Become a Camping Leader
The Camping Leader qualification is for people who wish to supervise a camping group and develop participants’ camping proficiency by teaching camp-craft activities.
Who is it designed for?
The new Camping Leader scheme is ideal for those involved with the, Gaisce President’s Award, Scout Groups, Irish Girl Guides, Schools and College groups amongst others. Skills covered apply to groups using commercial campsites as well as wild camping areas. A qualified Camping Leader who also holds a walking leadership qualification, such as the Lowland Leader Award, can operate in terrain within the scope of that scheme i.e. journey and wild camp.
How does it work?
There is no formal face to face training component in this scheme. Instead, Mountaineering Ireland and Mountain Training have developed an optional online training resource to help candidates familiarise themselves with the Camping Leader syllabus and associated competencies prior to attending assessment. You can register for the scheme here: Camping Leader Award
Training
The online training course covers all elements of the syllabus using a variety of formats such as presentations, videos and quizzes to aid learning. Courses will take approximately 4 hours to complete if you engage with the content in all sections. You may revisit the online training course as often as you wish in advance of your assessment course. The online training also provides you with an outline of how your assessment course will be delivered and ideas for how you might consolidate your learning.
How long dose it take?
There is no official consolidation period for the Camping Leader qualification because the online training can be done at any time. We encourage you to complete the online training course to familiarise yourself with the syllabus and to help you prepare for assessment, even for those with equivalent training or extensive camping experience.
Some candidates may benefit by undertaking further personal camping trips or supervising camping groups in a variety of settings.
There is no time limit on the validity of your registrations or the online training resource and some candidates may take longer than others to complete the qualification.
Assessment
Before you book onto a Camping Leader assessment course, make sure you have done the following:
You must be at least 18 years old
Personally undertaken and logged an absolute minimum of five overnight camps, ideally in a variety of contexts.
Assisted with or overseen at least two group camps. If personal camping has only been undertaken when also supervising a group, then these two group camps can be part of the total submitted for personal camping i.e. some candidates may need to log only five overnight camps in total. Reflective comments must accompany the group supervision evidence.
Be familiar with the syllabus.
You must be an experienced self-sufficient camper.
Have experience of the supervision of camping groups.
Attended and completed (i.e. not online) a first aid course which involved at least one full day or eight hours of instruction and included an element of assessment
The Camping Leader assessment takes place over the course of a day with eight hours contact time.
Why do it?
The Camping Leader Award is nationally recognised as a robust, quality assured measure of your competence and will be accepted as such by various groups and authorities.
When you have completed the training and consolidation period, you can book on to an assessment using the link below.