Some of us in East Anglia who are active in ART- running day courses, teaching , mentoring and assessing – noticed that while we had lots of people doing day courses, not many seemed to be making it through to accreditation. Lesley Boyle of the Ely DA, who is also an ART tutor, had the bright idea of running a morning drop in session aimed at everyone who had done a day course but wasn’t yet accredited. The event was held in the amazing Stretham Ringing Education Centre , which is run by the Ely DA. Three areas were set up manned by ‘experts’ who could give real, practical advice and help.
- Assessment – how it works, what you have to do, get a date in the diary!
- Simulators – marvel at all the possibilities and how they can help teaching and learning, discuss technicalities, and
- Practise teaching techniques in the tower (church cleaners came in useful as guinea pigs! Willingly, I might add!)
In addition there was plentiful coffee and biscuits, a well-stocked ART publications stand and the atmosphere was positively buzzing with enthusiasm. The people who came were all at different stages of their teaching but they all seemed to feel a renewed sense of motivation, and the encouragement and enthusiasm of the already accredited teachers and assessors were infectious. It seemed that things were not so difficult as they might have thought and there is now a plan for everyone to move forward at their own particular level. Look out for lots of newly accredited teachers in Cambridgeshire!
Everyone sharing their experiences and getting to know each other
Lesley Boyle demonstrating teaching techniques
‘All you have to do is……’ Advice on completing the logbook ready for an assessed lesson.