What We Do
Guiding Programme and how it works
The guiding programme is the foundation of what all the girls do in guiding. The programme encompasses a wide range of activities, badges and allows girls to obtain new and develop existing skills.
The Girlguiding UK website states the programme is “Designed and created with girls, our programme is packed full of fun, adventure and variety. And it supports girls to broaden their horizons, challenge themselves and be the best they can be”.
The programme has so much to offer, it has been especially designed so there is something for everyone. The programme’s structure means it can be followed through all stages of Girlguiding from Rainbows to Rangers. This allows the girls to grow along with the 6 themes of the programme and develop their skills further as they progress through Guiding.
The 6 themes within the programme are:
• Know Myself
• Express Myself
• Be Well
• Have Adventures
• Take Action
• Skills For My Future
To find out more about our 6 themes please click the following link which will explain the themes in detail: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/what-we-do/our-badges-and-activities/programme-for-every-girl/programme-themes/
Within each of the 6 themes there are interest badges, unit meeting activities, skills builders, theme awards and top section awards. Completing interest badges, unit meeting activities and skills builders will lead to girls earning theme awards. Once a girl has earned multiple theme awards, she can then start to earn a top section award. Please see below where each element of the programme is explained in more detail:
Interest badges: a girls’ opportunity to explore her own interests, hobbies and passions outside of the unit setting. To find out more please click the following link to the Girlguiding UK website: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/what-we-do/our-badges-and-activities/programme-for-every-girl/interest-badges/
Unit meeting activities: There are lots of fun, ready-to-go unit meeting activities of varying lengths and styles, which can be dropped into gaps in your programme to add balance and variation to the guiding experience. To find out more please click the following link to the Girlguiding UK website: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/what-we-do/our-badges-and-activities/programme-for-every-girl/unit-meeting-activities/
Skill Builders: Skills builders are designed to stretch and challenge girls of all abilities and enable them to develop core skills throughout their guiding journey. To find out more please click the following link to the Girlguiding UK website: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/what-we-do/our-badges-and-activities/programme-for-every-girl/all-you-need-to-know-about-skills-builders/
Theme Awards: A combination of unit meeting activities, interest badges and skills builders on the same theme will help girls build up to a Theme award that demonstrates the time they’ve dedicated to exploring that area. To find out more please click the following link to the Girlguiding UK website: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/what-we-do/our-badges-and-activities/programme-for-every-girl/our-awards/
Top Section Awards: There are 3 section awards available-
• Section Bronze award: a girl needs to complete any two Theme awards from her current section.
• Section Silver award: a girl needs to complete any four Theme awards from her current section.
• Section Gold award: a girl needs to earn all six Theme awards from her current section and they'll have the chance to complete one final challenge to earn this very special 'top award'.
To find out more please click the following link to the Girlguiding UK website: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/what-we-do/our-badges-and-activities/programme-for-every-girl/our-awards/
Anniversary Badges: These badges are awarded to girls to celebrate membership and commitment. There’s a badge to mark each year a girl spends as part of the guiding family – no matter what age she joins.
On the Girlguiding UK website they have displayed this flowchart which shows the six themes and explains the stages of the programme and how to earn the theme and top section awards:
