How Tussock Works

The Plan > Do > Review Cycle

Plan > Do > Review is the fundamental learning cycle that Scouts Australia uses for every Scouting activity. It ensures nights are intentional (not just fun for its own sake), that achievements are recorded, and that leaders reflect on what worked.

Tussock is built around this cycle. Each stage has dedicated screens optimised for where you are — planning at home, running the night at the venue, and reviewing after the fact.

Step 1: Plan the Night

The Scout Night wizard walks you through everything needed to plan an event. Good planning takes 5–10 minutes and means the night runs smoothly.

1. Set the basics

   Date, time, location, and which Section (Joeys, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, Rovers) is running. Flag whether the night is indoor or outdoor — this affects which OAS streams are relevant.

2. Choose Challenge Area and SPICES domains

   Select the Challenge Area the night targets: Community, Creative, Outdoor, or Personal Growth. Then mark which SPICES domains (Social, Physical, Intellectual, Character, Emotional, Spiritual) the activities address. This is the P>D>R programming record.

3. Map OAS streams and stages

   Select the OAS streams you plan to cover — for example, Camping Stage 3 or Bushwalking Stage 2. Tussock loads the specific requirements for each selected stage so the award payload is pre-configured before the night even starts.

4. Pre-assign PAL roles

   Assign Participate, Assist, or Lead roles to Scouts based on their current stage. A Scout ready for Lead gets Lead; a Scout working toward it gets Assist. These are editable during the night.

Step 2: Run the Night (Active Night)

On the night, open Tussock on your phone. The Active Night screen is designed for use while supervising — large tap targets, fast actions, no unnecessary steps.

1. Take attendance

   Tap each Scout's name to mark them present. Absent is the default — only present Scouts receive awards at the end of the night.

2. Adjust PAL roles on the fly

   If a Scout shows up unexpectedly or a pre-assigned Leader role needs changing, adjust PAL roles per Scout in real time. Changes take effect immediately for the award calculation.

3. Manage late arrivals and early departures

   Mark Scouts as arrived late or departed early. These details are recorded in the attendance log for the Group's records.

Step 3: Review and Award

At the end of the night — on-site or back home — complete the night and issue awards. This is where Tussock saves the most time.

1. Review OAS requirement completion

   Confirm which of the planned OAS requirements were met during the night. Requirements are pre-loaded from the plan — just tick off any that weren't completed, or leave the defaults if everything went to plan.

2. Single-tap "Complete & Award"

   One tap writes the full OAS payload to every Scout who was present. This includes completed stage requirements, Milestone credits based on PAL roles, and any SIA progress recorded during the night. No individual data entry per Scout.

3. Sync back to Terrain

   Awards sync automatically to Scouts Australia's Terrain platform. The official record is updated without needing to log in to Terrain separately.

Ongoing: Tracking across nights

OAS stages span multiple nights. Tussock keeps a running record of each Scout's progress across all 9 streams, so leaders always know which requirements have been met and what remains for each Scout's current stage.

Special Interest Areas (SIAs) are tracked per-Scout across the full duration of their project, with hour logs, category records, and goal-met flags.

The Reporting view shows which Scouts have awards pending (earned but not yet written to Terrain), who is close to advancing a stage, and programming coverage across Challenge Areas and SPICES domains.

See also