The Education Committee, together with additional representatives of districts, have taken into account the views of Guild members via their representatives in putting together a programme of events for 2024. The programme sees some significant changes from previous years, and we hope meets the needs of the Guild.
Courses for 2024 are:· Train the trainer course – Saturday 2nd March – Bishopstoke. To provide guidance, hints & tips for those who teach new ringers. The course is aimed at new & inexperienced teachers not those who have been teaching for some time.
- For further details and to download the poster and application form click here.
· Teaching next stages on Zoom – Tuesday 26th March. Teaching from rounds to bob doubles – hints, tips and exercises.
· The dark art of raising and lowering in peal on Zoom – Wednesday 27th March. The fundamentals of how to raise and lower in peal. The course is open to all, but in intended to provide a foundation for the practicals on 20th April. Attendance at this event will not guarantee a place on a practical course on 20th April.
· *Raising & lowering in peal – Saturday 20th April. This is a follow on from the Zoom session on 27th March, and we intend to open up the practical sessions only to those who have attended the Zoom call on 27th March.
It is intended that 2 hour practical sessions are run in each district for up to 5 members of that district. The Guild Education Committee can assist in providing leaders for the course (if required), and will take student applications and payment. The Guild Education Committee will make tower donations to towers used from the Education Committee account. Districts are requested to arrange a suitable tower and to find sufficient helpers (about 6 per group).
Note – this is a significant departure from the way that Guild courses have been run before, and is an attempt to provide as many practical places as possible, near to ringers’ homes. We are trying a different way of working, which we hope will be successful.
If the course is oversubscribed in any district, we may, in discussion with the district representatives, put on an additional practical event. This could be a second tower at the same time, or later in the day, or run on a different date.
· Listening skills – Saturday 12th October – Lockerley
· Conducting including practical – Saturday 9th November – St Mary Bourne
· Basic calling including practical – Saturday 9th November – St Mary Bourne
We are not covering courses such as Plain Hunt, Plain Bob Doubles or Grandsire Doubles this year. We hope that districts will start to provide such courses, as they are able to be more responsive to needs of learners in their local areas. The Guild Education Committee is able to provide materials to assist.
The Guild Education Committee will start to make available (subject to permission of authors) training material used on previous Guild Training Courses. This will include an extensive range of topics from Plain hunt up to Double Norwich Court Bob Major.
There were a number of other options for training and development that we considered to be outside the abilities of the Education Committee to provide included weekday daytime courses and practices (most of us work full time) and an annual Essex style ringing course over a long weekend. We were, however, grateful for the suggestions.
Andy Ingram
for the W&P Guild Education Committee