3rd Billericay Scout Troop

Patrol Points as of 12^th February, 2010

• Kestrel - 732 points
• Bull - 603 points
• Cobra - 573 points
• Seagull - 432 points

This first half term has came to an end with the Kestrel patrol holding the top spot consistently since the first week.
Well done Kestrels - superb teamwork, and dedication has paid off.

12/02/2010: Wilderness Survival

Well done to the Cobras for getting the best result on the survival activity. You can review the exercise, here and read the rationale behind the preferred ranking on the Wilderness Survival Rationale page

Item	Rank	Kestrel	Cobra	Bull	Seagull
Cigarette lighter (without fluid)	1	9	1	7	8
A ball of steel wool	2	8	8	11	11
Extra shirt and pants for each survivor	3	4	11	9	5
Can of Crisco shortening	4	10	4	10	9
20 x 20 ft. piece of heavy-duty canvas	5	6	5	3	10
A small axe	6	5	3	2	1
Family-size chocolate bars (one per person)	7	2	10	8	6
Newspapers (one per person)	8	11	12	12	12
A loaded .45-caliber pistol	9	7	6	1	2
Bottle of whiskey	10	1	9	6	7
A compass	11	3	2	4	4
A sectional air map made of plastic	12	12	7	5	3
SCORE		2nd	1st	3rd=	3rd=

Walking the Minefield

The Bulls were out in front again on the Minefield game. Making it through to the fourth course, and earning 48 points for their patrol.

• 1^st: Bulls - 48 steps
• 2^nd: Cobras - 19 steps
• 3^rd: Kestrels - 18 steps
• 4^th: Seagulls - 11 steps

05/02/2010: Semaphore Training

We have now learned to send 15 letters using semaphore flags.

Can you decipher this message?
(Click the image to begin transmission)

10 points go to Kestrels. Peter was, once again, the first to send in the correct translation. Well done Peter!

Finish off your training, or practice your recognition skills with the lessons on the Semaphore activity page.

30/01/2010: District Swimming Gala

The Orion team was made up of seven Scouts from all 4 patrols. Luke, Peter and Jerome from Kestrel, James and Edward from the Bulls, Ben of the Cobras, and Cameron from Seagulls. Jennifer of the Kestrels was too unwell to swim, but she cheered on from the stands.

All of the Scouts swam really well and did the troop proud.

Edward is the troop's Champion Swimmer! He was placed second in the finals of both the backstroke and freestyle. A very impressive result. Well done Edward!
Luke did well in the backstroke and made it into the semi-finals.

A special mention must go to James, who swam for the troop in the breast-stroke despite feeling unwell after banging his head. Unable to continue to compete after his first race, he cheered on from the stands.

Participation in the Gala is the final requirement for the Swimmers Badge, and all of the Scouts who came to the Gala have earned their Swimmers badges, and points for their patrols:

	Kestrel	Cobra	Seagull	Bull
Attendance (5pts)	20	5	5	10
Participation (5pts/race)	35	10	5	20
Semi Final (10pts)	10			20
Final (20pts)				40
Total:	65	15	10	90

It's been a great week for the Bulls. They have now overtaken the Cobras and moved up into second place in the Patrol rankings.

Can you solve this puzzle?

You have two lengths of rope of different lengths and non-uniform thickness, and a box of matches. Each of the lengths of rope will burn for exactly 1 hour.
Your task is to figure out how you can measure 45 minutes using only this equipment.

Peter, APL of Kestrels earns 10 points for his patrol, with the best solution offered.

To see the correct solution, click here

29/01/2010: Capture The Flag

Well done to the Bull patrol, they captured 5 enemy flags, and still held one of them plus their own flag at the end of the game. The only patrol to keep their flag! All of the action was in their territory, they scored 13 kills!

• 1^st: Bulls - 68 points
• 2^nd: Seagulls - 29 points
• 3^rd: Kestrels - 20 points
• 4^th: Cobras - 7 points

Kim's Game

• 1^st: Kestrels - 23 points
• 2^nd: Bulls - 22 points
• 3^rd: Seagulls - 16 points
• 4^th: Cobras - 13 points

22/01/2010: Patrol Flags

Having designed their flags the week prior, the Patrols begin to make their flags:

Welcome to the Troop

Another new Scout starts tonight.
Say hello to Joshua. He will join the Seagulls.

15/01/2010: Robot Competition.

The Robot competition is the first task in the 2010 Essex Challenge The Patrols had to recycle household rubbish to build a model robot. The standard was very high, an excellent effort from all of the Patrols.

• 1^st: Cobras - 50 points
• 2^nd: Kestrels - 30 points
• 3^rd: Bulls - 10 points

Well done to all the Scouts who took part.

08/01/2010: Patrol reorganisation:

The new Patrols are:

Kestrel	Cobra	Seagull	Bull
Luke (PL) Peter (APL) Jennifer Nathan Harry Jerome	Ben H (PL) Jack (APL) David Lincoln Daniel R	Ben G (PL) Daniel G(APL) Rebecca Matthew Cameron	Tom (PL) Joseph (APL) James Charlie Henry Edward