It won’t stop anything, as cadets will do whatever is necessary and in this environment and according to the list promotable. I get it now where they think promotion has a time served element.
This is just the same as adults ticking boxes on lists.
There is too much of this blaming Sqn OCs making so called poor decisions, (which is highly subjective) given that as we all know we only promote from within and sometimes a limited choice.
I had all NCOs and mates (several prospective NCOs) leave within a 10 week period once (the popular one got an apprenticeship and had to be resident away from home) and I was left with some quite inexperienced cadets, but I needed NCOs so promoted 3 of them. A member of staff from another sqn made a mistake of making a comment about one of the lads and my decision making in my earshot. He was left knowing my exact feelings.
The following has just been pushed out to our Wing
In order to establish a set standard for our NCOs in the Wing a set of criteria for promotions has been produced. Please be aware that these criteria are to be cascaded to us from Corps as a UK-wide standard in the future. Aligning ourselves now allows our Squadrons and Cadets to implement the change in a more managed manner.
The following pages provide a rundown of qualifying criteria that a cadet should meet prior to promotion,and criteria that a cadet should meet whilst in-rank before progressing to their next promotion.
Please note this standard is not being applied retrospectively to promotions already awarded; however, Cadets should be encouraged to meet these standards where practical. It is recognised that exemplary leaders may be demonstrate ability to be promoted sooner. Promotion exceptions may be applied for to the Wing Commander, and must be made on a case-by-case basis.
Looks like I won’t be making any promotions for a while, as currently none of my cadets have done a Bronze Leadership Course, and a lot haven’t done an overnight weekend activity. Might as well give up being an OC as it just becomes more admin and less free-will
Too many course criteria in here. I know we have a mission statement to teach and develop but lets remember this is a kids activity club. The cadets come to have fun. The trick is to keep it enjoyable and hopefully they learn something useful along the way.
The more and more this becomes like school and the less we do fun activities will surely lead to the reduction in cadet ‘lifespan’ and the numbers on Sqn. This then leads to less word of mouth, fewer recruits, less potential staff etc etc
Feeling Heavy Buffet coming on before we enter stall and the inevitable irrecoverable flat spin to a hard stop…
Not really sure what the problem is there - I’d suggest that gain any PTS badge at a given level is a much more open and widely-relevant benchmark than the classification level, which we already have.
Why does the attendence criteria increase at FS level and what is the determination of what is exam leave, andbody can say I’m studying for’exams’.
This will come back to bite and bite hard somewhere, in particular when cadets/pupils are having to submit things such as course work which is part of an exam.
Feeling Heavy Buffet coming on before we enter stall and the inevitable irrecoverable flat spin to a hard stop…
