competition to see whose rocket went the furthest.

I've recently done some fundraising for the Brownies.  I applied for a grant to the South-West guiding region (along with a large number of other units) and got £100.  Then I wrote to our local city councillor to see if he would allocate some of his charity fund money to us, and we'll receive £250.  So good news.

Other good news is that when I leave my current Brownie unit I shall become a District Guider, which means I can help out with any of the local units if they are short-handed, for example on a trip.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
 Last week at Brownies they were completing their Innovate badge, as part of the Express Myself theme.  The challenge was to build the tallest tower out of kebab sticks, cardboard and paper.  They worked within their sixes and one six emerged as the clear winner, when one of the other towers, clearly over ambitious, toppled over.  

This week Flamingo's colleague, who is a beekeeper, came to talk about bees.  The Brownies enjoyed it and learnt something, even though they were getting slightly restless by the end.  And they earned their Bee Challenge badge.  Sadly, only half the pack were present, which was rather annoying - we knew three couldn't make it for various reasons (nothing unusual there, we rarely have a full pack), but heard nothing from the others.



And this evening I'm off to a District pub meal - a chance for a natter with the other local guiders.  I may get the chance to discuss how I can be involved going forwards.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Last Thursday was the last Brownies of the half term, and we did some activities to reflect on the queen's platinum jubilee.  The Brownies enjoyed themselves, but the real excitement was Brownie pack holiday, which began on the Saturday.

I only went for one day - the Sunday - having no wish to sleep over.  This was the day they were visiting Goodrich Castle, so having an extra leader was helpful.  There were 14 Brownies and 6 leaders, which meant we could split into three small groups with two leaders each.  This might seem like overkill, but going up a tower, with a spiral staircase and only a rope rail to hold onto isn't always easy.  Especially when two of the four in the group decide they don't want to go up after all, and I ended up taking the other two.  Who then decided they were not happy about going back down again.  However, they rejected my suggestion that the only other way was if I threw them over the top, and we made our way slowly down, me distracting them as they went.

All the Brownies enjoyed looking round the castle, and I intend to go back another day when I can actually look properly, read the signs and don't have to keep track of four girls going in different directions.  We had packed lunch on some picnic tables and then walked back down the hill to the village hall, which was where they were staying.

The girls then had a rest, some of them falling asleep, others reading, while the leaders had a very welcome cup of tea and prepared for the craft activity - covering a balloon with paper maché.  I wasn't involved, instead helping with preparing the evening meal.  This was a medieval banquet (the theme of the pack holiday was King Arthur), and they had finger food like sausages, chicken drumsticks, chopped up salad, plus loaves of bread which they could tear chunks off.  This was followed by very unmedieval ice cream sundaes, but one needs to be realistic!

They then did another craft activity and I helped clear up from the banquet.  Normally the Brownies do that, but as it had been a feast (and there wasn't too much to do) we did it.  After which I drove home.

I've agreed to remain on the guiding list so that I can still help out at major activities, which suits me as I didn't want to lose all contact, but didn't want the regular commitment anymore.

Ironically, on the Saturday morning, the following badge arrived in the post.  Sunday definitely didn't feel like a day off!



smallhobbit: (screech owl)
We've been back for a few weeks, but I haven't yet posted for various reasons.  Our first week back was the parents' evening for pack holiday, so Peacock and I took the Brownies on a litter pick, since we are only going for the day, rather than staying over.  That went reasonably well, until we came to play games once we were back at our meeting place.  Then there were a lot of arguments over it not being fair, and how they couldn't be out, etc, with the games disintegrating, which wasn't fun.

I was away the following week, but I gather it didn't go well and it seemed like their behaviour had reverted to what we'd been combatting before.  All of which serves to prove it's time for me to finish.  Last week they continued with pack holiday preparation, learning how to lay a table etc (done as a game), but it was still a struggle.

