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Defiant ESU

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Defiant ESU is one of the six Explorer Scout Units in Malling District, and meets on a Monday.

 

 

 

Defiant ESU - Our Sporting Adventure: The Blog!

Our Sporting Adventure: The Pictures! - 26th February 2012

As you can see from the blog posts so far, the Larkfield units have been very busy, working for their sporting adventure and now you can see what they've actually been doing!

Click here to access the full set of pictures for all the events up to now!


Williams Warriors EXTREME Pancake Tossing Event - 24th February

(By Nicola Mallet)

It was time to flex our wrists and whizz up eggsactly the right combination of flipping skills and fancy footwork to take part in extreme pancake challenge on Friday 24th February. Flip off  was at 7:45pm with our just made pancakes.This is extreme pancake flipping, so the challenge was set to toss pancakes around and over Kings Hill. We launched pancakes high into the sky over the angel sculpture in Liberty Square and another 8 sculptures  around Kings Hill, played tennis with a pancake on the courts at Gibson Drive,  and tossed in synchronisation at finial toss off at the Silver Ball. Who won ? The William Warriors Girl Team.


The Scary Tent! Bronze Event: 26 and 30th January 2012

(By James Bush)

On Monday 30th the scouts did a "Scary Tent" for the Beavers. This linked in to the Beaver challenge the week before, when they had drawn their fears onto fish that they had to pull them out of a pond.

We used a BIG mess tent which we split into four areas that had there most common fears:

A spider room
Thunder and lightening
A ghost (George the scout) - one poor Beaver ran out when he saw the ghost
Creepy crawlies in cardboard boxes and the Beavers had to put their hand inside and guess what they were. We had another scout hiding in the big box too!!

Some of the scouts went through with the Beavers to make sure they were not too scared and to tell them it would be all right.

We know they liked the evening as they all said they would like to do it again.

 

Adopt Part of YOUR Community - Leybourne Woods Conservation Project (January 2012)

(By Luisa Tebbutt)


Throughout January the scouts met at Leybourne Woods to do some essential conservation projects. I had never been in the woods before so it was very exciting. On our first day we litter picked. We used litter picking grabbers and gloves to pick up the litter and put into back bags. We were picking up beer cans, glass, empty crisp packets, lighters and we also found a wheel with no tyre. Later on that day another group found the tyre for the wheel. We filled lots of black bags with rubbish. I was really surprised on how much litter there was - alot of litter bugs!

The next trip the scouts with the wellington boots, Chris called us the "wellie boot gang", went into the stream and picked out all the leaves, twigs and logs. The water was freeeeezing cold, smelly and was deeper than my wellies. The cold water went over the top of them and soaked my feet! We cleared the steam to get a better flow for the water voles.

Our next task saw the people with shovels digging out a back stream to create a newt and frog habitat whilst the scouts with bow saws cut back the elder bushes to get the grass to grow for food for the water voles. Unfortunately this time I didn't see any voles but now we have improved their habitat hopefully we will be able to spot them next time!

We came across a rope swing which went across the stream. It was fun and lots of scouts had a go without falling in the stream. I didn't have a go just incase I fell into the smelly cold water.

While we were working, someone spotted a bit of metal poking out of the ground. The scouts with the shovels started digging it up and after a long time of digging, pulling and wobbling the metal pipe finally edged its way out. It was really big and smelly oily water kept spurting over everyone!

I really enjoyed volunteering in Leybourne woods even though it was hard work; I look forward to doing it again later in the year for scout community week.

 

We're seeing double - it's the Modern Pentathalon! 23-01-2012

(By Chris Hardy)

Drunkard Obstacle courses, mind boggling Tangram puzzles, muscle straining limbo, contorting twister and concentrating staring contests were the name of the games all the Explorers competed hard in this evening.


Laughter and seriousness were side by side as the two top emotions flying around the scout hut. The funniest being the dizzy obstacle course and the tension was evident in the staring contest with frustration steaming out of everyone's ears with the Tangram puzzles.


