Sixer and Seconder Training Manual (NZ)

CUBS

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CUBS 

The Fundamentals 1. Expectations of the Adult Leaders 2. Badge Requirements 3. Assisting on the program 4. Self-Motivation (getting it done) 5. Ceremonies and Traditions 6. Leading by example 7. Uniform Standards 8. Advancement 9. Communication 10. Knowing the Law/Promise 11. Foot Drill/Salutes and Signs

The hardest thing as a young person is to truly understand what an adult expects of you; often you will stumble trying to please, only to find you’ve done exactly the opposite of what the leaders wanted you to do. You can feel frustrated and angry that it often goes unrecognised when you do things correctly but you get pulled up seemingly for the slightest digression. “What did I do?” “How come he gets away with it?” all standard responses to an adult advising you that you’ve done something that they thought was wrong or not in keeping with your position. So what I’ve tried to do in the text that follows is to write down what I’d like to see from you as Six leaders and Seconders over the next few terms, some of these are not easy and you may feel difficult, and whilst the scout motto is “Do Your Best” don’t use that as an excuse for not giving a challenge/task/duty 100% of your energy and efforts to complete that’s been set for you.

We have always had a badge requirement for becoming a Six leader or Seconder at Chartwell, every now and then in extreme circumstances due to a large amount of youth moving up or leaving, or the base age of the pack being too low, this cannot be sometimes attained in time, however, if you are promoted early, you should ensure that you reach the badge requirements by the end of the first term of your appointment, these are the badge requirements for each rank within the pack.

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First Aid Badge Swimming Level 1 Bronze Award 6 Months Minimum Satisfactory Services, Ideally a year 5 Interest Badges 2 Nights Camping. 4 Knots (Sheet Bend, Clove Hitch, Overhand, Reef Knot)

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First Aid Badge Swimming Badge Level 2 Minimum Silver Award 12 Months Minimum Satisfactory Service, Ideally Two Years 10 Interest Badges 5 Nights Camping, 6 Knots (Sheet Bend, Clove Hitch, Reef Knot, Bowline, Overhand Knot. Round Turn Two and Half Hitches)

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First Aid Badge Swimming Level 3/Scout Swimming Award Gold Award 2 Years Minimum Satisfactory Service 15 Interest Badges 7 Nights Plus Camping (Knots as above Plus, Sheep Shank, Sq lashing)

The Star Awards are not part of the criteria for advancement, but they are a really good way of me assessing your knowledge and then your ability to pass that onto others, that a seconder has at least his one star, a Sixer two stars and the Senior Sixer his leaping wolf badge. The cubs definitely appreciate that these awards are not easy to get and the current holders are certainly thought of very highly within the pack.

Please note the above with the exception of the star awards is the badge requirement, for a particular role, but it does not give you the right to become a Six leader just because you have them, maturity, knowledge, behaviour, attendance are also factors which I will consider.

This is really simple, to assist the adults on the program you need to do the following:     

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Turn up 15 minutes early for each night (Set your start time earlier say 6.15pm) Ensure you six box is looked after and maintained Always pass on, complete and remember the Prayer Book Lead by example, your hand should be the first up, (monkey see, monkey do) Allow time to sweep the hall with your six after the meeting.

Know if your duty six before you turn up, don’t stand there saying you didn’t know it’s your job to know. Six duty order, Eagles, Phoenix, Owls, Hawkes, Falcon’s, Osprey.

If you’re asked to do a job, do it right away.

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CUBS There are children which turn up to Cubs every week because they are told they need to come, there are also Cubs that turn up, literally kicking down the door at home to get here, who live for every facet of scouting and what it offers to them.

Being self-motivated means that you really want to be the best you can possibly be at something, wanting to do this, because you appreciate the values and rewards it will bring, so you drive yourself.

How do we become self-motivated, well it’s my job to give you a program that makes you want to turn up every week, provide the opportunity to earn the badges you require and the opportunities to attend camps and learn crafts that are an integral part of scouting which you may use as a Cub and later as a Scout. Your job is to be prepared to take the opportunities offered and then on your own, do more than the average cub would do, your own research, badge work, crafts, take the hard road rather than the easier one that many travel, which will in the long run lead to the road to success, not only as a cub but in life.