I was leading this week, and wasn't sure how it would go.  We were learning some basic ballet steps - which I remember (more or less) from when I was their age.  To my surprise they were prepared to pay attention and join in.  Some go to ballet classes anyway, and were happy to show what to do, others, who had no idea, really concentrated and we managed to learn the five basic positions.  Then I taught them some moves from the Matthew Bourne version of Swan Lake, so being swans, and after that they got to portray their own choice of animals.  Interestingly, two groups decided to demonstrate the pyramid of life, with the stronger animals killing/eating the weaker ones.  We finished by playing games, which worked better than the previous week.

smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Last week we did some more activities towards the Brownies Express Myself theme badge, including making a pop up card.  In theory, a number of the girls should soon be awarded the badge, once we have done one more short activity.  However, it does require them to have completed an interest badge at home.  Sometimes we will (although against the rules) do an interest badge in our weekly meeting, but since the three relevant badges are Baking, Painting and Performing they really should be able to do something.  Performing might not be as easy, (although one Brownie videoed herself acting out various short scenes from Harry Potter, so it isn't impossible), and we encourage any of the girls who are singing/dancing/acting either at after school clubs, or other classes, to ask their teachers to sign them off. 

This week they did some activities to earn a badge designed by another Brownie pack, called Feathers and Flamingos.  Naturally, Flamingo led the session, with a quiz, a word search and then making a card parrot which balanced on one finger.  All those present were awarded a badge.

We also gave each of the Brownies an Easter egg at the end, since this was our last meeting before Easter.  We had waited until the meeting to see how many came (we were aware of a school trip happening the same day), and then I walked across the road to the supermarket to buy the eggs.  Of course, as I am walking back carrying 12 Easter eggs, not all of which fitted into the bag I had, the intermittent snow/hail decided to fall on me.  Timing, as they say, is everything.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
No Brownies last week, as I was the only available leader, and I can't run the unit on my own.

This week Doodles was back, so she and I were present.  She ran the activities - I'm definitely taking a step back, but am happy to help and enable the meeting to go ahead with my presence.  It began with reminding the Brownies once again about the rules for the meeting - nothing onerous: listening and not talking while the leaders are explaining things, no screaming. 

There's definitely still a loss of social skills as an effect of covid, which causes problems when the Brownie programme assumes a certain level of such skills.  There's a lot of working together in small groups, which the girls generally learn as they join Brownies, so disruption is much less, whereas we have two years who have little experience of this.  Another reason why I shall be leaving - yes, I know there's a role for Brownies in re-educating the girls, I just don't want to be doing it.

Another effect is the continued loss Girlguiding has had of leaders, which will hit our unit come the summer.  Peacock is having a baby at the end of June, and I leave at the end of the summer, which means there will only be two leaders for the unit, although Peacock plans on returning in the autumn.  It's as well that I named a leaving date, rather than 'when you get a replacement' because I doubt I'd have ever left.

Anyway, this week we began with an activity for International Women's Day which looked at whether the Brownies believed certain jobs were for men or women.  Their expectations were higher than might have been feared, although nurses were still predominantly female (which does reflect actual life, I agree) and, rather suprisingly, shop assistants were male.

After which there were activities looking at the properties of various balls (football, tennis ball, rugby ball etc), which was designed to show different balls are suitable for different activities.

And we finished with awarding a couple of interest badges which the Brownies had worked for during the half term break: one Baking and one Performing.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Because for the last two weeks there's only been two leaders at Brownies.

Last week we did some first aid, which Flamingo ran - she was expecting to be running the activities and so had prepared.  We only had 10 brownies, various illnesses, family commitments etc meaning our numbers were down, so they worked in three teams to apply bandages and put arms in slings, taking it in turns to be casualties.  It worked reasonably well, although one casualty can't tell left from right and so told her teammates she had injured the wrong leg.  Fortunately, in a real situation she could just point!

This week was a bit more of a last minute job.  We were celebrating Thinking Day, so Flamingo ran some activities which she managed to construct for the Brownies.  We began with an introduction to Thinking Day, and I was really pleased that one of the girls remembered the paper dolls we had made last year with different uniforms.  I then ran a quiz - nice and easy multiple choice where they have to run to the corner they think is the right answer.  The 14 Brownies were then split into two competing teams for various challenges - throwing beanbags into a box, magnetic darts onto a dartboard etc.  And then finally I ran a couple of games - Pink Knickers which they had wanted to play the previous week, but we hadn't had time, and Fishes.  After which they all went home, quite tired from all their running around.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
This week the Unit Leader couldn't come, as she's got covid.  (I had it last week, but was symptom free and wasn't due to go anyway, since I should have been in London).  Which meant we had to run the meeting without her.  Fortunately, she had been able to send us the instructions for the activity, and Flamingo took charge.

