Much of our programme, even during our virtual sessions, is linked in some way shape or form to badge work. After these sessions the leaders record achievements in Online Scout Manager. Until recently. there hasn’t been a simple method for attainment to be recognised and rewarded for all the fantastic efforts that take place away from our section meetings.

Badges at home” is an add-on to the Online Scout Manager Parent Portal. It allows parents and guardians to see what progress their young person has made against badges and includes a mechanism to provide evidence of achievement outside of our section meetings. Once submitted, leaders can review the evidence against the related badge requirements and either confirm completion or request additional information.

We think this is a brilliant addition to Parent Portal. It not only gives you an insight into your young person’s current attainment, but provides the leader team the opportunity to support recognising achievements they might not otherwise be aware of.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be parents or guardians looking through the badge portal – the young people can do so too. “Ed” the Virtual Leader has a video walkthrough for parents, guardians and young people.

We’ve set our Badges at Home configuration to allow full access to all badges and not just specific badges. This means you can see all badges specific to your young person’s section, be they a Beaver, Cub, Scout or Explorer.

To access the Parent Portal, go to onlinescoutmanager.co.uk and log in with the email address and password you use when responding to event invitations. If you have more than one young person in the group, you should see all of your children listed on the left hand side once you’ve logged in.

To all our members: We look forward to seeing your achievements rolling in. Have a fantastic time completing badges at home!