Getting it done, means to complete as quickly as possible a given task following the instructions from your leaders. Try to think for yourself, open your eyes and look for what you need to do before considering asking for help, then see it through to the end. That’s what getting it done means.

In cubs there are many traditions which have been lost through the modernisation of the cub movement moving from the Wolf Cubs to the Cub Scouts in the 1960’s and through various other changes over the years. The young scouts in New Zealand were known as Bull Pups up until 1922, rather than Wolf Cubs and were following a program created by David Cosgrove.

At Chartwell we like to use the ceremonies which still form part of the National Program, but also delve into the Wolf Cub history for ones not generally used in packs around the country anymore, normally because someone has forgotten about them, but which still have relevance. The ones we concentrate on are the:      

Grand Howl, Flag Break Flag Down.

Investitures Moving Up Inspections The Two Star Investiture

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This is one ceremony that often doesn’t get done because the leaders feel a little embarrassed to run it, mainly because they don’t understand the story behind it and what it symbolises. I’m going to try and deal with that here, hopefully it will make things a little clearer.

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Akela (The Old Wolf) Call’s the pack to the “Rock Circle” by calling “Pack Pack Pack” the cubs then respond to the call by shouting “Pack” and move to the rock circle. This used to be a circle about 4-5 ft. in diameter, when cubs are on camp this can be made of stones within which Akela stands at Council Rock, this is where you see the leader of the Seeonee Pack standing in countless illustrations to address his Pack in the Jungle Book.

In the hall the cubs fall in on the left of their Sixer with the Seconder standing on the left of the last member of the Six, Rock circle in the hall is the outside black line on the taped circle marked on the floor and they Cubs should be at the alert with their toes on the line.

At that time the Senior Sixer will carry out and visual inspection of the Cubs, to check that they are wearing their uniform correctly, when he’s completed this he will tell the pack “Pack one step back” and then to “stand at ease” he will then leave the circle and get Toothless ‘The pack totem” and brings him to Akela.

Akela will, when the Senior Sixer has returned to his position enter the Parade circle, tapping toothless on the floor, bringing the pack to the Alert position. The Duty Sixer will then moves forward and joins Akela at council rock, where he receives Toothless from Akela.

Akela will put his arms out so they are perpendicular to the floor and as he lowers them the pack with the exception of the Duty Sixer, drop down to the squat position.

The Duty Sixer will then lead the Howl with the letter “Ah” “Ke-La-We-Will-DoOur-Best!”

On the word “Best!” all the Cubs spring their feet… the Duty Sixer will then say “Cubs do your best” to which they reply “We will do our Best”!

The pack then Salute Akela who returns the salute.

Aklea will then signal for the flag to be broken to the duty sixer.

The Duty Sixer then returns Toothless to Akela and turns Right about face and leaves to break the flag. When he turns the whole pack turns to the right and left respectively towards the flag.

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The flag break is important as it completes part of our Promise, i.e. duty to country, the utmost respect must be paid at this time to the flag and hence everyone should remain at the alert not, moving. 

The Duty Sixer then passes through the gap he left in the parade circle and walks sharply to the flag, standing at the Alert but using two hands and close enough so that he can reach the cleat on the pole, he pulls the loose part of the halliard to break the flag. Once the flag is broken he passes the halliard to the Senior Sixer who has joined him at the Pole base.

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The Duty Sixer stands still and at the alert until the Senior Sixer has secured the Halliards around the cleat, and then together they take two steps away from the flag pole, where they halt and the duty Sixer salutes the flag. He then again turns to his right and falls back into the Parade Circle.

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Note at the same time he turns the pack returns to face Council Rock.

Delivering a prayer at the start of the evening is part of the Cubs “Duty to their God” this can be delivered in Maori or English.   

Akela will say to the Duty Seconder “Prayer Please”.

