Training Advice - Plans and Management

Adult Staff The Staff Mess
1

I’m posting today as a somewhat exasperated training officer.

How do you guys motivate your cadets to do stuff that will be beneficial for them in the long run but are boring in the moment? e.g. BTECs and classification training. I often find it’s like pulling teeth.

I was also wondering what sort of things everyone puts in their training plans and how you structure those plans on a monthly basis. How often do you do sport etc.

In a similar vein how do you distribute responsibility for nights amongst the other staff? Over the summer i’ve found myself directly running 6 of the 8 parade nights in a month on more than one occasion and frankly it’s all getting a bit overwhelming.

I’m getting rather stuck for ideas and as I rarely get suggestions from the other staff on my squadron was hoping ACC may be able to help! I’ve read the majority of the other threads on training issues but imagine things have changed for many people since those threads were last posted in.

To give a bit of context we’re an inner city squadron with a healthy amount of staff and a fair sized squadron building located on an Army Reserve Centre with a reasonable amount of outdoor space (both paved and grass).

Thanks in advance!

1 Like
2

How do you guys motivate your cadets to do stuff that will be beneficial for them in the long run but are boring in the moment? e.g. BTECs and classification training. I often find it’s like pulling teeth.

BTECs ad Classifications don’t have to be like pulling teeth, you just need to go beyond the ultilearn powerpoints. For example, why teach IET / Map reading in a classroom? Make it a weekend away. Need to teach cadets about principles of flight? Build one of those DIY wind tunnels and experiment with different aerofoil shapes. There are plenty of ways you can bring the content alive so it’s not pulling teeth.

I was also wondering what sort of things everyone puts in their training plans and how you structure those plans on a monthly basis. How often do you do sport etc.

Summer and winter are different kettles of fish. I traditionally stayed away from academic or classroom activities in the summer for obvious reasons, and with so many on camp or holiday. Winter, I went with a classification as the mainstay but included one sport / AT night (climbing wall or volleyball for example), an NCO led night, an external visitor (Police, RAFA Youth, Careers, etc), padre would slip in there for half a night, there are projects like media and modelling (if you have the staff and cadet interest), first aid, radio, fieldcraft orienteering, drill, IWT on air rifle (you could get a range in your unit), go-kart building, swimming, etc. I know local units that have got into drone building and coding, flight simulator stuff (great for teaching airmanship subjects too). I can find out some of my programmes if it helps?

In a similar vein how do you distribute responsibility for nights amongst the other staff?

Have you allocated areas of responsibilities with Terms of reference? I allocated everyone TORs so they were clear of their responsibility. I then made it clear that the sports officer was responsible for a sports night, that X staff member was responsible for this. I started every night with a quick 5-minute staff hustle and then concluded every night with same (before final parade) to ensure everyone knew what they were doing, any changes as people were away, and what they needed to prepare over the coming weeks. Again, happy to provide my squadron structure charts and TORs, and remember to use NCOs too (although that’s not an excuse for staff to drink coffee).

2 Likes
3

I will address a few of the issues that I have also come across, but to be honest I have largely got these issues under control. It does take constant effort to do this, but will be less effort than what you are putting in currently by the sounds of it.

With regards to classifications etc.
I find what works best for me is I will have a first class day (for example), where we get through first class quickly so it does not overhang the cadets for what seems like forever. We still go through the PowerPoints but at an accelerated rate. I am completely honest with the cadets and say that I know it is a pain, but they have to do it and it’s best if we can just do it in one day - especially if you can get a dominos for lunch! I will then have a fun trip (to laser tag or zorbing etc) the weekend after, so they have time to bond as a group, doing something fun. I also mention that these things look good on a CV or when applying for promotion on the Squadron.

With regards to staff involvement and lessons:
Even now, I do find myself running quite a few evenings as I know at least they will be enjoyable but I do also get other staff to run them and sometimes NCOs. I find what works well, is having a monthly training meeting and allocate certain nights to certain staff. I like to spread the teaching out to different staff (CIs to run sports, SNCOs to do Drill, Officers for Leadership, MOIs and Senior Cadet NCOs for Classifications. In these meetings I have a column for who is running things and I post this out to the entire staff team, so they know exactly who is running what. What also proves to be effective is having a rota of activities on a night, so the cadets aren’t just doing one thing a night.

1 Like
4

I really like the idea of TORs, if you’re happy to share I’d definintely be interested in seeing them.

If only my OC stuck to the pre-requisites he set for promotions…

We already do first class days but as another member of staff is responsible for first class training and I don’t think we do them anywhere near frequently enough, I imagine stating how often they should be in TOR would help.

Do you run Leading/Senior/Master days too?

I like that idea, where do you fit it in, what format does it take, and how long does it usually take?

Does that mean cadets might do something for 45 mins then have a break then move on to another activity for the last 45 mins or so?

Massive thanks to both of you for your contributions.

1 Like
5

  1. Even if the OC doesn’t stick to pre-requisites, you can still tell the cadets that if there are two cadets of equal potential, how do they think the staff might separate them. Every little helps to create a promotable cadet that is a good ambassador for the squadron.

  2. We do have a leading day and then senior and master days. This works well and although it is not compulsory, I do tell cadets that really they should be doing these unless they have something important on! With regards to the first class days not being done enough, i could suggest three options:

  • say to the person who looks after those that you would like to open up for one to help them out
    -have a word with the OC and ask them to politely suggest a few more dates
    -what I have done before is crack on with all other classifications as much as possible, getting all cadets through, leaving a big gap between first class and the rest. Once you have most cadets on either senior or master, produce a bar chart and stick it on the office wall, highlighting that first class is taking too long! :joy:

  1. Training meetings - at the end of the month (say last night in September) we have a detailed look at the training programme for next month (October), and a rough look at the one for two months ahead (November).

  2. Yes. Having two activities on one night may not always be best, but sometimes it can work really well (eg flight sim one half and drill second half). What also works well, similar to this, is doing theory first half and practical second half (eg Fieldcraft theory first half, then put it into practice the second half).

2 Likes
6

Thanks again, some really interesting points!

Are those just a case of plugging through the provided PowerPoints and letting the cadets do the exams at the end of the day?

1 Like
7

Yes. Again, we do go through the PowerPoints but do go quite quickly. Not the best days in the world, but cadets on my squadron have been very grateful for the opportunity of getting them done!

1 Like