Badges

We are excited to now be able to offer our gymnasts the opportunity to complete Gym Bubbas Badges! We have taken a lot of time and care to craft our badges to represent the achievement and effort our gymnasts put into honing their skills. We look forward to celebrating your achievements with you all!

Our badge schemes are outlined below in detail, but if you have any questions then take a look at the frequently asked questions section which follows that.

Gym Bubbas Badges

When the British Gymnastic badge scheme ended last year, we sat down and began creating a bespoke badge scheme for our little gymnasts. Our new badge scheme has been meticulously planned and developed to truly reflect the skills we teach in our classes.  This has been a massive project and we cannot wait for the children to be able to challenge themselves to achieve gym bubbas gymnastic badges.

Our badge scheme has 2 types of badges – Star Badges and Colour Badges.

Star Badges

The Gym Bubbas 1 and 2 Star Badges are aimed at parent/child groups (mainly 18 months – 3.5 years). The 3 Star Badge skills are aimed at gymnasts in our younger independent classes (mainly 3.5 – 6 years). For each Star Badge, there are 3 disciplines – Floor, bar and beam. The skills progress through the badge scheme and get more difficult as the star level increases. 

Colour Badges

Our Colour Badge scheme is designed for our older gymnasts (mainly 6 – 12 years). All gymnasts progress through the badge scheme in the following order as the badges progress in difficulty:

  • Purple
  • Orange
  • Blue
  • Red

For each colour, there are 4 disciplines; floor, bar, beam and vault.

FAQ

Our little gymnasts will generally start on the badge related to their age however it is important to remember that with all our badges the ages stated above are just guidelines. It is important that each child is treated as an individual so you may be advised that your child should begin on a different badge, please speak to your instructor who will be able to advise you as to which is the most suitable.

Although we have age guidelines for the badges, ages are not stated on the badge or certificate making all badges accessible to all, regardless of age.

We kindly ask that parents listen to the instructor’s advice as they will not only be thinking about the current badge but also how the children can progress on from there. For example, instructors may want to start a child on an easier badge to increase their confidence and ensure they have something achievable next, rather than starting on the hardest badge and then not being able to achieve the next badge for some time.
Badge testing sessions will mainly run during school holidays and half terms (e.g. Easter, Summer, Christmas etc subject to availability).
Badge testing sessions can last up to 45 minutes (depending on numbers). Sessions will run much like a regular session with the children being asked to complete the skills set out in the badge criteria. There will be lots of opportunities to complete the set skills so, if they don’t get it first time don’t worry. The instructors will work with the children to help them achieve what’s required.

At the end of the session, the children will receive a slip to say if they achieved the skills required for the badge or if they need a little more practice.

For those achieving the skills, the badge and certificate can be purchased at the front desk for £5.00.

If the children require a little more practice to achieve the badge, they will receive a well-done sticker for all of their hard work. The assessor will also talk with the children and parents about what skills need to be worked on.

There will be time at the end of the session for photographs in the gym. 
Certificates are A5 size and have all of the completed skills on the back of the certificate.

The badges are iron-on so there is no need for sewing!! To attach the badge to a garment simply lay the reverse of the badge on the garment, cover it with a wet cloth, and iron!
Badge sessions are free to book and must be booked in advance. On conclusion of the session the badge and certificate can be purchased for £5.00 at the front desk, which covers the cost of the item and a small amount towards running the session.
Each badge has 10 skills. To achieve the badge children must complete 9 out of the 10 set skills.

All of the skills required for the badge are written on the reverse of the certificate, allowing everyone to see exactly what had to be completed to achieve the badge.

All the skills the children need to complete for their badges will be taught throughout their weekly gymnastic sessions. We also aim to run badge practice sessions in the holidays, so if you little gymnast wants to come and practise you can get them booked in. Make-up sessions can be used for badge practice sessions, or you can just pay for an additional class.

Over the course of the next few months badge boards will go up in the gym. On the boards, you will be able to find out all of the information about the badge scheme and the skills required for each of the levels.
The badge scheme is designed to complete 1 – 2 badges per term, which is what we would advise, to ensure that the gymnasts look forward to completing a badge and gaining a sense of accomplishment.
No. Badges are an optional extra, so we ask parents to let the children decide if they want to complete them. If they choose not to, that is completely fine and will not affect their weekly sessions in any way.