Growing Roots: Learning you need to do
Branching Out: Further learning opportunities
Optional Wood Badge
Training to Learning: What's Changed?
Branching Out: Further learning opportunities
Find out about learning opportunities for when you’d like to build your skills.
Branching Out learning is for when you want to stretch yourself and develop your skills and knowledge.
Some of the Branching Out learning is required if you want to do certain things – like learning for accreditations. Other learning is there for if, and when, it’s helpful for you.
It covers a wide range of topics, from practical Scouts skills and how to deliver adventurous activities, to how to manage projects and events. Delivery methods vary with some content designed to be delivered face-to-face, in practical skills workshops for example, or as online content on the My Learning digital tool.
Eventually, all content from the Adult Training Scheme will be replaced. We’ll let you know when the new content is available, and when you can take part in testing it.
Branching out learning opportunities…
- Skills of leadership (Module 8)
- Working with adults (Module 9)
- Growing the section (Module 13)
- Residential (Module 16)
- Practical Skills (Module 18)
- International (Module 19)
- Assessing Learning (Module 25)
- Instructing Practical Skills (Module 27)
- Presenting (Module 29)
- Skills for Residential Experience (Module 38)
- Mentoring and Coaching (Module 39)
- Manager and Supporter Skills Courses
Future of the Wood Badge: Optional Learning Pathway
The Wood Badge is an international award demonstrating a volunteer’s personal commitment to learning and development with Scouts.
Completing the award is optional and volunteers can choose to work towards it as part of their ongoing development.
There are two ways to gain a Wood Badge (you can only earn one). One route is for volunteers focussed on delivering programmes for young people. The other route is for those who focus on supporting and leading volunteers.
Anyone can take either of these paths to a Wood Badge:
Section Wood Badge
The Section Wood Badge is for volunteers focussed on programme delivery.
How do I start?
To begin, sign in to Scouts.org.uk, head to My Learning and assign the Section Wood Badge to your profile. Full instructions can be found in the Digital Tool Guides.
What do I need to do?
Once assigned, you’ll be able to see the required learning, which covers the following themes:
- All growing roots learning
- Creating inclusion*
- Delivering a great programme*
- Module 8 – Skills of leadership
- Module 9 – Working with adults
- Module 13 – Growing the section
- Module 16 – Residential
- Module 18 – Practical skills
- Module 19 – International
*To gain the Section Wood Badge, you’ll still need to do this learning even if you have an automatic sign-off of Growing Roots learning on joining the new digital system.
Managers and Supports Wood Badge
The Managers and Supporters Wood Badge is for volunteers focussed on leading and supporting volunteers.
How do I start?
To begin, sign in to Scouts.org.uk, head to My Learning and assign the Section Wood Badge to your profile. Full instructions can be found in the Digital Tool Guides.
What do I need to do?
Once assigned, you’ll be able to see the required learning, which covers the following themes:
- All growing roots learning
- Creating inclusion*
- Delivering a great programme*
All current Manager and Supporter skills courses:
- Managing Time and Personal Skills
- Finding, Appointing and Welcoming Volunteers
- Keeping, Developing and Managing Volunteers
- Dealing with Difficult Situations
- Planning for Growth
- Enabling Change
- Getting the Word Out
- Financial and Physical Resources
- Building Effective Teams
- Leading Local Scouting
- Project Management
- Decision Making
- Supporting the Adult Training Scheme
- Safety for Managers and Supporters
*To gain the Section Wood Badge, you’ll still need to do this learning even if you have an automatic sign-off of Growing Roots learning on joining the new digital system.
Moving from Adult Training to Learning: What’s Changed?
From November 2024 we started delivering our new learning, which replaces the Adult Training Scheme delivered since 2004.
- Learning Tree – We’ve replaced the Module Matrix with the new Learning Tree.
- Digitial Tools – Volunteers can see the learning they need to do, keep track of their progress and check their record through our new digital tool. The tool also sends automatic reminders when Safeguarding, Safety and First Response learning need to be renewed.
- PLPs – Personal Learning Plans and Adult Personal Files have been retired.
- Wood Badge – The Wood Badge is now optional, and we’re developing a new framework for the award. Read about the future of the Wood Badge to learn more.
Our learning is a mix of e-learning and learning experiences that take place outside of the system, for example delivered by a Trainer either face to face or online.
- e-Learning – skills will automatically be assigned and credited.
- Other courses and skills – the volunteer will need to get this credited, based on the validation criteria by contacting a Learning Assessor.
Learning is managed by District Volunteering Development Teams. Training teams have not continued within the same form, and we no longer have Training Advisers.
- Learning Assessors – Volunteers with the Learning Assessor accreditation support with crediting learning.
- Training Advisers’ guides – We’ve retired the Training Advisers’ guides. Information on each learning course and validation criteria is available on the digital tool.
Timescales for ompleting learning requirements:
- Section Assistants – moving to Section Teams are required to complete Delivering a Great Programme within six months from Go-Live.
- Existing volunteers who didn’t get all their mandatory training validated in Compass before Compass Freeze, or who completed the previous Safety or Safeguarding learning while Compass was offline must complete the equivalent Growing Roots learning within six months from Go-Live.
Migration of training records to the digitial tool:
- All recorded Wood Badges and validated adult training modules needed in our new learning model have migrated across to the new digital tool. Any training modules not validated on Compass will not have migrated to the new digital tool.
- The previous training modules were mapped across to credit certain parts of the new Growing Roots learning. Please note that where multiple current modules are listed these must all be completed to credit the corresponding Growing Roots learning.
Updated December 2024
