44th Bristol White Tree Scouts
Neurodiversity Policy

The Scout Association aims to provide life learning skills through the provision of safe, adventurous and challenging activities across the age ranges. At the 44th White Tree we are fortunate to have a strong team of adult volunteers to organise and lead these activities. We work within the rules established by the Policy, Organisation and Roles (POR). Please refer to our general behavioural policy for more details. 

We are committed to making these activities accessible for all within the appropriate age groups, ie Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. Scouts’ ED & I policy states: 

Inclusion means taking proactive, positive actions to remove any and all barriers to participation in the workplace to create an environment where every employee feels equally valued and supported to thrive. Being an inclusive organisation requires an ongoing commitment to listening, understanding, and taking action.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy | Scouts

This means we have a responsibility to cater for all children, including neurodiverse children. In the vast majority of cases this is easily accommodated within the normal bounds of the planned activities without any additional considerations needing to be made.

In  some very rare cases though, individual children who demonstrate severe behaviour challenges can disrupt activities and represent either a direct or indirect safety concern for the rest of the adults and children within the Section. Regarding safety, the POR states

We ensure the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk is paramount by placing them and their needs at the heart of planning and implementing policies, projects and initiatives. This embeds safeguarding and reinforces our message that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

Safeguarding Policy and Procedures | Scouts

Our ultimate priority is the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. This paper outlines the procedure that the 44th White Tree Scout Group will follow.

Procedure

Identification and Management

  1. On joining or on transfer from Beavers to Cubs and Cubs to Scouts, Leaders will send a pre-prepared standard email to the parents seeking an update on any known or suspected medical conditions for their child.
  2. If at any stage a Leader identifies behaviours that present safety concerns they are to:
    1. Lead Volunteer (LV) and Chair of the Trustees. There is the option to discuss with the behaviour committee members for guidance and advice on managing the situation. 
    2. Contact the parents, explain the concern and ask if there are any medical conditions that need to be considered. 
  3. If a child has been diagnosed with a neurodiversity and has in-class support, then the parents may be asked to accompany the child at every event if the Leader feels this is needed.
  4. If there is no diagnosis and the behaviour remains a concern to the Leader then he/she is to inform the Lead Volunteer and Chair and ask the parent to attend every event. If the parent is unable to do this, then the issue is reported to the Executive Committee for the individual’s discharge from The Scout Association to be considered. Refer to the Behaviour Policy for escalation support.
  5. If there is a diagnosis and the behaviour remains a concern to the Leader then the issue is reported to the Executive Committee for the individual’s discharge from the Scout Association to be considered. See Discharge Policy. 
  6. Any/all behavioural issues are to be logged by the Section Leader in the Incident Log within Online Scout Manager.