Te Atatu Endeavour Sea Scouts

We recently celebrated Frankie being awarded her King's Scout Kauri Award Pin at her last official night as a Venturer. The King Scout Kauri Award is the highest youth award in the Scouting. This achievement requires the recipient to plan and undertake an adventurous journey, complete a residential project, and contribute significant time to service in their communities as well as taking part in and leading the activities of their unit.

Frankie will be going to Wellington for the official presentation by the Governor General.

B.R.A.V.O Frankie! We are proud of you.

Late Last Year we applied for and received a grant from the Henderson-Massey Local Board for the purchase of new PFD's (lifejackets) to replace our old ones when we became aware that the majority of them were well beyond the manufacturers recommended life. This generosity enabled us to continue to deliver our programme without skipping a beat!

So a big Thank You to the board for supporting us.

The Scouts and Vents all went on the annual tramp in the Kaimais over Kings Birthday. Not much to say apart from everyone had a great time. Check out the photos here

In February one of our Scout Leaders was awarded his Bronze Tiki in recognition of his contribution to our group. I was privileged to finally be able to present this award this to Gary on our recent Kings Birthday Tramp in the Kaimais - a fitting location given his contribution. Also fitting as we had many Scouts and Venturers with us for who Gary has made this type of expedition possible. And yes I carried the medal all weekend to give to him on Monday when we were all together. It is leaders like Gary that make this Group work. His full nomination reads: Gary is one of the quiet doers of our group. When it comes to boat or building maintenance, equipment procurement, creating new Standard Operating Procedures to help us manage risk and run activities safely and efficiently or instructing our youth he is there providing his time and experience to all who need it. Gary exemplifies our values in everything he does. Quietly doing what is needed, respecting and guiding the youth in learning new skills, and showing integrity along the way. Gary has helped create the platform that allows us to run water based activities safely and consistently, allowing the youth to be out on the water as often as possible learning at their own pace. He is always there in the background ready to provide assistance or a helping hand - whether directly to the youth or to other leaders in the group. Gary has stepped in to all the other sections on occasion helping out to allow our youth to carry out the adventurous activities that they love. He is also leading an ongoing programme of maintenance on our equipment and facilities that will stand us in good stead for the future

The Wood Badge, symbolised by two wooden beads on a leather thong, is awarded to leaders who have completed the highest level of training available in Scouting.  Woodbeads aren’t just beads, they’re a global symbol of leadership, commitment, and growth. They are earned by those who embrace the meaning of leadership in Scouting, not just ticking boxes.

On the completion of this training the recipient is presented with their Gilwell scarf and invested into the Kiwi Patrol within the 1st Gilwell Park Scout Group, the world's largest Scout group. The Gilwell scarf may only be presented by another Scout who has themselves been invested into the Gilwell Scout Group.

So, thank you to our very own Kevin Ankcorn for his hard mahi over many years, providing awesome Scouting experiences for our youth. Your efforts are appreciated beyond words, and we are lucky to have you as part of our group. Kevin was presented with his Gillwell scarf by our own Terry Wade at the end of our combined Kea & Cub award ceremony near the end of last Term

A few weeks ago we had a combined Kea & Cub Award ceremony where we gave out some Silver & Gold Kea Awards and invested some new Cubs. It was nice to be able to do this together and recognise achievements.

A massive thank you to all those who came to the quiz night and had a great time - it was put biggest yet!

Also thanks to all the helpers - leaders, committee members, parents, Scouts & Venturers who gave up their time to help.

Lastly, thanks to all our donors, to many to name, but here are just a few, each giving as they were able and all appreciated.

We attended the Te Atatu Peninsula ANZAC Day Service this morning. Thank you to all who came to commemorate.

Lest we forget.

What a great weekend at the Auckland Regatta at Lake Pupuke. B.R.A.V.O to the UNI Water Activities Team for pulling together a great event. 350+ Youth camping and competing is great to see after a number of disrupted years.

A number of other Groups have made puns about it being an oar-some weekend, so I'll hold off from that.

For the record here are our results:

Achieved Camping Standard

Achieved Seamanship Standard

2nd Junior Cutter Sailing

2nd Junior Kayaking

3rd Junior Seamanship

1st Intermediate Tug of War

2nd Intermediate Rowing

1st Senior Cutter Sailing

3rd Senior Rowing

3rd Senior Iron Man

1st Catepillar Race

2nd Cutter Sailing Aggregate

2nd Aggregate Rowing

3rd Aggregate Kayaking

3rd Senior Aggregate

3rd Stevens Boathook (Overall Annual Competition including Swimming Sports & Canoe Carnival)

And just to show the Leaders can do as well as teach

2nd Open Cutter Sailing

3rd Open Rowing

3rd Open Regatta Aggregate

A massive thanks to all the Leaders and Parents who gave their time to organise, cook, pack up, pack down, lift, shift and generally help.

Click here for photos (in roughly chronological order)

A great turnout.

The weather played ball. We had a blast, sailing, jet boat & biscuit rides, kayaking, a sausage sizzle and cake.

Attention all Scouts & Venturers. Notice for Snow Camp has just gone out - responses required by Wednesday 7th September please!

On Sunday, 10th April, we hosted almost 30 leaders from groups all over Auckland who came out West to learn about how to run Kayaking activities safely for their youth.

The morning session was theory, while the afternoon was taken up with demonstrations and practicing of techniques talked about earlier.

It was a brilliant day and the weather couldn't have been better. Well done to everyone involved - from the participants, to the instructors to the safety boat crews, everyone giving up their time to make sure our Keas, Cubs, Scouts and Venturers can have safe and fun activities on the water.

I completely forgot to take photos on the water - sorry everyone!

Would you consider becoming a Kea Leader?

Kea Scouts is the youngest youth section of SCOUTS New Zealand and provides a fun and educational programme designed for children aged six and seven years or in Years 1 to 3 at school.

As a Kea Leader, you will get to take part in so many fun events. You will learn brilliant new skills and make lots of new friends and gain a sense of satisfaction and belonging while leading our Keas into the future.

Keas work towards the same goals as all other Scout sections, helping young people develop into better citizens in our community. It is a simple, flexible and positive group experience where the accent is on ADVENTURE, SHARING and FUN. If children love to learn and share they will carry these values through life. They will definitely be on their way towards making the world a better place.

The Scouting family has a vast supportive network to help you - you wouldn't be on your own.

We encourage our Parents to share the Kea programme with their children, and it is important that you use the skills that they have to help with the weekly programme. A Mum or Dad who enjoys cooking could take a cooking segment of your programme once in a while and there may be a Dad who could help run a Bike Maintenance segment one night, and so on.

Keas is the first section of SCOUTS New Zealand and we give the Keas the foundations or start to follow onto the other Sections in their Scouting career.

Ideally we'd like 2-3 of our parents to step up to assist our existing leaders Kevin, Rachael & Liam. If we can get 6 leaders, it means that you can miss a night with little impact, bearing in mind that we must have 2 warranted leaders present at all times. As a sweetener, if your child is on the waiting list and you choose to become a leader, they will join with you!

If you think this is something you'd like to do, or if you want more information please feel free to call/email/text either myself or Kevin.

Tim Felton - Assistant Group Leader 021 417621 / [email protected]

Kevin Ankcorn 027 2797597 / [email protected]

Thanks

Tim

Here are the results from the Annual UNI Territory Swimming Sports held last Saturday night. Well done to all who came and took part - you were awesome!