On Saturday 26th October there was an ART Module One Day Course held at The Church of The Holy Cross, Seend, an historic Church of England church dating back to the 15th Century which has all the charm of an archetypal English village church with stunning views on the south side of the churchyard over the Potterne Vale. It is a working church and forms part of the Wellsprings Benefice which includes the villages of Bulkington, Poulshot, Worton & Marston and Potterne. In the tower are six bells and the village has an active local band.
The course was aimed at new teachers and those who had experienced some teaching but felt they might like a refresher on methods of teaching a new learner or ideas on overcoming parts of teaching bell control they were finding a challenge.
Eleven delegates from the Devizes and Mere Branches attended the course which was led by Paul Lewis from Shropshire. Paul is a very experienced tutor who benefits from his work in higher education, this enables him to deliver PowerPoint and practical sessions in such a way to keep the delegates attention and to encourage and achieve group participation.
Module One of the ART Learning the Ropes Scheme is completely focussed on teaching the basics of bell control to new learners. As with all the ART processes it shows how to break things down into small and achievable steps, ways of giving positive feedback to learners to give them encouragement as well as pointing out what they are doing wrong and to teach in a structured and safe environment.
The day consisted of several practical sessions in the tower on tied bells with some delegates playing the role of teacher whilst others acted as learners and then changing roles to gain experience as a teacher, all of this was interspersed with theory sessions and discussions.
Throughout the day we were supplied with refreshments including a hot lunch and afternoon tea kindly prepared and provided by Len Roberts and Judith Williamson from the Mere Branch which kept everyone alert.
We hope we have provided these members with the inspiration and resources to feel confident in teaching a new learner and look forward to inviting them in the future to attend a Module Two Day Course which will introduce them into teaching the early stages of change ringing.
We are very grateful to everyone involved in making this course so successful, the Guild for making a donation to cover the cost of using the facilities at Seend, Len and Judith for their hard work in keeping us all refreshed, Paul for travelling from Shropshire and delivering the course and the Church Authorities at Seend for allowing us to use the building for the day and making us feel so welcome.
David Hacker
Course Organiser
