On Saturday 20th September we held another ART Module 1 Day Course at The Church of The Holy Cross, Seend. Set on an escarpment overlooking the Potterne Vale to the south side, Holy Cross, Seend dates to the 15th Century, it has all the charm of an archetypal English village church with modern additions to make it more user friendly. 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, there is an active local band, ringing for services on Sundays and holding a weekly practice.
The Module 1 course is aimed at new teachers and those who have experienced some teaching previously but feel they might like a refresher on the elements of teaching bell handling to a new learner or ideas on overcoming parts of teaching bell control they are finding a challenge. Module 1 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 and confidence as well as pointing out what they are doing wrong and to teach in a structured and safe environment. The importance of recording progress is explained as well as awarding certificates for the different levels of achievement in the ART teaching programme. In addition, all delegates receive a course pack which contains several books to aid teaching, as well as obtaining login details for the ART website which has an array of teaching resources and the availability to register learners who then receive access to online resources.
Eleven delegates of ages ranging from 19 to 78 from the Calne, Devizes, Mere and Salisbury Branches attended the course which was led by Paul Lewis from Shropshire. Paul is a very experienced tutor who benefits from his work as a lecturer 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. It was very rewarding to see one of our enthusiastic young ringers taking on the role of teacher in his home tower.
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 Robert 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 2 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 sponsorship by donating to the Seend PCC towards the cost of using the facilities for the day and for reimbursing the students part of their course fees on completion of the course, to Len and Judith for their hard work in keeping us all refreshed, to Paul for travelling from Shropshire and delivering the course and to the Church Authorities at Seend for allowing us to use the building for the day and making us feel so welcome.
If any member is interested in learning a little more about ART or wishes to refresh some of the M1 elements, or any new learner who would like to share their learning experiences, you will be very welcome to join us at Seend on 18th October at 10-00 am for our follow up morning. This is a free event open to anyone who might be interested in teaching bell handling or sharing the experience of learning, although we would welcome voluntary donations towards the cost of using the facilities. More details can be found here.
David Hacker
Course Organiser
