Our programme comprises:
Weekly Meetings
Each section/sub-section meets once a week during term time as follows:
Beavers Meeting Times
We have one Beaver colony. They meet on Friday afternoons, during school term time, between 4pm until 5pm. Unless otherwise advised, the meetings are at our Headquarters (HQ) just off Bishopgate.
From September 2026, meetings will be moving to Monday
Drop off
Beavers staying at after-school activities will be collected from the Lower School by a Beaver Leader and taken to their meeting. Please don’t forget to let the school know that your child will be staying for after-school activities or notify us if they are not attending a Beaver meeting (and therefore do not need picking up);
Pickup
At the end of the evening, (unless otherwise advised) Beavers must be collected from the Norwich Lower School car park where a leader will be available to supervise.
From September 2026, pickup will be from our Headquarters (HQ) just off Bishopgate. Please do not drive down the section of Riverside Walk from Bishopgate to our headquarters building. There is little room down there, and there are obvious safety issues with mixing traffic with children. If parking in Bishopgate, please respect resident’s parking spaces.
Cubs Meeting Times
We currently have two Cub Packs. They meet between 5:30 and 7pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings during school term time.
Meetings are normally at our Headquarters (HQ) located just off Bishopgate.
Drop off
The Group is not responsible for members until the meeting starts.
Lower School Cubs are offered a place in Homework Club from 4pm to 5pm during which time they change into cub uniforms. Between 5pm and 5:20pm they will be given a chance to eat a packed tea (provided from home) before being collected and taken to their meeting.
Cubs not staying for homework club or from other schools needs to arrive at HQ at 5:30pm.
Pickup
Unless otherwise advised, Cubs must be collected from HQ at 7pm. Please do not drive down the section of Riverside Walk from Bishopgate to our HQ. There is little room down there, and there are obvious safety issues with mixing traffic with children. If parking in Bishopgate, please respect the resident’s parking spaces.
Scouts Meeting Times
Our Sea Scout Troop is made up of two “Watches” meeting as follows:
| Watch | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Port Watch | Wednesday | 6:00pm to 8:15pm |
| Starboard Watch | Thursday | 6:00pm to 8:15pm |
Meetings are normally at the Headquarters (HQ) located just off Bishopgate, unless otherwise advised.
Drop off
The Group is not responsible for members until the meeting starts.
- Scouts at Norwich Lower School (U3 in Trinity Term only): can stay at Extended School/Homework Club until 5:35pm when they will be collected and escorted to the HQ by a Scout leader or Young Leader.
- Scouts at Norwich Senior School: There is no supervision after school in the Senior School other than in the libraries. Therefore, after school, Scouts need to: go home; go to the libraries; go into town; attend a school club. Scout parents, please indicate your intention by filling in the form on the My Members page. Scouts should meet in the Bishop’s Palace Foyer, with Young Leaders, to walk together to the Scout HQ. They should walk directly to the HQ, via Ferry Lane and Hooks Walk, entering the Lower Close by the gate to the cricket nets. Scouts should not arrive at HQ before 5:30pm.
- Scouts are not advised to go into the city unaccompanied at any time.
Pickup
We recommend that you meet your child at the HQ rather than they meet you on Bishopgate. While this may slow down collection it is better than having children unaccompanied on Bishopgate and gives you the chance to liaise with leaders.
Please do not drive down the section of Riverside Walk from Bishopgate to our headquarters building. There is little room down there, and there are obvious safety issues with mixing traffic with children. If parking in Bishopgate, please respect resident’s parking spaces.
Explorers Meeting Times
Monday 7:15pm to 9:00pm – unless the program requires an earlier start time. Meetings are normally at the Headquarters (HQ) located just off Bishopgate. Please check the website and weekly newsletter for details.
You need to log into the website each week and sign up to attend meetings so we can plan properly. On many occasions, there will be two or three different elements to the programme, and you need to sign up separately for each that you will be attending.
Drop off
The Group is not responsible for members until the meeting starts.
