Awards

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Girls' Brigade Scotland offers a programme of activities based on four key elements that in turn make up the badge work that is done by our girls during their GB Journey.  The four elements which make up each award are:

  • Spiritual
  • Physical
  • Educational
  • Service

In GBS, equal emphasis is placed on each of the four elements to offer girls a balanced programme of activity that is designed to challenge and stimulate their personal development. For that reason, we do not award separate badges for each activity. Instead, girls and young  women are provided with a programme of work based on a selection of topics from each of the key elements which must be completed before being presented with a badge.  Gaining an award  is an important milestone in the life of GB members and demonstrates a sense of commitment along with a level of achievement in four separate areas of work.  The age appropriate programmes offered to members are designed to involve fun, challenge, innovation, personal development along with a new skill or opportunity for individuals.

 

Click on the individual images of the badges below to view them in a larger size.

Explorers

Awards for Explorers are based on a Star theme which is unique to this age group in Girls' Brigade. Explorers are at the very start of their Girls’ Brigade journey and their journey through life as they go to school and start to make new friends. Girls’ Brigade believes that with Jesus as their guiding light they will find their way in life. The thematic basis of the work they will do incorporates all aspects – Spiritual, Physical, Educational and Service – resulting in a balanced programme, to help each girl grow in mind, body and spirit and to become aware of the needs of others.

Leaders who work with Explorers use programme material which has been specifically designed to provide an enjoyable and varied programme of activities which will stimulate and challenge young minds as well as providing enjoyment for girls in the P1 - P3 age range.

The programme, based on the 4 key areas mentioned above, keeps girls busy throughout the session and there is a great sense of achievement when work is completed and girls receive their Star Award at the end of each year.

A Bronze star is awarded at the end of P1, a Silver Star at the end of P2 and a Gold Star is awarded at the end of the their P3 year even if the girl has only joined the company at the start of that year.

Explorers Bronze Award
Explorers Silver Award
Explorers Gold Award

Juniors

Juniors range from P4 - P7. They work to gain Junior Circles in P4 and P5 before moving on to work towards gaining Junior Diamonds in P6 and P7. Again, the girls work to complete at least one topic from each of the four sections - Spiritual, Physical, Educational and Service. This provides lots of opportunity for Juniors to participate in a well balanced programme at every stage of their time in this section.

As one would expect, the programme material designed for Leaders to use with Juniors is more advanced than what has been completed in the Explorer section to help girls develop other new skills but also to build on existing skills. There is a wide variety of topics for Leaders to use with the girls and this should keep every Junior busy and achieving throughout their 4 years in the section.

The Circles and Diamonds are awarded according to school year regardless of how long a girl has been a member of the company. If a girl joins the company late in the session there are certificates available for each of the 4 sections to award to the girl to demonstrate the achievement that has been made. 

Junior Circle Award (P4)
Junior Circle Award (P5)
Junior Diamond Award (P6)
Junior Diamond Award (P7)

Brigaders

Joining the Brigader section heralds the start of secondary school life as girls enter at S1 and this section takes them through to the end of S6. For those who choose to leave school earlier there is still a role as a Brigader until just before their 18th birthday whether they are in further education or have entered employment. This is an exciting and challenging time in the lives of young women and GB offers them a progressive programme of informal learning while providing opportunities for fun, friendship as well as a safe space in which to share concerns with peers or leaders. In GBS a new on-line Brigader programme was launched in 2014 that offers many, many topics for young women that are relevant to their needs in the 21st century but still mirror the four sided programme - Educational, Physical, Service and Spiritual.

In this section, Brigaders work towards earning enough points to gain their Brigader triangle as follows:

  • Red in the first year
  • White in the second
  • Blue in the third and
  • Gold in the fourth

Each triangle requires 8 points, with a minimum of 2 points being gained in each section every year. There are many ways in which Brigaders can achieve this using the new programme. With the exception of Company Service, no subject may be repeated by the Brigader during their time in the section. This ensures a balance and variety from 1st year Brigader to 4th year Brigader/Trainee Leader.

Once all 4 triangles have been gained, young women are eligible to work towards gaining a Brigader Brooch, pictured below right. To gain this award, the second highest in GB Scotland, a further 8 points is required and this can be done either as a fifth year of programmed work or with extra points being gained across the previous years. Whichever way points are gained for the Brigader Brooch, they must still reflect a balanced programme over all four sections.

While leaders have a plethora of topics to choose from when planning the Brigader programme each year, care is taken to refer to what badge work a Brigader has already done in previous years to avoid duplicating subjects as this results in the triangle being unable to be awarded without additional badge work being required.

Brigaders Triangle Award (1st Year)
Brigaders Triangle Award (2nd Year)
Brigaders Triangle Award (3rd Year)
Brigaders Triangle Award (4th Year)
Brigaders Brooch

Other Awards

Service Awards

From P1 - S6 girls and young women are awarded a Service badge for each year they give full service and attendance to the company. These are in the shape of a gold star with a white centre, see below, with the appropriate number in the centre, from 1-13.

Commissioned Leaders can gain service awards at 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of service to the company. These are bronze (10), silver (20), gold (30) and red (40).

Gold Service AwardGold Service Award

Queen's Award

The highest award in GB is the Queen’s Award and more detailed information about this can be found at https://girlsbrigade.getmoodle.net/.

Queen's Award

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Girls’ Brigade Scotland is proud to be a licensed operating authority for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in Scotland. This is an internationally recognised award that can be gained from the age of 14, up to your 25th birthday. Much of the GB badge work can be used to gain the Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. For more details visit the DofE website at www.dofe.org.

Duke of Edinburgh Award badges    Duke of Edinburgh Award Logo

GB Scotland

The Girls’ Brigade in Scotland is an autonomous member of a worldwide organisation for girls and young women working within a framework of Christian principles.

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GB HEADQUARTERS
11a Woodside Crescent,
Charing Cross,
Glasgow G3 7UL
0141 332 1765

The Girls' Brigade in Scotland All rights reserved | Company Reg. No. 332331 | Registered Charity No. SC010980