The Duty Seconder will then read a prayer prepared by them for this week Akela will then stand the Pack at ease and then go on to explain what’s happening tonight and any other news.

This is exactly the same as being dismissed, some groups salute when they fallout, we do not at the moment. 

Akela will bring the pack to the Alert and then say “Pack fall out”, the Cubs then turn a quarter turn to their right and take three steps at which point they are finished in the parade circle and completed the opening ceremony

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Investitures normally occur at the start of the evening after the prayer, whilst the Pack is still formed up in Parade Circle. This is when a Cub joins the pack and represents how Mowgli in the Jungle Book became a member of the Seonee Pack.   

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The Pack is brought upto the alert if not at the alert already.

The Senior Sixer joins Akela at the front of the Parade Circle to his right with the pack flag.

The sixer of the six who the newly invested Cub will be in, then goes to the location of Tenderpad (uninvested Cub) and brings him/her around the parade circle and through the hole in the circle that the Sixer was originally in. He then brings the Tenderpad to a position in front of Akela then steps one pace to the rear of the Tenderpad and to the left, he then remains at the alert throughout the investiture.

Akela “Do you wish to become a Cub?” Tenderpad “Yes Akela I do” Akela “Do you know your Cub Promise and Law?” Tenderpad “Yes Akela I do” Akela “What is the Cub Law” Tenderpad “Cubs do their best, think of others and do a good turn every day” Senior Sixer Lowers the Pack flag so it is parallel to the floor and between Akela and the Tenderpad.

Akela “Cubs make the Scout sign” Cubs All the Cubs make the Scout sign Akela “Place your left hand on the flag and make the Scout sign” Akela “Say your Promise” Tenderpad “I promise to do my best, to do my duty, to my god, to the queen and my country, to help other people and to live by the Cub Law. Akela “Congratulation’s I welcome you to the brotherhood of scouting and to the Chartwell Cub Pack. I hope you will keep your promise” Sixer The Sixer then step to the left of the Cub and parallel with him/her, he then hands the scarf, badges and certificate to Akela as required.

Akela Places the group scarf on the Cub, he then hands the Cub his/her badges and certificate after shaking the Cub by his/her left hand.

Akela Akela then salutes the Cub, the Cub then salutes Akela and then turns to his right and salutes the pack, who return the salute.

Sixer Turns to his right and leads the Cub to their new six where they then both re-join the parade circle.

Senior Sixer Returns to his position and replaces the flag

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Flag down and the Howl are not done in every pack at the end of the evening, however, at Chartwell we do. Flag down at the end of the evening is exactly the same as the Howl at the start of the evening or the opening, but without the prayer. The major difference is that in this case the Seconder is involved in lowering and folding the flag. 

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Akela has been handed back Toothless by the Duty Sixer, who then turns to his right about, the pack all turn to either their left or right to face the flag as the Duty Sixer Passes through the Parade Circle. The Duty Sixes Seconder then follows his sixer to the flag pole, they are joined at that time by the Senior Sixer.

The Duty Sixer holds both Halliards as the Senior Sixer Release them from the Cleat, the Seconder waiting directly under the flag to receive it as it is lowered.

The Senior Sixer then undoes the sheet bend from the Halliard, whilst the Duty Sixer releases the toggle.

With both knots undone the Senior Sixer takes control of the Halliards and the Duty Sixer takes control of the flag, with the Duty Seconder assisting.

The Senior Sixer then secures both halliards to the cleat and takes two steps back.

The Duty Sixer and the Duty Seconder then fold the flag as on the next page.

The flag is held by the Duty Seconder until the Duty Sixer takes control of the flag. The Sixer then places the toggle in his right hand and the short Halliard in his left, this will present the flag when held taught with the Jack on the right of the flag.

Note the flag is always held at chest height, never around the waist as this is disrespectful.

The Sixers and Seconders hand are then brought together effectively folding the flag in half, The Sixer places his left hand at what is now the top of the flag and slides his right thumb to the fold of the flag to create tension, the seconder does the exactly the opposite.

