For Guides
Girl Recognition
There are lots of different badges you can earn as a reward for completing the challenges in the Girl Recognition System. You can choose to work towards any combination of -
- Create a Challenge
- Explore a Challenge
- Achieve a Challenge
Some awards allow you to set your own personal challenges. Others require you to reach a certain skill level and can be cross-credited to external qualifications e.g Duke of Edinburgh's Award, St John First Aid or Royal Life Saving Society. Most challenges can be done by yourself or with your Patrol or Unit.
Get yourself a copy of the Girl Guides Australia publication Look Wide from your State Guide Retail Outlet and start planning.
Explore these challenges at any time and then re-explore them if you wish. There are 10 topic areas to choose from:
Our World Guiding World Life Skills
Be Prepared Outdoors Health and Fitness Arts
Friendship Science and Technology Faith Awareness
Follow your interests, choose four different challenges in that area or create your own. Try them on your own, or as a Patrol or interest group. Get Exploring!
There are 30 badges to choose from, plus a blank for you to create your own. Use the Australian Guide Program process - discover, decide, plan to create your own challenges and then do and check to complete and earn your badge.
You will find words around each badge in Look Wide publication to help stimulate your ideas. Use your imagination, you may choose one big challenge or a series of small ones either on your own or with your Patrol or Unit.
Create a different set of challenges and earn another reward. Get creative!
These challenges are designed to recognise the skills and abilities of the individual.Completing each challenge will show that you have reached a set level of skill in your chosen area.
Achieve a Challenge recognises skills in ten areas:
Leadership Emergency Safety Outdoors
Boating Camping Sport Technology
Life Skills The Arts
World Guiding
There are three different levels of ability:
- Trefoil 1 indicates a beginning skill
- Trefoil 2 shows an intermediate skill
- Trefoil 3 recognises advanced skill development
Try them on your own, or as a Patrol or interest group.
*World Guiding 3 refer to Look Wider Still - Edition(2006)
World Guiding 1 & 2 refer to Look Wide (Revised Edition 2008)or download
At times you may require the skills, knowledge or expertise of an external assessor for assessing challenge work. This includes:
- Queen's Guide Award (including Focus and interest assessments if needed);
- BP Award;
- Junior BP Award;
- Endeavours; and
- all 'Look Wide' and 'Look Wider Still' challenges.
Guides can use this document to help them understand what is required of them when using an external assessor.
Leaders can use this document to assist Guides in completing their challenges when external assessment is required
Girl Guides Australia has three achievement Awards for Guides to work towards and gain a great sense of achievement. The Awards can be achieved as you progress through the Australian Guide Program. The Awards can only be worked on one at a time. You should work on the Award best suited to your abilities and interests. You can start the next Award even if you have not gained the previous one. You need to have made or renewed your Promise, be an active member of your unit and patrol, and be ready for extra challenges to start an Award. Once you are 14 years of age you can start the Queen's Guide Award and complete it by your 18th birthday. You can also work towards the Duke of Edinburgh's Award as well as the Queen's Guide Award once you turn 14 years.
Each Guide Award has two parts which can be worked on at the same time.
This is assessed by the Guide and her fellow Guides. Guides must complete at least two challenges (AIM HIGH publication) from each of the following topics.
- Promise and Law
- Outdoors
- Patrol System
- Service
- Guiding Traditions
- World Guiding
When you have completed six activities you will be halfway and you will be presented with the Bronze Endeavour reward for working so hard.
After completing the remaining six activities you will be rewarded with your Junior BP Award. This will be presented at a very special ceremony.
Guides read through options in their "Aim High" book and then work on 3 challenges in each of the following areas.
- Promise and Law
- Outdoors
- Service
- Guiding Traditions
- World Guiding
- Patrol Systems
When you have completed 9 activities you will be presented with a silver endeavour badge.
Then once you have completed the other 9 activities you will receive your BP Award at a special ceremony.
The Queen's Guide Award is the peak achievement in Guides. The challenges must be completed before your 18th birthday.
See the Queen's Guide Award Page for further details.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme has three levels of Award - Bronze, Silver and Gold. Any girl 14 years and over can join Guides to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme. You can register through your State Girl Guides organisation and join a local Unit of girls your age. Guides provides you with many opportunities to learn new skills, give service, participate in a recreational activity or expedition and take part in a residental camp - this could even be at a WAGGGS World Centre such as SANGAM in India.
Look Wide
Look Wide has a whole range of challenges for you to explore, create and achieve. Any of these may be used, just once, as part of the Awards in Aim High. Even more challenges, certificates and other Guiding qualifications can be found in the booklet.
Available at your Guide Shop.
Aim High
If you have made your promise and are an active member of your Unit and ready for an extra challenge, then Aim High is for you. Aim High contains all the Awards - the peak achievement of the Queen's Guide, the BP and Junior BP Awards.
Each Award focuses on challenges in each of the fundamentals of Guiding and you are expected to challenge yourself at your highest personal level.
Available at your Guide Shop.
Look Wider Still
Look Wider Still has furtherchallenges for you to achieve.
Available in a Guide Shop near you.
Leader Resources
The Leader's Guide to Recognition is available at your Guide Shop.