Courses and workshops are available to help you during this return to ringing. Some will be provided by your local guild or association. Others can be provided by the Central Council or ART, in you local area or online. We are also exploring the possibility of providing online training using subject matter experts. Watch this space.
Not traditional subject matter for a training course, however a one day workshop on this subject was run three times before March 16 2020, the final workshop taking place on the Sunday of the 2020 ART Conference. The recruitment and retention workshop introduces lots of ideas and guides people through building their personal recruitment and retention plan, whether for their band or local branch or district. Find out what has worked for others and the pitfalls to avoid. The workshop can be delivered as a physical event, however we are looking at turning this into a virtual event.
A few ringing societies hold some sort of workshop or course for Tower Captains. Why not see if yours is one of them. ART runs a full day workshop that will develop awareness of all aspects of tower management and allow delegates to discuss what's happening at their tower and how to address them. This workshop can be delivered as a physical event, however we are also looking at turning this into a virtual event, allowing more delegates to attend, sooner.
Either for those who have become Steeple Keepers as a result of the pandemic or who want to learn a bit more.
By necessity, such workshops need to be very hands-on and so will probably not be run until people feel comfortable travelling and mixing with people they don't know. Some ringing societies organise their own workshops so contact your guild for details. ART offers a full day workshop combining both theory and practical sessions. It provides an opportunity to learn more about the bells and their fittings, what basic maintenance they need, and when and how minor repairs can be carried out.
The ART Module 1 introduces new ideas and allows you to practise different skills and techniques in a safe and supportive environment. It is suitable for those who are new to teaching and those who've been teaching successfully for many years. It provides you with the skills and techniques necessary to take a ringer from their first lesson to having competent bell control and ringing rounds unsupervised. Teaching bell handling is a physical skill and day courses will only be run when people feel comfortable mixing.
We expect that our first courses will be small and local (not nationally advertised) and some of our requirements about minimum course size will be dispensed with.
We are planning to run a series of webinars for learners and teachers about how to transfer the skills learnt on online ringing platforms such as Ringing Room and Ding back into the tower. These webinars will be advertised nationally.
The ART Module 2 helps new and experienced teachers support their students and develop the necessary foundation skills for good ringing and then move forward to ringing changes. Through a mixture of practical and theory sessions learn about:
Teaching is a physical skill and day courses will only be run when people feel comfortable mixing. We expect that our first courses will be small and local (not nationally advertised) and some of our requirements about minimum course size will be dispensed with.
Perhaps not number one on the priority list, but new people will need to develop their calling and conducting skills – ranging from 'what is a bob?' to 'putting people right'. Some ringing societies are able to run workshops to develop these skills, however we are exploring opportunities to host webinars nationally and /or half-day calling and conducting workshops. Normally such workshops would have a strong practical component, so we probably need to see if this can be replicated using an online ringing platform.
With an emphasis on intensive teaching and a possible short-fall in volunteer helpers, simulators become even more important in the future. Simulator awareness workshops have been very popular over the last two or three years. They cover hardware, software and teaching techniques. Simulators are much more than a form of sound control.
An opportunity to refresh the knowledge and skills that you acquired on your ART Module 1 or Module 2 courses. Refresher courses for both ART teaching modules are being developed online and will be a mix of video presentations, online quizzes and slide shows. Details of the curriculum will be available by the end of January and the courses are due to go live at the end of April 2021.
The location and dates of half-day physical workshops will obviously depend on how the pandemic unwinds across the country, but we will try our best to meet everyone's needs.
What it is and how to do it.