there’s no policy covering breakout rooms.
I lie.
ACTO 14 has been updated.
Any breakout rooms4 (i.e. smaller virtual meeting areas where groups of cadets and CFAVs can ‘break out’ into from the main meeting and then re-join the meeting later on) must also include at least 2 responsible adults per breakout room.
Rumour has it that when we go back F2F there needs to be 2 responsible adults within sight & earshot of all cadets at all times to prevent any safeguarding issues.
I’ve had a bit of wine, is this for real, or a joke? I can’t tell anymore…
He’s joking 
Interesting replies from that Facebook group.
Still at work so not got time to read though it in detail!
He makes a good point about lack of CIs if lots of cadets leave
Already seeing a lack of staff cdts / potential staff cdts as those who turned 18 during lockdown binned it off, those who turn 18 soon look to be heading the same way.
So likely not just CIs but ASgt intake will be hit too.
I don’t think the situation will be clear until a while after we get back…
We’ve not seen the mass staff exodus that some areas report, but the VPN numbers aren’t great.
That said, lots of cadets not on VPN have said they are looking forward to a return…
I think it’s going to be a bit of a mixed bag.
I’d agree with this, the stats at the moment don’t really represent how many people will walk away when the commitment to come back appears and they finally decide it’s not worth it.
Some might come back initially and then move on which I think will affect quite a few units especially where units are closed or merged.
I don’t think we can get a full picture from a virtual look.
You’ve got to wait for squadron return to see the actual. Boots on the ground.
I’ve had cadets say that they aren’t interested in the virtual stuff, but will return to the sqn when it opens.
A recent survey of the sqn showed that they didn’t want any VPNs that were lesson like. They have that all day, they just wanted fun and social stuff.
I enjoy the irony of how we reference that group, considering how many probably refer to ACC as “that forum”!
I think it’s worth bearing in mind that a return to F2F isn’t a return to what they are used to on a Sqn. It’s just not the same having to sit in a designated seat 2m away all night and you can’t do as many activities as we previously could. I think the return will be a let down for a lot of cadets.
Not to be my usual cynical self…
Completely agree. As much as I’m looking forward to return to F2F, I’m really looking forward to return to normality. If and when that can heppend.
Totally agree, I think that return to F2C in its current form could actually do more damage than remaining closed, especially from a staff point of view.
If we’re back over the summer it won’t be so bad.
I’m more worried about next Autumn if the social distancing rules kick back in / don’t get lifted.
Classification lessons spaced 2m apart with masks and all the windows open = worse than Teams
I think the reduction of some staff and cadets gives us an unique opportunity to rationalise the spread of units.
My wing includes a fairly major UK city, and it has - frankly - far too many units close together. If they were starting from scratch now you could easily lose half of them and the kids in the catchment areas would be no worse off. In fact, I’d strongly argue they would be better off being in 6 units of 60 cadets each than 12 units of 20-40 cadets.
Yeah, we’ll lose a few in the reshuffle, but we could be far better off. We could have multiple units with 3 or 4 members of uniformed staff and a few CIs, rather than units struggling on 1 or maybe 2 uniforms.
Might it be iffy for a few years? Possibly. But that then gives us more opportunity to focus on leadership training, it allows each sqn to have a proper structure, a proper cdt NCO team. Watch the engagement surge then…
So. DofE have extended their flexibilities today…
That’s some easy Gold expeditions to plan for then!
My Cadets have shown zero interest in non-residential DofE and my Silvers and Golds have been consulted and want to wait and go somewhere more wild country.
What will be useful is being able to use Qualifiers as practices for the next level up.
My cadets just want to go flying.
Too soon?