M1: 16 Apr 2016 - Colerne

I had been looking forward to attending the course for some time and was not disappointed.12 students gathered at St John the Baptist, Colerne from the local area on Saturday 16 Apr for the ART Module 1 - Teaching Bell Handling day course to be taught by Frank Seabright, with Pip Penny in attendance.The course was well structured and split into logical sections which allowed time for theory, ample practice and lots of challenge and discussion. I am sure we all learnt something new and benefited from the 'banter' between Frank and Pip!

For me, having recently returned to ringing after a long break the concept of teaching from 'bell down' was entirely new and I will now adopt this approach given the safety considerations and simple learning techniques involved.I was also struck by the importance of training 'intensity'. I had thought a once a week 'tied practice' was pretty intensive, but apparently the ideal is to have as many training sessions as possible within the first three weeks (it was suggested once a day if possible!) to make early rapid progress and to keep interest levels high in the learner.

Throughout the day Frank re-iterated the training mantra 'Whole - Part - Whole' - breaking down the processes to be learnt into small stages and then re-focusing on a stage when you need to, before putting the whole process back together again.The day ended with tips on how to identify and correct faults, followed by an insight into future training opportunities and how to progress to ART accreditation as a teacher or mentor.

Finally on behalf of all the students I would like to thank Roger and Fiona for their generous hospitality - the constant supply of food and drink was much appreciated.

John Sealy, Bradford on Avon

Teaching Bell Handling

Practical advice for teachers, right from the first lesson.