There is a definite autumnal look about now as I travel around and about and the round of Annual District Meetings has passed. I managed to attend three of these meetings and get a feel for how things are going in our Association and I apologise to the Districts that I was unable visit for their ADM. It was encouraging to hear about the work that is going on Districts and also to find out more about some of the problems that they face. It is clear, from my perspective, that these are not just District problems, the same issues are happening in other Associations and Guilds.
Last month, I mentioned the Central Council’s Ringing 2030 initiative, and I also raised this at the District meetings that I was able to attend. For us to be able to embrace this fully, we do need to start to work now on developing further opportunities to raise the profile of ringing, bring ringers on and address some of the issues that are causing some recruits to drop out.
There are good ideas in place already but I think that we should develop them further. I frequently talk about ART (the Association of Ringing Teachers), which is a model for training that I am promoting in Kent, and Sue Bassett, our Training Officer, has set up some training hubs in the Association using the ART principles. These are following a model established a few years ago in Birmingham but has been adopted in several other areas. Rather than much of the early teaching of ringing taking place in a local tower, where a ringing lesson may still be part of a practice night, this teaching takes place at a ringing hub. There are a group of experienced ringers who have all taken the M1 course offering intensive 1:1 tuition for a whole ringing session. This focused training helps the learner to make better progress in learning to handle a bell safely.
We are now trying to introduce the next stages of ringing into these hubs, moving on from just ringing a bell to ringing accurately in rounds, mastering call-changes and then building up to starting to plain hunt.
If you have any ringers who are at these stage, take a look at the training section on the KCACR website for more details. We are keen to try to set up further hubs in the Association so please contact Sue Bassett if you would like your tower to be considered.
The biggest problem that we have is a shortage of M1 Accredited Teachers. We have held several M1 courses in Kent but currently we believe that there are only 10 accredited M1 teachers in Kent.
We are keen to recruit more M1 Accredited Teachers and to be able to extend our teaching to the M2 level. By doing so, we can offer our members a more structured training programme, building on the ART hubs that we already have in place. If you have already taken the M1 course, then please do consider getting accredited and becoming part of our team of hub teachers. If you have an interest in teaching basic bell handling, then do consider taking the ART M1 course.
Whether you are new to teaching ringing or, like me, have been teaching basic handling for some time, the ART M1 course is definitely worth signing up for. It provides ideas and support for those who are new to teaching and provides those who have been teaching for years with an opportunity to look at how they are currently teaching bell handling and whether they could include other elements that might help some learners grasp the concepts more quickly. What’s more, the Association currently offers a refund the cost of the course. Please let Sue Bassett or myself know if you are interested in signing up and we can make arrangements to hold another course in Kent.
Congratulations go to the Canterbury District and the band of St Stephen’s, Canterbury on winning the 6-bell Inter-District Method Competition at Beckenham on 28th September. Four Districts were able to raise a team and the contest was judged by Simon and Cathy Dixon from the Peterborough Diocesan Guild.
The Call-Change Competition was held on the same day at Beckenham and 6 teams entered although one had to withdraw from the contest at short notice. The remaining five teams each rang 10 minutes of call-changes which were again judged by Simon and Cathy Dixon and congratulations go to the Bredgar band on winning the event.
As previously mentioned, there will be an Association Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday 17th November. The service begins at 5.30pm and all members are invited to attend. Please could you be seated by 5.20pm.
Refreshments will be available in the Community Studio (next to the main Cathedral Shop) from about 3.15pm and there will be general ringing at the Cathedral from 4.00pm. Please could members attending inform the stewards at the entrance to the Cathedral Precincts that they are ringers attending the service.
For those wishing to ring, the tower entrance is immediately to the left when entering through the South Transept door and there will be members of the Canterbury Cathedral Company of Change Ringers on hand there to allow entrance to members of the Association from 3.45pm, it would be helpful if members could introduce themselves on arrival as the open door always seems to attract inquisitive members of the general public!
It will not be possible to park in the Precincts of the Cathedral but there are plenty of car parks in Canterbury that are in easy walking distance.
Finally, it is customary that the post of Chairman is held for only 3 years and I need to advise you that my term of office as Chairman will come to an end at the next AGM in April 2025 and the Association will need to elect a successor. Should you be interested in finding out more about the role, either for yourself or for somebody else that you know, please do contact me for further information.
Neil Jones
KCACR Chairman