We follow the Safeguarding Policy of St Anne's Parish Church and all of our teachers have DBS clearance and have undertaken appropriate safeguarding training.

 

We also follow the Code of Practice for ART members.

 

In addition we have adopted the Central Council for Church Bell Ringers Code of Conduct  (Edition 1, January 2024) and their Good Practice for Maintaining a Safe Environment in the Belfry for Young People (2019).

 

We expect everyone who interacts with the Ringing School to follow the codes and policies listed above and it is a condition of attendance at our sessions.

 

We ask parents to  attend at least the first session when their child is learning to ring, so that they have a better understanding of what is involved in learning to ring.  Some limited physical contact is necessary when learning to ring. The teacher must always stand close to the student, as they will be ringing the bell together for the first few lessons. The teacher will have a hand on the rope for much of the time, to be in control at first, and later to be able to take control immediately when and if needed. This means that hands and arms will sometimes be in contact. But there should be no need for further contact than that.  Ringing is very safe when properly taught.

 

Photographs and/or videos of a trainees may be taken for the purposes of instruction (eg to demonstrate an aspect of bell handling which needs addressing) but will be deleted immediately after use.

 

Photos or video will not be used for any publicity purposes or shared via social media without the consent of the trainee  or  their parent/carer as appropriate.

Provided the trainee/parent/carer consents, contact information may be shared with the Learning the Ropes scheme run by the Association of Ringing Teachers. This will enable us to award certificates each time the trainee completes a Level in the Learning the Ropes scheme.

 

Parents of children are always very welcome to attend all/any lessons, courses and practices that their child is attending. (Very often we find parents end up learning to ring too and it is a lovely hobby to share with your child!)

 

If a child  wants to learn to ring we ask you to complete the consent form  below and bring it to the first lesson.