Life in Guiding
The patrol system
Small groups led by girls themselves: Guiding's everyday training in leadership, borrowed from Scouting and made its own.
A Guide unit is made up of small patrolsA small group of Guides (today usually four to eight) led by one of the girls themselves. The basic unit of peer leadership in Guiding., usually of four to eight members, each led by a girl nominated by the patrol: the Patrol LeaderA Guide nominated by her patrol to lead it, with a Patrol Second as her deputy., with a Patrol Second as deputy. Brownies have a parallel system of SixesA small group within a Brownie unit, led by a Sixer with a Second as deputy. Six names traditionally drew on folklore, with gnomes, pixies, elves, imps, sprites and kelpies among them. Animal names are said to have been added in the 2000s, but that date is not yet confirmed., led by a Sixer and a Second.[1] According to a Girlguiding centenary blog, Brownie patrols became Sixes in 1917; we have not yet confirmed the date.[4]
Borrowed from Scouting
The patrol system came from Scouting. Agatha Blyth, a member of the first Girl Guide committee and founder of the Girl Guide Officers’ Training School in 1915, adapted Roland Philipps’s Scout manual as The Patrol System for Girl Guides, published by C. Arthur Pearson.[2] Evidence status: Unconfirmed The date usually given is 1916, but there is some doubt about it: it comes from a secondary citation, and we have not yet seen a copy or library record.
Leadership by girls
Evidence status: Interpretation For girls in the early twentieth century, the patrol system offered something unusual: responsibility for other girls, with adults stepping back. We see peer leadership as one of the most distinctive parts of Guiding, even though it sat alongside a strongly disciplined programme. Tammy Proctor’s history of the movement is a starting point.[3]
Sources
- Girlguiding, “A–Z guide to Girlguiding terms for parents”. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- Agatha Blyth (adapting Roland E. Philipps), “The Patrol System for Girl Guides”, C. Arthur Pearson, 1916. details to check Date and publisher from a secondary citation; confirm against a copy or library catalogue.
- Tammy M. Proctor, Scouting for Girls: A Century of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, Praeger, 2009.
- Girlguiding, “Brownies Timeline: Important events through Brownies 100 year history”, Girlguiding Brownies centenary blog, 2014. Accessed 25 September 2026. details to check Centenary blog; use as a lead and confirm against the Girl Guides' Gazette.