We were looking at how paintings can tell a story, and I had found some postcards of art by Goncharova, plus a larger picture in an Art Quarterly magazine, so Flamingo could use them to illustrate the idea.  Then the Brownies were told to draw their own picture which told a story.  And we had a very peaceful 45 minutes as they all happily chatted and drew.  It's so obvious that they rarely get the opportunity to do so - school artwork is very exact - and we had some good pictures.  They showed their pictures at the end, and we asked what the story was - some of them simply said 'it's my imagination' which was great - why else would there be night and day and a flying wedding cake?

There's one Brownie who we all find very difficult - she makes silly comments and is constantly interrupting, so that she's the centre of attention.  Yesterday she made a lot of noise about what they'd done, then refused to show her drawing.  We accept that some don't want to share, and the other girls are in general good about this, but in this particular case they tried to force her, and she got upset.  I tried to explain that in part she had brought it on herself, but she seemed unable to understand that certain actions will have reactions.  While this might be reasonable for one of the younger girls just starting Brownies, she's almost ten and I would have expected more.

I've now written to give formal 'notice' that I shall be finishing at the end of the summer term.  In some ways I wouldn't mind staying in contact, but I really don't want the commitment of the weekly meeting.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
We started back at Brownies last night with stricter covid rules in place.  We'd had a discussion about whether we'd be better off going back to Zoom, but the general feeling was that face-to-face is much better.  Our problem stems from having two vulnerable leaders and a group of girls for whom covid is happily spreading without any mitigations in place.

However, I'm not there for the next two weeks and by the end of that time it will be clear how we should go forward.

Yesterday we started the Express Myself theme, as chosen by the Brownies.  We have done this before, but three years ago, so none of the Brownies remember it.  Also last time we used the Communicate Skills Builder and this time is Innovate so there won't be much repitition.  The first activity was to warm up and involved the Brownies being frogs in various situations, and then penguins similarly.  They enjoyed the activity and it got them moving in a constructive way.

After which they did moving postcards, which I remember from last time.  In small groups they had to mime where they had gone on holiday.  It worked reasonably well, although one group had a falling out, which, from what I can gather was due to them failing to agree what they were doing since at least two of them were insisting on doing it their way.

I've definitely decided I shall finish at the end of the summer term.  Part of me would like to say at Easter, but with one of the leaders having a baby at the end of June I can at least provide cover until July.  And at least I won't be defrosting my windscreen before I drive home at that point!
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Last week we were supposed to be teaching the Brownies some basic first aid, but with Doodles off sick, Flamingo decided that we'd do something simpler, so we handed out some card and told them to make a Christmas card, using felt tips and various craft materials.  It might seem like a really basic activity, but they all enjoyed the opportunity to sit down and be creative.  And when they had completed their card we suggested they create a decoration, they were all enthusiastic.

This week they were decorating biscuits.  They began by making up and decorating the boxes to take their biscuits home and then they were given four plain biscuits and a variety of icing pens (red, white and green) and sprinkles (snowflakes, gold stars, Christmas trees and hundreds and thousands) and allowed to let their imagination run wide.  This was a very popular activity - it's something we've done in the past, relatively easy and again the Brownies enjoy it.

Their party is next week, but we're on grandparent duty so I won't be there.

There are times when we wonder whether our efforts are worthwhile, and then there are others, like yesterday, when one of the Brownies brought slices of her birthday cake in for the leaders and we're reminded that it does make a difference.



smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Since my last Brownies report - we went back after half term, but I then missed one week as we'd been away and the following week we were on grandparent duty, so yesterday was only my second meeting of the half term.

The first week back I led the meeting as it was UK Parliament week.  It's an activity we've done for the last few years which encourages the girls to see they can make a difference.  I began by playing a game and then we had a vote with ballot papers and a ballot box (the kit comes complete with ballot box).  We try to choose a subject which the Brownies will want a say in, so this time they had a choice between two of the Guiding Themes for which one we would do next: Express Myself or Be Well.  They looked in their badge book to see what each theme involved and the vote overwhelming went for Express Myself. 

After which we worked on a local issue which the Brownies are concerned about.  We picked up on litter and made a tree with each of the leaves coloured by the Brownies with an anti-littering phrase, including recycle and reuse.



We were also able to use this to gain the Speaking Out badge from our current Take Action theme.

