Program essentials are covered in our weekly meetings. These contribute to Milestone progressions - being the part of our program for which Youth Members are measured on their attendance and participation. Through these meetings we explore a range of topics aimed to develop our youth in 5 key aspects known as the SPICES (Social, Physical, Intellectual, Character, Emotional and Spiritual).

Each weekly programs address at least one Challenge Area from within our program - Community, Outdoors, Personal Development and Creative.

Scouting has been a youth leading, adults supporting movement from the very beginning and youth leading, adults supporting is a key partnership where young people take ownership of their development and journey.

All throughout their journey Scouts become increasingly self-managing with adults facilitating and supporting them in creating learning opportunities and together turn these opportunities into meaningful experiences. The role of the adult Leader is to coach and guide Youth Members to develop knowledge, skills and experiences within the section whilst ensuring at all times a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment is accessible for all.

As Scouts progress through the program, youth leadership will increase while adult leadership decreases and as such the role of the adult leader within each section can be viewed as:

A Joey Scout is assisted

A Cub Scout is guided

A Scout is encouraged

A Venturer Scout is mentored

A Rover Scout is advised

Plan>Do>Review> is a tool to engage youth members in developing and running an active program that everyone can enjoy and develop through.

We also use Plan>Do>Review> to set personal goals, especially for the Program Essentials and Special Interest Areas.

This method is an essential life skill that will serve our Youth Members for their entire lives regardless of their pursuits.

Beyond participation, Scouts of all ages are given the opportunity to step up and develop their leadership skills. To progress through our program they will need to Lead and Assist in various programs.

Assisting involves helping another Scout (or leaders) run a program - without taking complete responsibly for delivering an activity. This is a brilliant introduction into leadership but also reminds our youth that there is more than one style of leadership required to succeed.

Leading involves running an activity. For our younger youth members, this may be a single game or activity where for our older members, it would require taking ultimate responsibility for an entire program or night.

At every stage, these opportunities are appropriately supported by adult leaders and developed to be age appropriate.

“Milestones” are the core of our program. They are an opportunity to be awarded a badge on the basis of participation (attendance and involvement in weekly activities) as well as undertaking Leads and Assists.

There are 3 milestones for each age section. These have different requirements for attendance and participation as well as the number of Leads and Assists required. Those who regularly attend and involve themselves in programs will progress through the Milestones with ease.

Perhaps the most well known aspect of the Scouting Program is our development of practical skills and a love of the outdoors. Our OAS program delivers this.

OAS Skills are age and stage dependant. They are regimented and specific with nine levels within each discipline. Youth Members will learn life-skills across a range of disciplines to progress through the program. They will need to master skills and on completion, their leaders and peers will sign off on their competencies. On completion of a stage, they will be awarded a badge.

The core of our OAS program is split into three core areas - Bushwalking, Bushcraft and Camping. Our regular program covers these stages at an age and stage appropriate level.

Scouts has a further 20 disciplines within the program including cycling, paddling, sailing, rock climbing, abseiling, archery and even flying. These activities may be supported by our group but are generally administered by specialist groups within the Scouts Victoria program. Through the Scouting program, youth have access to specialist Adventurous Activities teams who will give them opportunities to try new activities and master new skills.

Special Interest Areas encourage Scouts from all Sections to try new things and pursue existing interests.

Scouts can choose to design a project for themselves across 6 disciplines - Adventure & Sport, Creating a Better World, Personal Growth & Development, Arts and Literature, Environment and STEM & Innovation. While the requirements for how complex these projects are differ for each age group the fundamental requirement is the same - they must be planned, intentional projects that are a challenge for the youth member engaging in the project.

Special Interest Areas give young people ownership of their own development. Research tells us that this is important to learning success.

Special Interest Areas build upon skills such as creativity, independence, and problem-solving. They also teach Scouts to set, plan towards, and achieve goals with projects deliberately open-ended and designed to meet the individual needs of each Scout.

15th Brighton uses a digital record keeping system to record each Youth Member’s development through the program. It is called Terrain.

Each time they attend a program, camp or activity, complete a lead or assist or develop in their OAS skills, it is recorded in Terrain. This is a permanent record that will be with them throughout their time in Scouting. Youth Members use it to review the skills they need to develop in to progress to their next level.

We have always been a Jewish Scout Group. We are not affiliated with any single congregation and do not conform with specific religious practices.

Our catering is always respectful of Kashrut. We only use Kosher meat and do not mix meat and milk in the same meal. In consultation, we can cater to most levels of observance.

While we are respectful of Jewish religious practice, we are not a religious institution and will not enforce any level of observance.

Our programming will sometimes touch on Jewish festivals or take inspiration from the Jewish calendar.

We do not discriminate nor do we require our members to be Jewish.