On a practical note we had 20 Explorers spilt into 4 groups going around randomly in their teams to the different bases set up in the room. 2 x games of twister, 1 x limbo, 1 x obstacle course, 5 sets of Tangrams and an area set aside for the staring contest. Scoring was easy and we had the joint winners Nicholas and Ryan coming in with just 8 points compared to last place with 24 points.


I must say another brilliant bit of programming from Gilwell's programming team. Well done and thank you as the Explorers had real fun.

 

Williams Warriors ESU Gaming Evening 23-01-2012

(By Nicola Mallett)

Fantastic night had by all. We had Wii, Xbox, ipads and  PlayStations available. All were used. The Xbox and ipads soon become the favourites. The night kick off with a round of the Fruit Ninja game, where you are the controller and have to cut the fruit either on Xbox or the ipads. Quite an energetic game with unusual leg and arm movements
used to cut the fruit on screen on the Xbox and some intricate moves with your finger on the ipads.  Then on to an assortment of other games finishing the evening off with head to head battles on Just dance 3 on the Xbox.  With
Olivia and Charlie being crown our dance champions.


Bronze Update 19-01-2012

The Bronze Team here! Checking in to give you an update with activites we've been involved in recently:

 

Learn By Touch

A simple lesson to be learned by all: "we are all uniquely different and should be recognised as special in their own may". What better way than to get all the scouts to bring in their own potato, place them into a great big pile, turn the lights off and then search for it !!

After a couple of goes everyone without exception found their "unique" potato by recognising the difference in their own potato. They loved it and learned something, great.



Hot Topics

A new concept for Larkfield scouts, debating. However, after a few of the older ones mucked about at the start, some serious debating got underway.

The 3 topics chosen were:
Is freedom of speech a good thing ?
Are humans to blame for global warming ?
Is membership of the EEC a good thing ?

Its remarkable how each patrol had their own opinions with some of them coming over as real "Euro-sceptics" against the "Pro-Europeans" and others blaming the media for hyping up stories about global warming and taking the right to freedom of speech too far.

We found it easier to break the debate down into 3 groups of about 10 kids so that everyone could get a chance to have their voice heard.


Fancy a Sandwich ?

I have not laughed so much in a long time 

To see the kids trying to make sandwiches and pour out drinks blindfolded as well as co-ordinate with only one hand was hilarious. Jam, margarine, lemon curd and marmite went everywhere. On a serious note however, most of them realised how lucky being able bodied really is and I hope they remember that too.

 

Scout Roundup! 13-01-2012

The scouts are here with their first (regular) update! Below, are the four latest activies they have been involved in as part of the challenge!

 

 Opening ceremony

Wow, what a fantastic start for Larkfield scouts and the 2012 scout association's mammoth sporting adventure!!

We had 30 scouts, 30 home made instruments, 6 leaders and a gold Olympic torch creating music and noise to celebrate our entry into the sporting adventure challenge.

We started simple with a regular beat to the letter "T" followed by a double beat to "Coff - ee". Once mastered, we moved up a gear getting everyone to beat out "Red-Hot-Chil-ley-Pep-ers" which the kids easily performed.

The Grand finale was the THUNDER STORM !! We brought the sound of drums and rattles up from a very quiet patter to what seemed like a 1000 decibel din. It was very exciting, well executed and all the kids really enjoyed it.



Crab football

Considering this game is as old as the hills and I spent many an hour on my hands and feet when I was a scout in the Queen's SILVER jubilee year, the scouts have never played it before!! They did, and loved it.

Having 6 patrols was perfect to rotate them on and off the pitch as and when a team scored a goal. Which was sensible as they soon tired and needed to wash their very black hands.

The overall winners were Adam, Izzy and Gregory's Patrols - well done and another 50 points to everyone.



Diversity BINGO

Such a simple idea and the scouts took to it like ducks to water.