The girls' behaviour was still giving problems, so last week Doodles, the unit leader, had a week on expected behaviour, which certainly seemed to improve things this week, when we were sewing.  I enjoy cross stitch, but sewing with the Brownies is a completely different activity.  They began with a ready threaded needle.  They were sewing a badge onto a blanket, or similar.  Some of them were good at it, some not so good.  We three leaders each had a table with six Brownies and circulated from one to the next sorting out the problems.  By the end they all had achieved something.

It did produce some interesting results as to the girls' attitudes.  I had one who already has a completely negative attitude and 'can't do it'.  She couldn't even tie a knot, so I encouraged her to do so.  It really is as much attitude as ability.  I also had the young Brownie who has additional needs - she's clearly used to having assistance (which she does need for some things) and found it quite hard waiting her turn when her needs in this case were no greater than some of the others.  But the revelation was the Brownie in another six, who the leaders would unanimously vote as being the greatest trial, who sewed on two badges and then helped the others in her six - being confident in her abilities meant she didn't need to show off.

smallhobbit: (screech owl)
And I can't say I'm sad!

Last week the Brownies talked a bit about local charities and then they had to make monsters out of cardboard etc.  That was the easy part - they also had to write a plan of how to make the monster, so that they could then take it apart and another group had to follow the instructions to remake the monster.  That was an interesting experiment as they found that their instructions were not detailed enough.  I explained to some of them it was like writing Bread on a shopping list but not saying Brown Bread and therefore someone taking the list and buying white bread.

This week was the best week we've had so far - quite possibly because we only had 10 girls present.  We split them into two groups and each group did what was needed for an interest badge, every girl then being presented be either Mindfulness or Charities at the end of the evening.  They were all engaged with what they were doing which made it so much easier.

As I've mentioned before, every year we have to pay a subscription for each Brownie and Leader - we pay just over £35 per member per year.  To put this in context our termly subs to the Brownies is £35, which has to cover hall rent, badges, equipment etc.  Girlguiding headquarters has just announced they are putting their subs up by £3 per member next February and a further £7 the following year.  As you can imagine this has not gone down well.  While I can understand they've had a hard year, telling hard pressed leaders they have to find extra money when they cannot turn to families for it, is not supportive.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Another couple of weeks at Brownies.

Last week we went for a litter pick around a nearby field in the rain, and in total filled a large black bin bag with rubbish.  This is one area that the Brownies generally feel is an issue, so we are using that as our main theme for the Take Action badge.

This week we followed activities which looked at personal preferences and how you might encourage someone to like the same thing as you do (favourite colour or favourite animal) and also why they might not agree.  We also tried to get them to look at what makes their six unique, but this didn't really work - however some of them put quite a lot of effort in to produce their playlets.

It's still hard work, and I gather we are not the only unit who's finding it difficult.  I can understand that the Brownies have had a difficult eighteen months, but we have a programme to follow and I'm not prepared to turn up simply to babysit.  At one point Flamingo pulled them up short and asked why half the group were being rude and talking instead of watching while the others acted out their playlet.

There are always the odd few who are problems (the ones whose names you learn very quickly) but this is now the majority.
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
And in person!

We started back last week and mostly played games and introduced them to some of the basics of a physical Brownie meeting.  A number had joined during our zoom meetings, and even the others needed reminding, since we hadn't met in person for 18 months.  We had 18 girls, including one who had joined but hadn't been on zoom.

We put them into their new sixes (moles, badgers and rabbits) and sorted Sixers and Seconders.

And then the Guides finally got their act together and invited five of our older Brownies to join Guides, so this week we revamped the sixes and appointed a new Sixer and a couple of new Seconders.  We had made the decision to temporarily drop our numbers from 24 to 18 to give us all a chance to regroup, and with the mass departure we are now below our minimum and ready to start taking in new girls (our waiting list currently stands at 27, and it's temporarily closed.)

This week we continued with our Take Action theme as environmental detectives, looking at things which are good and bad for the environment and then going for a short walk round the field to see what we could spot.

When we had our planning meeting before the start of term, I said I would like to step back at some point.  I've been leading Guides and Brownies for 17 years now and feel my enthusiasm starting to drop.  I wouldn't suddenly drop out, but I'm hoping that during this year they will find a new leader who fits into our unit and will take my place.  One of the things I am finding harder is the need to work to get the girls engaged with what we're doing - I understand they see Brownies as a fun outlet after school, but if we are trying to run a programme then I want to use my energy for that, rather than constantly getting their attention.

