New Youth Program

It will depend on how closely associated the Groups are. When completing the New Youth Program Application, all Groups will have the option to nominate a maximum of 5 other Groups in their geographical area that they would like to upskill with. This is to ensure that Groups have a strong support network for their transition, and we believe that this support network will be made even stronger if it is made up of Groups that already have an established relationship.

It should be noted that this nomination is a matter of preference only and will depend on a variety of factors – most importantly, the readiness of the Groups you have nominated. You must also confirm that all Groups involved have discussed and agreed to transition together and that each individual Group submits their own application.

However, if your Group has a level of association where your youth members are completing significant portions, or the entirety, of their Award Scheme and Scouting journey with youth members from another Group (for example a combined Venturer Unit), both Groups must transition together. Individual Sections will not be permitted to transition separate to their Group. If your Section falls into this category, make sure that your Group Leader is aware and lets us know in your Application.

From here, we would recommend you begin discussions with the other Group about how you can best approach your transition, remembering to keep youth members at the centre, and then everyone involved should seek to support both Groups as you ensure that you are ready to transition into the New Youth Program.

Stand-alone Venturer Units and Rover Crews will be required to discuss with another Group in their geographical area who has a wider variety of Sections and agree to support each other with their respective transitions.

We want to ensure that there are strong support networks around all Groups and Sections during their transition and this will be achieved by Groups with larger varieties of Sections supporting stand-alone Units and Crews. During this process, you can expect the other Group to be actively liaising and meeting with you to support you through your transition, and they can expect your Unit or Crew to support the transition of the Group and the implementation of the New Youth Program into the younger Sections, as is expected with Venturer Units and Rover Crews associated with a Group.

It is encouraged that the Unit or Crew would consult a local Group before either Group or Section applies and that the connection for the period of the transition is noted on the application.

If you are unsure about this as a Venturer Unit or Rover Crew, please do not hesitate to email [email protected]

Every youth member in NSW will be mapped to the New Youth Program by 31 December 2021, so the last formal presentation of Peak Awards under the current Award Scheme will be in April 2022 (for Government House presentations).

For youth members whose Group has begun to transition onto the New Youth Program, however, there are options to still complete current Peak Awards. These options are under a strict time constraint and should be left to the discretion of the individual youth member.

For Groups that transition between April 2018 and June 2020, youth members, if they choose, will have 12 months from the completion of the Groups upskill Training to complete any current Peak Awards if they desire

The exception to this is Rover Scouts, who have 18 months from the completion of Upskill Training to complete the current Peak Award.

For Groups that transition to the New Youth Program from July 2020, all youth members will have until the 31 December 2021 to complete any current Peak Awards.

We have put together a New Youth Program Readiness Checklist to assist your Group in ensuring that they are as ready as possible to upskill onto the New Youth Program. This checklist should be completed before the Application is submitted – we will ask you to submit the completed Checklist when you apply. A large component of the application and evidence will be focused around the Groups engagement with “The Adventure Begins” package of 2018. If your Group has not yet engaged – it is not too late – jump onto the Scouts Australia website to download all the fantastic resources at https://scouts.com.au/what-we-do/youth-program/adventure-begins/

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The Groups who are being upskilled in Term 1, 2019 have been chosen from our initial Pioneer applications in order to ensure coverage of the Program across all Regions in NSW before we begin our clustered roll-out from Term 2, 2019 through December 2021.

From here, Groups will be selected in geographical clusters of 3 to 5 Groups. Groups will complete the New Youth Program Readiness Checklist and submit an Application via the NSW Website. We will then review the applications, in consultation with the Region Team, before selecting the next clusters which we will travel to and deliver their upskill training.

We will endeavour to keep Groups updated about the status of their application and clustering. We will also contact Groups who have applied, but are not quite ready to transition, to assist in directing them in how they should go about continuing to prepare to transition.

A solid grounding for your preparation is focusing on “The Adventure Begins” package which was developed for 2018 and working towards all Section Councils completing The Adventure Begins Checklist.

2018 saw 23 Groups upskilled as our State’s “Pioneer” Scout Groups and start their transition on the New Youth Program. These Groups were:

• Normanhurst Scout Group, 1st Berowra Scout Group, 2nd Gordon Scout Group, Epping Scout Group
• 1st Carlingford Scout Group, 1st Toongabbie Scout Group, 2nd Baulkham Hills Scout Group
• 1st Picnic Point Scout Group, 1st Balmain Scout Group, 1st Oyster Bay Scout Group
• 2nd Armidale Scout Group, Inverell Scout Group
• 1st Gosford Scout Group, 1st Warners Bay Scout Group, Kincumber/Bensville Scout Group, 1st New Lambton Scout Group, Kotara Scout Group
• 1st Batemans Bay Scout Group, 1st Burrill-Ulladulla Scout Group, 2nd Queanbeyan Scout Group
• 1st Murrumbateman Scout Group, 1st Kooringal Scout Group, 2nd Albury Scout Group

The implementation of the New Youth Program in NSW has already begun and will take us all the way to December 2021. By the end of 2019, we are aiming to have 35% of Groups upskilled and on their journey of implementing the New Youth Program. By the end of 2020, we are aiming for 70% of Groups upskilled and by December 2021, we will have 100% of Groups in NSW upskilled to the New Youth Program.

Term 1, 2019 will see 15 Groups from Golden West, North Coast and Hume Regions upskilled onto the New Youth Program to ensure an adequate coverage of the Program across all Regions. From Term 2, 2019, we will begin our roll-out implementation. This involves a geographical cluster of 3 to 5 Groups being chosen from applications submitted, in consultation with the Region Teams, to be upskilled together. This will allow strong support networks to form to ensure successful transitions to the New Youth Program. The roll-out will continue from Term 2, 2019 until the end of our implementation in December 2021.

Along the way, you can expect to hear lots of positive stories from our New Program Groups about all the fun things they have been able to achieve because of the Program and you will also be kept informed about what the Groups who are not yet transitioning can be doing to help ensure that they are ready for when it is their turn.

Any questions or enquiries regarding the New Youth Program should be directed to [email protected] where they will be answered by one of the members of the Scouts NSW Program Transformation and Implementation Team. Please be patient with responses as, just like you, the members of this team are volunteers.

You can find out about the New Youth Program on the Scouts Australia website, including information about “The Adventure Begins” to get ready to take on the New Youth Program. For anything specifically related to the implementation of the New Youth Program in NSW, this webpage is your best source of information.