M1: 5 February 2022 - Great Ryburgh
Verity, a beginner teacher, said...
'I attended the ART Module 1 on teaching Bellhandling because we have a young learner ringer and I have not had a lot of experience of teaching ringing. I found the day interesting and informative, giving me new ways of teaching both hand and backstroke, and raising and lowering. Throughout I found new ideas which will definitely benefit the learner.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I spent the day with a great bunch of people and I am going home with a lots of fresh ideas to aid teaching. Now I’m really looking forward to putting my new skills into practice! I feel much more confident about teaching a complete learner!
Obviously the venue was a definite winner because of the amazing catering!'
David, an experienced teacher, said...
'Having first taught someone to ring at the tender age of 14, and having lost count of the number of other people I had taught to handle a bell in the intervening 48 years, you might not be entirely blamed for thinking, “Why did he sign up for a course telling him how to teach?” At 14, with my first learner, I thought I knew everything; but it is a trait of adult and continuing learning that the more you know the more you realise there is to learn.
At Great Ryburgh, Lesley skilfully and patiently led our group through theoretical and practical sessions that gently reassured us about our past and current practice but also challenged us to improve how we taught ringing by applying techniques common to classrooms around the globe but also, often, very specific to the teaching of ringing. So, we tried hand ringing as opposed to hand-wringing; we analysed the skills required to ring a bell, breaking down each movement into its component parts; we had fun pretending we had faults that did not belong to us.
The venue was well chosen and not just for the beauty of the church, for the go of the bells but for the unbelievable catering. Cheese scones, cakes, a three course lunch, more cake in the afternoon. Great Ryburgh knows how to put the tea into TEAching!
A wonderful day. Well taught with good company and I will be taking so much with me back to the tower. Thank you to all who had a part in organising the day.'
Course Tutor: Lesley Boyle
Teaching Bell Handling
Practical advice for teachers, right from the first lesson.
» Find out more about Module 1