I never thought 16 simple facts about fellow scouts would create such hot competition and a sense of urgency to be the first scout to complete a full house. Scout enthusiasm rubbed off and soon the leaders were hard at it with their own sheets too. By the end of it we all knew more about each other than was ever thought possible in such a short space of time. Unfortunately we did not have any Muslims but found a couple of Catholics if that counts ?

A great idea to use as an ice breaker activity for all age groups, brilliant fun.



Aspirations

A really good activity to finish a scouting evening, an opportunity to chill down and have a good chat with the kids on a personal level. We spilt them up into their patrols and having the luxury of a leader each we set about discussing their goals and aspirations for the year. We laid it on thick that it was their personal choices, not parents, teachers or scout leader wishes.

Everyone without exception really thought hard and we had aspirations as simple as keeping their bedroom tidy through to swimming 2 miles!! We will be re-visiting their aspirations throughout the year - watch this space.

 

Ballon Games! (Silver Challenges for Explorers and Beavers) 11-01-2012

(By William Gray)

The Olympic theme this year for the Larkfield scout groups started with a bang or, to be more precise, lots of small bangs made by the balloon games played at beavers. The evening started with the beavers being put into their lodges and asked to choose a country to represent. The four teams came back as China, Egypt, England and South Africa. With technicalities all in order, the games began with the teams attempting to blow up the balloons. The balloons did not go up as quickly as expected and those that did caused the first casualties of the games along with some loud noises. Eventually, we had enough balloons to start the first race. The beavers had to line up in their teams and put a balloon between their legs. They then set off from one end of the hall to the other and back. The next person would then start and so on until one team had everyone finished.


The race started with South Africa taking an early lead but in their haste, they dropped the balloon. As they recovered, China moved into the lead with a slower but more cautious approach. They maintained their lead for three more lengths of the hall but as the fourth person started, England started using a different tactic - jumping. They quickly took the lead and managed to keep hold off their balloon to the end of the race and came in victorious meaning they each got one point.


With England leading in the table, the other teams needed to work harder to catch them and their chance came in the next game. This involved two teammates keeping the balloon between them as they move sideways from one side of the hall and back. All four teams started strongly and it was neck and neck as they started the journey back to the start line but England used some new tactics of holding each other's arms to keep the balloon in place. It worked very well again and they soon stretched out an unassailable lead. They finished with ease and made it two wins in two games. The other teams may have been disheartened at the result of the first two games but carried on valiantly and prepared for the third and final game.


This game consisted of the teams carrying their balloons on plates and, once again, carrying them from one side of the hall to the other and back. They all started quickly and quickly lost the balloons as they tried to get away too fast. The tactics were quickly changed as they realised that speed was not the answer to this game. They all learned quickly that slow and steady would win this race but England once again judged their tactics perfectly and managed to combine speed with precision. They took the lead and as the others tried to go faster to catch them, they dropped their balloons over and over again and some even ended up standing on their balloons. This slowed them all down and England finished the race calmly to win the third race of the night. The points were added to each beavers chart and England had won the night. All that was left to do was to announce the winners and let them all go after a successful opening to the Olympic year.

 

What a Load of Rubbish! (Bronze Challenge) 9-01-2012

(By Becky Foxwell)

Strutting their stuff the Defiant Explorer unit took like a duck to water, when they were given the task of making their own fashion garments to be paraded down the catwalk of their very own bin bag fashion show.
With only a few bin bags, a pair of scissors, some tape, their imaginations and the knowledge of a chocolate reward, it didn't take long for the Explorers to create what can only be described as works of art!
The explorers then went before the expert panel of judges and after a lot of debate the winner was announced. The whole evening turned out to be a great success and enjoyed by everyone. I would recommend this fun filled evening to anyone.

Check out the pitctures from the night here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.248259281910351.55298.201967696539510&type=3


Who knows you may be the next top Abercrombie and Fitch model!


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