Explorers at Norwich Senior School: can stay in the School Library after school until 5:30pm. Young Leader training is often available (check the website each week) before Explorers and the HQ is open from 5pm most weeks for Cubs. Explorers not involved in Cubs as a Young Leader should take care not to disrupt the Cubs session.
Pickup
We recommend that you meet your child at the HQ rather than they meet you on Bishopgate. While this may slow down collection it is better than having children unaccompanied on Bishopgate and gives you the chance to liaise with leaders.
Please do not drive down the section of Riverside Walk from Bishopgate to our headquarters building. There is little room down there, and there are obvious safety issues with mixing traffic with children. If parking in Bishopgate, please respect resident’s parking spaces.
These meetings include games, activities and training towards awards and badges (including the main Scout Association Challenge Awards and the Nautical Skills Badges).
Beavers, Cubs and Scouts please let us know if you will be missing a meeting to help with our planning and preparations. This can be done using the absence notification on the OSM Parent Portal.
Weekend Activities
We run a range of activities at the weekends (plus some evenings and days in the holidays) including (but not limited to):
- Sailing and windsurfing;
- Cycling – off-road for the most part but may include some on-road trips;
- Hikes;
- Swimming and lifesaving pool sessions;
- Canoeing and kayaking skills training (in swimming pools and rivers of different grades);
- Bushcraft days and weekends (includes fire-lighting, knife and axe work).
You can see more about these activities by clicking one of the “What We” Do submenus. Members who are logged in will also see a list of upcoming events for each of our main activities.
Residential Events
We run a range of residential events during the year. For more details see the Residential/Camping page.
Most of our weekly and weekend programme is funded through our annual subscription. For our residential events, and some special events, we make an additional charge. You can see more details about how the group is funded on our Finance page.
Content
Water activities play a prominent role in our programme. This includes going afloat in dinghies, the gig, kayaks, open canoes and on stand-up paddleboards (SUPs). Therefore, confidence in the water is essential for our members and our programme includes swimming pool sessions to help develop this. If you don’t like water, then it may be that the 8th Norwich is not for you!
Our programme aims to build skills and independence. This works towards Scouts and Explorers taking part in activities, including overnight expeditions, without direct supervision i.e. remote/distant supervision by adult leaders.
Our programme is primarily run by our (mainly) volunteer leaders, skills instructors and helpers. We are fortunate that our adult team have a wide range of qualifications that allows us to run such a wide range of activities. To continue to provide, and enhance this, we have an ongoing programme of adult training. If you are an adult interested in helping the group, see further details on the Volunteer page.
Some of our older youth members take part in our Young Leader Training Programme. They help with running the junior sections of the group and gain a range of leadership skills.
Badge programme
To see more about Awards and Activity badges for each section, please follow the links from the section pages (Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers).
Involvement and achievement
The weekly meeting is the central activity of the Troop, but all Scouts are expected to support some of the major and minor activities we run throughout the year. Water activities play a prominent role in our programme, both in the weekly meetings and in the weekend and holiday activities. Confidence in the water is therefore essential for our members.
We expect all members to maintain an appropriate level of involvement and progress. This includes attendance at our weekly meetings and participation in our weekend and residential activities. For example, someone joining at the start of Cubs should be able to achieve the following:
| By the end of… | Have… |
|---|---|
| your first month | Achieved The Scout Membership badge. Passed our swimming assessment |
| your first term | Attended at least one of our short events. Signed up for at least one of our residential events. |
| school year 6 | Achieved at least two challenge awards, one nautical skills award, Emergency Aid Stage 2, and one other activity badge. At least 5 nights away. |
| school year 7 | Achieved at least four challenge awards, two nautical skills awards, and two other activity badges. At least 12 nights away |
| school year 8 | Achieved at least six challenge awards, three nautical skills awards, and three other activity badges. At least 20 nights away. |
| school year 9 | Achieved the Chief Scout’s Gold Award. At least one overnight backpacking or boatpacking expedition, and lots more. |
For those joining at different times, there may be some variation.
Membership of the Group may be cut short if we feel a member is not actively participating so that other people on our waiting list do not miss out on the opportunities we offer.
