Joining Information

If you’ve brought along your child/youth for the first time, you might be looking for the New Chum Contact Details Form which should only take a minute to complete on your mobile phone and will send to the adults leaders so that they have emergency contact info at hand.

What are the Age Groups?

  • Joeys – 5 to 8 years
  • Cubs – 8 to 11 years
  • Scouts – 11 to 14 years
  • Venturers – 14 to 18 years (move on by 18th birthday or completed HSC, whichever comes LATER”)
  • Rovers – 18 to 26 years
  • Leaders – 18 to ………….

When is it on?

We operate during school terms, including student free days. Check out the upcoming dates on the left panel of our website.

How do we Join?

All new members are invited to trial scouts for a few weeks before joining, so just turn up on the night and speak with one of the leaders.

The youth membership application (Y1) form can now be completed ONLINE at https://www.nsw.scouts.com.au/become-a-youth-member/

Once your child has trialled scouts for a few weeks they can then be invested into scouting. The Uniform does not need to be purchased until the get invested. Note that they cannot be invested without the uniform. The group Scarfe, woggle & cap are supplied by the group.

What is an Investiture ceremony?

  • This is usually performed during the opening ceremony. Your child stands before the leaders and makes the promise in front of the pack/troop/mob.
  • The promise is then followed by the issue of membership badges.
  • Parents are encouraged to take photo’s of this special occasion.

How much does it cost?

  • All costs regarding membership and term fees can be provided to you by our leaders either when you come along to one of our cub or scout meetings or by contacting the Group Leader through the contact section of this site or through our Facebook page. Once the group leader has been advised of your initial trial meeting night, you will usually be sent a “Welcome Pack” email outlining full details.

Joining Fee

This fee is set by Scouts Australia and covers the Administration of the new membership. This is $30.

There is a 2nd component charged by the group to cover scarf, initial badges etc and this is is currently $50.

Membership and Insurance Fees

This fee is set by Scouts Australia – NSW Branch and is due and payable in advance at the start of each term, which are aligned (roughly) with current NSW school term. This covers insurance and administration costs and is $41.

Note that Scouts NSW is a provider under the “NSW Active Kids” scheme and as such you may be eligible for a $100 rebate from the government.

Check out the page http://www.southpenrith.org.au/activekidsvouchers/ for the all the information on how to get your voucher and make it active for Scouts.

Term Fees

This fee is set by the group committee and Scouts NSW. This covers the cost of the hall (leasing fees, insurance, power/water utilities, maintenance, etc), and materials used by the scouts during the term.

Every Scout group has different resources, interests & fund raising capabilities and therefore the fees are different for every group.

Like the Membership and Insurance Fees, the term fees for 1st South Penrith are payable in advance BEFORE the start of each term. Discounts are available for families with more than 1 child who are part of our Group

The actual value of the these quarterly term fees varies based on the above situations, but equates to roughly $6 per week making the total quarterly fee about $10/week.

Note:
* Fees for multiple children relate to siblings directly related by the same mother, father or adoptive parent/guardian
* the group does offer further discounts for those that volunteer as active committee members, or section leaders.

Uniform

All Scouts must have a uniform before they can be invested. These group does NOT keep stock of shirts any longer so you must purchase them online yourself.

Prices can be found on The Scout Shop Website. The shirt needs to be purchased from the Scout shop (Approx $40), and you need to obtain navy coloured shorts/trousers to go with the shirt.

Camping / External Activities

Due to the wide variety of activities that scouts do we can’t include these activities in the normal term fees.

As a guide most camp sites are charged from $5 to $20 a night per person and then there are catering costs to go with it. You may also need to obtain a sleeping bag, Dilly Bag(Mess Kit), etc Please see the “What to bring to Camp” information sheet as a guide.

Due to these activities being organised as a group it is generally far cheaper than normal family activities, but nevertheless it is a cost that you should be aware of when considering scouts.

Fund Raising Obligations

1st South Penrith has low term fees because we have an active committee and group of parents that help out with fund raising. Our Fund Raising activities include: Store BBQ’s, Trolley Push’s, Odd Jobs, Chocolate/Sweet drives, etc.

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

What do we expect from you?

Scouting is a community organisation and can only run through the efforts of volunteers.

As such, as the carer for your youth you will be expected to occasionally help out with things. Transport to/from camps, assistance with the hall-cleaning roster, participation in family events like “family camps”, trivia nights where possible and, perhaps most importantly, active participation in the group support committee for at least one year. Without volunteers, scouting stops – and the more people that volunteer, ultimately the easier it becomes for everyone.