Preston Muslim Girls High School (PMGHS) celebrated 122 of its Year 7 pupils being formally invested into the schools’ new Scout Group named ‘Deepdale Central (PMGHS) Scouts’.
It is now officially the biggest all-female Scout troop to ever exist in the UK.
The investiture ceremony took place on Friday 17 March where all 122 Year 7 pupils made their promise to Allah (God), then to the King, and formally became Scouts.
An investiture is a ceremony where someone makes their Scout Promise, and is formally welcomed into their troop and becomes a member of the worldwide Scouting family.
Preston Muslim Girls’ High school was founded in 1989 as an independent Islamic school, and has grown in size and success since then as it now holds an Outstanding Ofsted rating.
The school incorporated Scouting into their curriculum this academic year – now all Year 7 pupils at the school spend Friday afternoons taking part in an exciting range of activities to help them build skills for life.
So far, the girls have learnt to light fires from scratch, cook on an open fire, carve wood, hone their archery skills, and make s’mores, to name a few activities.
The Girl Scouts are already preparing for their next endeavour, which will be a sleepover during the holy month of Ramadan.
However, school leaders at PMGHS have shown their commitment to this initiative by removing the financial pressure on parents and paying for all Year 7 pupils to take part in Scouts.
The schools made the decision to develop Scouting within their system, as they recognise the Scouts’ core values as being on par with their own.
Scouting is for everyone and this shows in its numbers as there are 420,000 Scouts across the UK, 58 million across the world, of which 28 million are Muslim.
In the UK, Scouting in the Muslim community is now the fastest growing area in the UK Scouting movement.
Headteacher Mr Rehan Patel said: “At Preston Muslim Girls High School we are delighted to have introduced Scouting to the school.
“We recognise how important it is to develop responsible, respectful and active young people and we are as committed to character development as we are to academic excellence.
“By incorporating Scouts into our curriculum we are showing our commitment to providing important lifelong skills to our pupils.
“Skills such as, team work, confidence, resilience, creativity and so much more.
“We have been delighted with how quickly the scout group has become established and we look forward to watching it go from strength to strength. “
Bear Grylls, UK Chief Scout said: “It’s truly inspirational to see the largest ever all female Scout troop come to life at Preston Muslim Girls High School.
“Scouting is developing so fast through many of the wonderful Muslim faith communities and it’s brilliant to see the leadership team at PMGHS join that trend.
“I am so proud to be a part of a movement where everyone feels welcomed and are embraced with open arms.”