What can you spot?
You’ll need
- Pens or pencils
- Camera or phone
Scouts is open to everyone. We don’t identify exclusively with one faith, and we welcome people of all faiths and of none.
We know it’s important for people to learn about each other, including understanding different faiths and beliefs. Scouts always respects people’s beliefs, faiths and cultures, and everyone should be open to learn.
As an inclusive and values based movement, we support our members to engage and learn about different faiths and beliefs in an exciting and meaningful way, even if they don’t have a faith themselves.
Celebrating and understanding differences, including differences in faiths and beliefs, is an important part of our Scout values, which are:
- Integrity: We act with integrity; we are honest, trustworthy and loyal.
- Respect: We have self-respect and respect for others.
- Care: We support others and take care of the world in which we live.
- Belief: We explore our faiths, beliefs and attitudes.
- Co-operation: We make a positive difference; we co-operate with others and make friends.
Our value of Belief and its exploration helps Scouts to learn from other faiths and beliefs. This encourages them to develop or build their personal beliefs and understand their shared values, whether faith-based on not.
We know that learning about faiths, beliefs and different attitudes can help to break down barriers, helps us all to recognise what we have in common, and teaches us to value and respect other people. It also helps us to build up respect, acceptance and knowledge for each other, leading to a more co-operative and inclusive society.
In our diverse society, people can sometimes feel cautious talking about this sensitive subject. However, it's important that Scouts offers young people safe, exciting and open spaces to explore faiths and beliefs. They should be able to engage in personal reflection, as they question and develop their opinions and understanding of the world around them.
Making time for personal reflection and developing our beliefs means exploring the places, people, communities, celebrations or stories which hold meaning for us, and it may not necessarily mean exploring a faith.
For example, someone’s shared values may be their Scout Values and that person may choose to reflect on them at important times, such as when they make their Promise. Others may choose to reflect at certain times of the year, such as a faith-based festival, birthdays, meaningful events or at New Year. Some people may still celebrate events, such as Christmas, but use it as a time to celebrate family, friends and loved ones, as well as for charity and giving.
Discover more about Faiths and Beliefs in Scouts.
Before you begin:
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Take a look at our guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.
Planning and setting up this activity
- Let everyone vote about where they’d like to visit, but try to choose somewhere people don’t usually go. It could be place related to a faith or belief they don’t know much about, or connected to an occasion or event during the year.
- Once you’ve chosen a place, it may take a while to get in contact and arrange a date and time.
- Don’t forget to do your risk assessment and have an InTouch system. Let parents and carers know all of the details. Why not invite them along on the visit?
- You may know someone who worships at the place you’re visiting—perhaps they’d like to act as guides.
Arriving at the place of worship
- Once everyone’s arrived, split into four groups. There needs to be an adult volunteer with each group. It’s up to you whether you travel there together from your usual meeting place, or whether you ask parents and carers to take people straight to the place of worship.
- Remind everyone that they need to be respectful in the building. Everyone should think about what this means, and share their suggestions.
- Some suggestions could include being quiet, and remembering it’s a place people may be worshipping or praying.
- Remind everyone they should follow any rules or guidelines they’re given, and no one should touch anything unless they’re told it’s OK, as some of the objects may be sacred or delicate.
Visiting the place of worship
- Everyone should go into the place of worship, and use their senses to see how it feels. What can they see and hear? What does it smell like?
- If you’re allowed to touch anything, how does it feel? Otherwise, is it hot or cold? Is the ground hard or soft?
- Give each group the ‘What can you spot?’ sheet, and some pens or pencils. They should draw or write down anything they can see. You may be able to give each group a camera or smartphone too, if the people at the place of worship say it’s OK to take photos.
- Each group should start with a different set of questions, so it doesn’t get too crowded. They should move around and answer all of the questions.
After the visit
It’s up to you whether you return to your normal meeting place and talk there, or whether you stay at the place of worship and ask parents and carers to collect everyone from there.
- Everyone should gather together in a circle.
- Each group should take it in turns to share their favourite part of the visit, and something they found out that they didn’t know before.
- Everyone should think about how they’d like to thank the place of worship for hosting them. They may decide to send letters, cards, or drawings. You can help everyone to decide and create their thank you.
- It might be easiest to decide together, and then make the thank you the next time you meet.
Reflection
It was important to respect others during your visit. Why are places of worship important for people? They’re a space people can gather together, pray, and celebrate, and they’re also a calm space to reflect. Think about a place that’s really special to you, and how relaxed and happy you feel there. That’s how some people feel about the place they go to worship. How did you show respect and trust for other people, even though some of them probably had different backgrounds and beliefs to you?
This visit also reminded you that you’re a local, national, and international citizen. The people at the place of worship are also local, national, and international citizens. Did they do anything differently to you? Was anything the same? Why is it important that people can go to places of worship if they want to?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
The adult in each group can help with the reading and writing. It’s OK if people want to draw the answer instead of writing.
You may want to turn it into a competition—you could offer a prize (for example, choosing a game to play when you next meet) to the group with the most right answers.
You might have the chance to ask someone from the place of worship questions. If you do, it may be a good idea to help everyone think of some before it’s question time, in case minds go blank in the moment.
Some people may like to look at any leaflets or books that are available to find out more.
Make sure the place you visit is accessible for everyone, including anyone with any additional needs. It’s always best to check in advance—don’t presume places will or won’t be accessible.
If you can’t visit a place or worship, why not ask someone who works at one, or who goes regularly? They could bring pictures of the place, and items (or pictures of items), and could talk to everyone about any traditions, people, and things you may see if you visit.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
If there are places of worship near your meeting place, you could also explore the buildings and services that make up your local community, and meet someone who serves your community. Then you’d also meet requirement one of the Beavers My World Challenge Award. You could also take photographs on your visit, to work towards your Beaver Photographer Activity Badge.
It’s up to you how you decide where to visit. Maybe you could bring in a map or list of nearby places, and ask people to choose which one they’d most like to visit. What are people’s reasons? How will you make the final decision?