Made It!

Jul. 10th, 2021 11:14 am
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
We've had our final Brownie meeting of the term and of our academic year.  Hooray!  Hopefully this will also be our final ever zoom meeting, but no-one's holding their breath.

Flamingo had prepared a fun quiz for them, which they enjoyed, and they all learnt that my favourite fruit is raspberries - no-one guessed that!

Then Doodles presented four Brownie Bronze awards and two Silver awards.  This is done by 'magic', whereby Doodles passes a certificate into her screen and a parent slides an envelope in front of the Brownie, who opens it to find their certificate and badge.  It seems a bit trite, but they all really enjoy the presentation and smile broadly, which shows how much difference even a small personal touch can make.

We go back in September, when things should be easier and we know what we can do.  Hopefully!  Doodles was thinking we should reduce our numbers from 24 to 18, on the basis that if we have to revert to zoom next winter this will be easier.  It also makes spacing a bit simpler.  We talked it over and I suggested we say we'll trial this until half term (at the end of October) by which time things should be a little clearer.  We won't get rid of any of the girls (although there's one we'd all very willingly lose), but not fill spaces.  The other point we shall make is that at least half the pack has joined since the beginning of the first lockdown and has no experience of how we run a face-to-face meeting, so it would help to get them settled first.

I've applied for another grant to help with our annual subs because otherwise we are going to have financial difficulties.

Lastly, here's my Brownie bag with all my badges finally sewn on:





smallhobbit: (screech owl)
It's really getting hard to find suitable activities for the Brownies over zoom.  We've now started to work towards the Take Action theme and finding things which will work is quite a challenge.  Each theme has a number of activities: the five activities for the Skills Builder are compulsory, although there are a couple of choices as to which Skills Builder we can do; and there are a wide selection of Unit Meeting Activities which we can mix and match.  Each activity comes with an A4 card which tells you how to run the activity.
 
All of which sounds really helpful, except that units have to buy the cards in the first place - we were fortunate to get a Guiding grant which meant we could afford a complete set.  And, of course, the activities are designed to be done as a unit, meeting together face to face.  We have been adapting as best we can but it's not always possible.  At our recent meeting in the leader's garden we instantly discarded a good number of the cards, which might have been quite fun, but just wouldn't work.

However, we have managed some things.  Last week we looked at being super-Brownies.  Each girl stated something which needed improving in our location - several mentioned litter.  They then made a super-Brownie costume of a cardboard mask and a cape from a plastic bag and came up with a solution to the problem.

This week we talked about the idea of doing good turns, and how it should be something that benefits others and not just themselves.  After which they made paper chains with a good turn done by each of the Brownies on a separate link.  They're now being encouraged to continue the chain with more good turns.

Nearly there ...
smallhobbit: (screech owl)
Back after half term and heading for the summer holidays!

Last week we looked at various road signs and pictures of things we can see when going for a walk - paths through the countryside, large puddles across paths, cars parked on pavements and the Brownies got to decide whether they were good or bad.

This week, in an attempt to enable many of the Brownies to qualify for their bronze or silver awards which did an interest badge.  These are supposed to be done by the girls on their own, but that requires parental assistance and/or encouragement and very few get that, which is frustrating.  There are a few who are enthusiastic, and the parent is happy to help, but generally it's disappointing.

So Flamingo taught them all to sing Baa, Baa, Black Sheep in Afrikaans.

We now know we won't be able to meet face-to-face at all this term, as the last restrictions aren't being lifted yet.  We're all disappointed, but accept the inevitable - we could see it coming.  Sadly, one of the families was quite unpleasant about it and insisted we must be able to find a way to do so.  It's noticeable that they're one of the families who do nothing to support their daughters to do anything outside the weekly meeting. 

We held an emergency meeting in Doodles garden to revise our planning for the rest of the term and remind ourselves about the families who are supportive and do appreciate all we're doing.  And hopefully we'll be able to meet come September.

Now, for anyone who's interested:
Baa, baa, swart skaff
Hey je baie wol?
Ja baas, Ja baas,
Drie sake vol
Een vir die nooi
Een vir die baas
Een vir die seuntjie
Wat so baie kan raas


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