Camping, canoeing, roasting marshmallows, go-karting, baking, having adventures and making friends sounds like every child’s dream. The boys and girls of Canberra’s newest Scout group will be doing all this and more, all in the German language.
The German Australian Pfadfinder Scout Group will take children aged 6 and up, and will be accessible to north and south side families as their Scout Hall is in Turner. Pfadfinder is the German word for Scout and it literally means “path finder”.
“We’re very excited to be starting up this bilingual Scout group this year. 2008 is the Year of the Scout, and it is also the International Year of Languages, so it is very appropriate,” said ACT Scouts’ Chief Commissioner, Mr Neville Tomkins.
Group Leader Lisa Stephan said, “The new Scout Group builds on existing children’s German language groups, including a playgroup for 0-5 year olds and the German Australian Playschool for 3-5 year olds. With the new Scout group, Canberra can now cater for people from birth to adulthood looking for fun and educational activities in German.”
“My aim is to have the kids begging to go to Joeys, Cubs and Scouts every week, as they will be having so much fun!” said Leader, Jens Stephan.
The group’s scarf colours will be red and yellow. Many scouts in Germany have yellow scarves; and red is the common colour which appears on the flags of Australia and the German speaking nations, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The Group is non-religious and is open to children from all spiritual traditions. Its aim is to develop children’s self-confidence, practical skills and values which will help them make an ongoing positive contribution to their community.
There is a pre-Scouting group for 5 year olds, who attend Scout nights with their parents and enjoy the exciting program too.
Families wishing to add their child’s name to the lists for 2009, 2010 or 2011 should contact Lisa Stephan on 6251 7743 or spielwelt@homemail.com.au
September 17th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I am so happy to hear of this. It is such a fantastic initiative and gives children the chance to learn German into their older years in a fun manner. I currently learn German in an immersion setting and am pleased to see this occur. Keep up the great work all…would love to have a similar initiative in Queensland.