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CUBS Both the Sixer an Seconder then turn the flag anti clockwise leaving the Jack upwards, the toggle and the short halliard in the Sixers left hand and the fold of the flag in the Sixers right hand. The fold is obviously in the Seconders left hand.

The flag is then folded and turned again, the old saying is putting the jack to bed, the flag always turns anti clockwise for the Sixer and clockwise for the Seconder. Tension always needs to be maintained to enable the flag to be folded neatly

The Sixer stays still whilst the Seconder approaches him bringing his end of the flag to the Sixers hands. The Sixer now takes control of the whole flag. The Seconder then slides his hands between the folded flag halves until he reaches the bottom fold.

The Seconder then steps backwards adding tension to the flag, he then concertina folds the flag three times and then roles the flag up towards the Sixer. The Sixer holding both ends of the flag tightly.

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CUBS When he reaches the Sixer he rolls the flag into his hands and releases the flag allowing the Sixer to Secure the Halliard. The Fly end and the short Halliard must be on the outside, not folded into the flag.

The Sixer then passes the folded flag to the Senior Sixer who will place it behind the flag pole.

This is basically exactly the same as the Fallout, except this means the cubs can go home   

Akela If the pack is stood at Ease “Pack Alert” Akela “turning to the right dismissed” Pack Cubs turn to their right take three steps and may leave.

When a Cub has completed his/her time with the pack normally at the ends of Term 1 and Term 3 and they have reached 10 and ½ half years of age, a short ceremony is held to move them up to the Scout section.

Ideally the Scouts are at the hall at the same time and date or the Scout leader attends ready to accept the Cubs into the scout troop, however, because of the significant change between the way that the Cubs operate and the Scouts do, they can and should only be directly invested if they have completed the “how to become a Scout handbook”, which the Scout leader normally provides for the scouts in the weeks preceding their moving up ceremony. This saves the troop investing Scouts who then leave because they feel it’s just not for them, saving the group money and resources.

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CUBS The pack forms up in Parade Circle with Akela standing under the flag, the Cubs who are moving up stand with their sixes in their normal positions. 

The Senior Sixer takes Toothless to the Council Rock and calls the Howl, he then retires from the circle and retrieves the pack flag and joins Akela standing on his right.  Akela then askes the leaving Cubs to step forward and they stand in one line tallest to shortest.  Akela says the following:“You have travelled through the jungle and your eyes have been opened to may wondrous things with the Cub pack. But now it is time for you to continue on your journey in to the world of scouting and towards you Queens Scout Badge. I hope you have enjoyed your time with the cub pack and hope that someday you may return with your children so that they can join the family of scouting or perhaps you may return as a leader and help other children to enjoy the experiences that you have had with the Chartwell Cub Pack.”  Akela “Are you ready to make your promise for the last time?”  Cubs “Yes Akela I am” or if there are more than one “Yes Akela we are”  Akela Cubs place your left hand on the flag and make the Scout sign  Cubs The Cubs who are leaving make the scout sign and if there is more than one cub place their left hand on the left shoulder of the Cub next to them, with the closet to the flag placing their left hand on the flag. All the other cubs in the parade circle also make the scout sign.  Akela “Say your Promise”  Cubs “We have promised to do our best, to do out duty to our god, the queen and our country, to help other people and to live by the cub law.”  Akela Salutes the leaving cubs who return the salute and then Akela shakes them by the hand, wishing them good hunting.  Cubs The Cubs then walk round the circle clockwise starting under the flag shaking the hand of every member in the pack in the parade circle and the leaders. Wishing each other “Good hunting”.  Cubs After they have shaken hands with all the Cubs they reform in front of Akela.  Pack Led by Senior Sixer “ Three cheers for the leaping wolves” Hip Hip .Hoorah etc Akela “Cubs right turn” Akela then moves to the left hand side of the cubs and then leads them to the troop leader if he is there, of if at the end of the evening leads them out of the circle.  Pack When the “leaping Wolves” leave the parade circle, the Senior Sixer calls all the Cubs to the rock circle, he then calls the “claws in” “Good Hunting on three……1,2,3….”Good Hunting” They then return to their starting position in the parade circle and are stood at ease.

