Perhaps some bell ringing teachers are gearing up for a recruitment drive in the New Year? Here are some lesson outlines for the "special needs group", members of which they are likely to come across from time to time - learners who can handle a bell, but may be finding the conventional path into methods too steep. They are written from the viewpoint of a learner. Many ideas already feature in the ART scheme of work, but in that scheme some rather alarming jumps are made that I believe put certain learners off. The path could be made more gradual for those that need a gentler incline and thereby help with retention.

These are tiny steps, but some of us need tiny steps. It might be that some steps can be squished up and ticked off fairly quickly, whilst others take much longer to achieve. You need to achieve each step before moving on and not try to take shortcuts, because if the foundations are wobbly, the structure is liable to fall down when put under stress.

  • Ring rounds.  Not ropey rounds.  Good rounds from every bell. If they are ropey, stop and start again after some honest analysis of what is going wrong (may require careful spacing of competent ringers to separate out erratic ones). You may be bored by rounds, but novice ringers, especially the less confident ones, are not. We are still thrilled that we can work as a team to produce such a glorious sound.
  • Ring simple patterns (eg queens, roller coaster etc) from every bell (again, careful placing of band).  Jump changes to get in place and also pull off in patterns. Pull off in random pattern (determined by playing card to get some ropesight practice). Helps learners to get used to feel of fractional adjustment needed in timing if light bell after heavy bell etc ( eg 135246 – 2 needs to be aware that 5 is a bit slower and make allowances to avoid the 3-legged dog walk effect).  Keep moving everyone around the circle so that they can do it from anywhere. Too often we get comfortable on one bell, think that we have mastered the lesson, then move on to the next exciting thing.
  • Start to move places.  At first at handstroke only. Kaleidoscope ringing could achieve this but call changes would make it more interesting. Just because we are special needs, we are not stupid. Again, from every bell, so a ringer is confident to speed up/slow down at handstroke from anywhere in the circle
  • Introduce backstroke kaleidoscope ringing/ backstroke call changes so everyone is equally happy to speed up/slow down at backstroke from anywhere in the circle. 
  • Once changing speed in either direction is second nature then combine both handstroke/backstroke speed changes through kaleidoscope patterns or call changes. This is before you attempt plain hunting. If a learner cannot move a place crisply in either direction and on either stroke without crashing about, what chance of success do they have of plain hunting when they need to not only move a place every stroke but also keep close track of which way they are moving along the row?  Do not rush this step. Some may need to over-learn things in order to feel confident
  • Start to plain hunt and plain hunt from various bells and on various numbers of bells. I believe that it is more useful to hunt on fewer bells from different positions than on more bells from the same position. Some prefer/need  to PH on 3 or 4 with a few covering bells, some find 5 manageable, some prefer the rhythm of 6.  Some may like 7 or 8 so can get into the groove. Those doing the covering can help each other with the weaker person effectively ringing rounds (although you could bong 5 6 or 6 5 or even cover on 4 and 6 to shake things up and help with ropesight)
  • Keep revisiting the things that have already been covered. Consolidate, consolidate and consolidate. It builds confidence and also reveals any flaky bits that need revising.  If you can, revisit the simple things in different towers.  It is surprising how a change of scenery can throw a learner. You think you have grasped something until you go somewhere else and realise that you haven't really grasped it fully at all. Never ask someone who is not very confident to try something new in a new location (unless the request comes from them or you have gone there expressly to try something new –eg 8 bells because you don't usually have access to 8 bells).  If someone has never trebled to  grandsire, the place to start is on home ground on familiar bells ( if it wasn't , they would not be on the special needs pathway – remember this advice is for the strugglers)
  • When people can PH reliably on 4, 5 or even  6 bells, then start introducing trebling to a method – but don't ask anyone inexperienced to treble to a method while someone else is trying to learn to ring inside (and vice versa) because it can be unbelievably frustrating for both parties
  • When it is time for those on the special needs pathway to "move inside", forget dodging doubles methods.  Watch  Phil Ramsbottom's tutorial -Doubles without Dodges on the St Martin's Guild site.  It explains Devon Place, George's Maggot, Penultimus and Big Bob, plus 4 bell versions and 6 bell extensions.  Any one for Christmas Eve Minor (George's Maggot on 6)? None of these require any dodging, all help learners to mark where they pass the treble and other useful skills. All should be simple enough to encourage people to move away from ringing by numbers and try to trust some ropesight.  Some allow bobs and singles and can be rung as QPs.
  • Always end a session on something that you know is likely to be successful for the weakest in the group.  Don't send anyone home feeling a failure. It makes it hard to come back.
  • But if even this gentle way into method ringing is overwhelming, try not to despair.  The grounding in very good rounds, steady, confident call changes and trebling to plain methods should be enough to make your special needs learner feel that they have something to contribute.  It may be limited, but better high quality limited than depressingly awful over-ambitious.

Happy teaching and a Happy New Year!