On the 4th March when the constitution of the Association of Ringing Teachers was agreed, a Management Committee was established with members drawn from the Central Council Education Committee, the Central Council Ringing Centres committee, the Ringing Foundation and other centres of excellence.
The members of the committee are Pip Penney, Chairman; Les Boyce, Secretary; Gill Hughes, Treasurer; Peter Dale; Claire Bell; Graham Nabb; Rob Parker.
Ringers participating in the Integrated Teacher Training Scheme (ITTS) become eligible for membership of ART once they have completed the training modules.
The Objective of ART as stated in its constitution is to develop and support the delivery, integrity and standards in the teaching, instruction and education in the art of change ringing.
The Mission of ART is to improve the learning experience for new recruits, by using encouraging and motivating teachers to deliver an excellent grounding in handling and elementary change ringing.
Independent Educational Standards Committee
An independent educational advisory group has been established taking the role of non-executive directors. This group will report back to the Management Committee.
Phil Gay, creator of the Keele Ringing course, ex member of both the Central Council Education and Ringing Centres Committees, inventor of the Lichfield Mobile belfry and devisor of the Founders prize giving scheme, will head this group. Michael Henshaw, President of the Central Council 2002-2005, previous chairman of the CC Education Committee and currently Professor of Systems Engineering at Loughborough University involved with validation of degree programs is a member of the group. The other member is Matthew Turner currently working in the Quality Assurance team in the Registry at Cardiff University with a specific responsibility for the quality assurance of new degree programmes and major redesigns of existing programmes.
Performance monitoring
ART has put in place a system for auditing performance. Frank Seabright from Herefordshire, long time tutor on the Hereford Ringing Course will monitor the statistics and report back to the Management Committee.
Existing Teachers
The ITTS has been designed to be inclusive; it wishes to embrace existing skilled teachers and acknowledges their experience and expertise. Skilled teachers can bring the benefits of their experience to the course to share with other delegates. Everyone has something to offer and something to learn.
Mentors and a mentorship scheme are fundamental to the ITTS courses. The manner in which skilled, experienced teachers can become involved with the ITTS course is by becoming a Mentor
Website
The ART website is being developed. Currently it is in its infancy but over the weeks will be developed. You can visit the website at ringingteachers.co.uk