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This is one of the oldest ceremonies for the pack and as we are the only pack that used to wear caps and have a star award system, no other pack to my knowledge runs it. There is no recorded official ceremony for the first star but this one comes straight from the Wolf Cub’s handbook.     

Akela Akela calls the pack to the parade circle “Pack Pack Pack” Cubs Answer Akela with a single call of “Pack” and run to form the parade circle.

Akela “Stand at ease” Akela Calls to the cub to join him at the council rock, Akela has the Cubs cap with two stars in his hand.

Akela Stands at council rock and says the following:“When a Cub is born in the wild it is born blind, but in time its eyes start to open, it learns to run and jump, to track, to hunt, to call to its brothers in the night, it learns the importance of team work and in time becomes a valued member of the pack. So it is with Cubs, when you join you know very little, however in time you learn your Promise and law, learn games, knots, camp crafts, how to lead and you have become a loyal and valued member of the pack and a true brother to the Cubs that’s stand here around you”

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Senior Sixer Brings the pack totem into the parade circle and leads the howl.

Pack When the Senior Sixer reaches the centre, the centre and stands still he will tap toothless, this will be the signal for the cubs to squat.

The senior sixer will at this point start the howl.

Akela “You now have both eyes open to the world around you and form hence forth may wear your cap with two marks upon it, these show at your eyes are as bright as stars, you will see quickly and well. You will look ahead of you and see what needs to be done, you will look around you and see how you can help others, you will look behind you and remember what you have been told. In this way you will become a good and useful Cub.” Akela “With your eyes upon the totem and the eyes of the pack and the totem upon you, will you say your promise?”

Cub “Yes Akela I will” Akela Takes the totem from the senior sixer, the cub then grasps the totem in his l left hand raises his/her right hand to make the scout sign.

Akela “Say Your Promise”

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“I have promised to do my best, to do my duty to my god, to my Queen and my country, to help other people and to live by the cub law. Akela Places the cap on the cubs head, shakes him by the hand, wishes him/her “Good Hunting” salutes him, the cub returns the salute and then he turns and salutes the pack.

Pack Returns the salute.

Cub Returns to original position Akela “Pack at Ease”

Leading by example is the hardest thing for any young leader to do, especially within his own age group. However, the basics of this principle is that you should never ask someone to do something that you are not prepared to do yourself. Here are a few other examples:       

Be Polite at all times Be On time Uniform Standard is better than any Cub in your Six Be clean and presentable.

Know your basic Cub skills Know your Promise and Law Be prepared to lead from the front, or go first and in some cases last.

Look after your Six members; treat them as your family.

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CUBS Cubs follow their Sixer, not because he has two stripes and they have been told to, but do so because they respect him/her and want to aspire to be like them.

As a Sixer or Seconder your uniform needs to be good or better than other members in your Six, here’s a guide:        

Badges must be in the correct place and correctly sewn Your shirt must be neatly pressed Your scarf should be clean and ironed with a crease down the ctr and it should be worn on the outside of your shirt collar.

Your shirt must be tucked in.

You should be wearing black shorts, no print, preferably cargo shorts with a belt loop.

Your cap (not part of the uniform) should be clean and worn centrally on your head not turned to one side or the other.(Outside) Your hands face and nails should be clean.

Your name must be in your uniform.

No open toed trainers or jandles.

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Promotion is really down to you, if you work hard then you should become a Sixer in time or if you’re lucky a Senior Sixer, the chance to be promoted is based on the badge criteria detailed above, however, having the badges is not a guarantee of moving up a rank., behaviour, uniform standards, attitude, knowledge, effort and leadership are all important factors.

As you know we move Cubs up to Scouts twice a year, once at the end of term 1 and once at the end of term 3, so the number of vacancies for leader roles can change dramatically depending on the ages of the Cubs who are currently with the pack. So work hard, follow this guide and your chances will dramatically increase.

Communication is a vital part of being a leader, you should know the following: 

Every phone number and email address of the Cubs in your six The emails and phone numbers of your leaders.

