Geelong Kookaburra Guides
33B Myers St, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia
Meeting: 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm Tuesday
Age Range: 5 to 13
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What is the Guide Program?
Girl Guides Victoria is part of the largest global organisation delivering a non-formal educational program to girls and young women. We provide girls and young women life skills, leadership and citizenship through a wide variety of experiences.
We provide learning environments where our Guides can have input at every level to make choices about what they do, and to take the lead.
This means that every Guide Unit offers a range of different Guiding experiences, as Unit meetings are driven by the Guides in the Unit. Across Victoria, during any one week of the year, Guides could be developing their camp skills, cooking, flying drones, exploring their local natural environment, playing games, learning a new art/craft, planting trees, cleaning up their neighbourhood, experiencing a new culture, singing around a campfire …
Guides contribute by brainstorming various activity ideas, then narrowing them down through decision-making. They choose, plan, and carry out their activities, and evaluate the process afterward. This evaluation can lead to extending the activity, repeating it later, or deciding it was a great one-time experience.
What do Guides get out of Guiding
At Guides, we have a lot of fun. But there is a serious element of learning underpinning our program and adventures!
- Girl-centred planning – allowing the girls to make their own decisions, and their own mistakes within a safe environment! Encouraging them to take responsibility for the program. Any activity is OK, as long as it’s safe and legal.
- Positive reinforcement – building the Guides’ confidence with praise and recognition. Encouraging the Guides to acknowledge their own worth and each other’s attempts. All efforts are learning opportunities.
- Visible identity – belonging is an important part of any childhood. We do this by having girl-chosen Unit names, working in small teams within the Unit (we call these Patrols) and by developing our own ceremonies or Unit traditions.
- Outdoor activity – many activities can (and should) be taken outside. Environmental awareness and a range of outdoor adventures help Guides to become self-aware, develop their independence and explore all the environments (natural or not) that they engage with.
- Values-based – at the heart of Guiding is our Guide Promise and Guide Law. We integrate our values through everything we do, empowering our Guides to build their personal understanding of the Promise and Law, and develop their own values.