I try… So far I’ve got it from “uniform sees an iron once a term” to slightly below average ATC unit. We’ve even largely eradicated white socks!
Haircuts are more of an issue with a few of them as mummy and daddy complain to the school but the old guard who joined when it was a social club are nearly all gone and the new lot are much better.
Banter aside, linking with the local ATC unit for activities has really rubbed off on them and we’ve got some really good potential coming through the ranks.
Biggest issue is remembering to shave myself, had to go in civies a fair bit at the end of last term when the baby came along.
I read the other week that Guides have a badge for making mocktails.
This seemed a lot more interesting than the sort of thing we have badges for. Definite some training for life as well.
Maybe we need some badges that aren’t so academic. Radio, leadership etc all very wholesome, but where’s the fun?
@Valiant I just thought it sounded fun and light, something missing from the air cadet syllabus. Which is you have to agree very heavy, despite trying to make it not so. As soon as you put in levels of assessment it becomes heavy and a learning task.
@AlexCorbin Some will argue the leadership etc transfers into real life, ignoring that you need to become competent in the job and nuances therein of what you do, before even getting to a point where you might be regarded as having leadership potential. Also in the workplace it’s not as cuddly as cadets, with people lauding you, as 100 good things, gets less than the one mistake.
While what kids might do in cadets, scouts etc can give them an edge, it does little more. The PTS subject areas are IMO far too niche and with far too much of a military twist (obviously) and would need to be tweaked a lot to make them more relevant / transferable. Very few places outside of emergency services need radio knowledge.
I’ve got some high achieving cadets at my place - as I’m sure we all have - and they’ve got pretty much every badge available. There’s literally no space left.