Your parents will receive emails from the leaders on a regular basis, informing them of activities, camps etc or other information that affects you as a Cubs, make sure you ask your parents to check at least once every two days, if there is an email to you from me, please acknowledge and if I need a reply please answer asap.

If you cannot make a meeting let your Seconder know, and vice versa. This is especially important bearing in mind if your Six is the duty Six for that week, so talk to each other.

Remember passing it on and receiving the prayer book is both Sixes responsibility, so you must know who’s duty Six every week.

Please note, I more than understand you have other commitments like rugby, soccer, hockey or church for examples and that you are committed to these in the same way if not more than to the Cubs. I also am aware that due to financial considerations or due to your commitment to these other activities you may not be able to attend the camps or outside activities. If you can or can’t attend, please let me know, if I don’t know what numbers to expect, I cannot sort leaders, create a budget or draw up a program for the weekend. Also let your seconder know, if it’s a pack activity they may have to take over your role if you cannot get there.

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Just saying the promise and the Law doesn’t mean a lot if you don’t understand what the words you are saying mean and what making a promise means. To do this you need to understand not only what it means to you, but also what it means to the leaders who look after you.

To me a promise is a an oath, made by you, that you will try and do what you said to the best of your ability, within reason and based on the physical and other constraints that may affect your ability to do it.

Hence if there is nothing that can stop you from keeping that oath, then you should do it.

Four lines to live by as a basic set of values in your time as a Cub. But let’s have a look at these lines in detail.

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All of the words used in this line have meaning to you

and you alone… “I Promise” means you promise no one else, just you. “To do my Best” this means to try to do the best you can despite the challenges or difficulties that may be placed in front of you.

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CUBS Do not however measure the level of your success against another Cub. Everyone develops physically and mentally at different ages in their youth, all you have to feel is that there was nothing else you could have done that would have allowed you to complete the task in a better way or to the benefit of more people, if you feel there may have been, then use this knowledge the next time an opportunity comes along to improve your outcome.

The important words again refer to you “my” and then “my God” and of course another word to understand is “Duty”. “My” again gives you ownership of the values attached to the words “Duty” and “God” allowing cubs to use their values and religious beliefs in the way that they approach this part of your promise.

“Duty” means to complete a task, sometimes with which you may disagree or strongly agree with, for cubs I would say if it feels wrong in your heart, then don’t do it. “My God” well we have cubs who are Atheists, Catholics, Muslims, Christians of many denominations for example and all value god in their own way and must accordingly act in the way appropriate and in keeping with their beliefs.

The Queen is Queen Elizabeth the 2nd and she is the head of State for New Zealand, the Union Jack still features in the upper left hand corner of the National Flag and as such we should hold up the values that she projects and do our Duty to her as and when requested. For Cubs again this falls into the respect for our flag and pictures of the Queen and Prince Philip which can be found in our hall. I also understand that some cultures within New Zealand have a very different view of her role and I respect all people’s views as long as they respect other peoples. well that’s New Zealand and that means paying respect to the officers that represent the New Zealand Government, ie Police officers, politicians etc and the country’s flag, when it is handled or raised and lowered at the start and the end of the evening at cubs or any other occasion.

Cubs often think helping means a huge act, like painting a whole fence, or saving someone’s life, this fortunately is not the case. Help other people should be read as it is written, help anyone, a teacher carrying books and struggling with a door, placing your clothes in the wash box rather than leaving them on the floor, basically it means thinking about other people rather than yourself and seeing how you can assist them in any task however menial or small. You’ll be amazed how doing these small things can change someone’s opinion of you. Bit of advice though always ask if someone needs help first…ie “can I help you” The cub law is not hard to Live by and what this means is that you look to carry out your everyday life and your scouting life living by the values contained within the Law, or doing your best to at least!

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This reaffirms the commitment you make in the Promise to do your best, but here in the law its asking you do your best not only at cubs but in your everyday life as well.

Again this reaffirms the Promise and again expects you to apply this to everyday life as well as the time you attend cubs.

Here we have the cubs most famous activity doing a good turn, what does it mean? Again it means helping someone out, and it doesn’t matter who. It does not as I have said before not have to be a huge thing; you just have to try to do your best. You’ll be amazed at what you can do!!

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There is only a few times we are expected to stand correctly, these are the Grand Howl and most other ceremonies, also at Anzac Day and possible if requested when dignitaries visit or high ranking members in the organisation.

The “At Ease “position is what the cubs should be stood in when Akela or another leader is addressing them. The feet should be no wider than shoulder width apart and slightly splayed outwards. Weight should be evenly balanced. Your hands should be placed with your left hand underneath your right hand. Whilst in this position, you can move your head, but cannot talk unless given permission to.

The “Alert” is basically another word for attention and to attain this from the “At Ease” position only the left foot moves, the right foot stays right where you left it. Ok when the left foot moves both hands come from behind the back and are placed down the seam of the shorts, in this picture Michael’s are in a lightly clenched fist.

The foot is not stamped!! The feet should form an angle of around 60° as per this picture. Again no talking and you must stay perfectly still.

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Done correctly this looks very smart, done poorly it’s a throw away that nobody cares about, you should make sure the members of the Six do this correctly, if you see someone doing it wrong fix it.

The Scout Salute is done with the right hand only, the left hand stays by the side of the left leg. The right hand is brought out from the side following a wide arc from and in line with the body, as it reaches the horizontal the arm bends at the elbow bringing the hand in the same form as for the Scout sign to just above the right eye where it remains stationary for 2 seconds before the hand returning to its start position by the shortest possible route. As the old saying goes “longest way up, shortest way down”

Ok I can see the questions now…”Why do Cubs use the Scout Salute and Scout Sign?”

Well the simple reason is things were changed dramatically in 1966 in the UK when the Wolf Cubs were changed to being Cub Scouts, New Zealand who were operating the same program at the time followed suit. The Wolf Cubs used to only salute with two fingers and the custom was to salute with two fingers in the V for victory way, with the palm pointing to the person you were saluting, the idea was that it mirrored the two pricked ears of the Wolf.

Now I have heard many comments about what the three fingers represent in this form, from National representatives and other leaders, this is what BP himself said in his Book “Scouting for Boys 1908” “The three fingers held up (like the three points of the scouts badge) remind him of his three promises in the Scout’s oath.

0800 SCOUTS

scouts.org.nz

CUBS

3.

The Scouts Oath was the predecessor of the Promise we know today, but the elements are still there. Again this can be done two ways the right way and wrong, again using the right hand only the arm is raised so it is parallel to the ground and bent at the elbow allowing the forearm to reach the vertical, This used to be also known as the half salute. We use this for investitures or when we reaffirm our promise. Jacob’s doing a good job here.

The Scout sign is now universal throughout the Scouting world, BP used to call it the secret sign.

One of the last things I’m going to depict here is the “Squat” this is used in the Grand Howl.

Here are two Cubs taking up the position for the first part of the howl, there on the balls of their feet, well balanced and ready to spring up as required. Their hands are together with their fingers in the shape of the Scout Sign touching the ground.

This represents the paws of the wolf cub and the way that a wolf sits. Now also note the head is up not looking at the floor, if it’s leaning any other direction when you push off your feet, you’ll follow it.There’s a front and a side view here of it being done correctly, make sure you and your Six get it right.

0800 SCOUTS

scouts.org.nz

CUBS

0800 SCOUTS

scouts.org.nz

CUBS Someone once said “With great power.. comes great responsibility” I think it was Spiderman the movie, but regardless of its source this is still very true. To be a leader is a great honour, it’s not always easy, invariably challenging, can be totally frustrating but extremely rewarding if you see it through to the end. I have faith in you, but you must have faith in yourselves.. good luck.

“As the dawn was breaking the Wolf-Pack yelled Once, Twice and again!

Feet in the Jungle that leave no mark!

Eyes that can see in the dark – the dark!

Tongue give tongue to it! Hark! Oh, hark!

Once, twice and again!”

0800 SCOUTS

scouts.org.nz