Sorry. I thought you meant moderate moving water environments, rather than moving water environments. I agree it needs covering don’t get me wrong on that. I just envisaged PLs rescuing laiden opens on the juicy bits of the Eden or Swale rather than the Medway.
I think a 2 day course, morning if theory, tentage, cooking, food, water, hygiene, packing, afternoon of practical moving towards a campsite area. Evening of theory, decision making, site selection. Camp. Morning of decision making, route choices, emergencies and rescues followed by a washup in the afternoon??
Defo have one interested party from this end of the woods!
Lol, it’s perhaps not as bad as I thought it might be. But various questions around remote supervision vs.direct supervision, coaching vs. leading etc have emerged along the way which have complicated the waters somewhat. A couple of hours discussing this afternoon has ironed some of those questions out.
It’s still heading in the right direction.
It’s looking like the policy will change to suggest that anyone remotely supervising water based expeds will have to have a statement of competence by an SME, which will hopefully be able to be achieved by a number of routes depending on your personal experience. Still some way to go so don’t get too excited just yet!
Something covering and enabling local basic AT rather than the ’ big ticket’ camp type adv trips.
Would be a brilliant start if the Corps ran a lowland leader training, assessment and expedition module 1 of each 30 times a year.
AND run them even if only 2 or 3 students on a course.
Really build up some skills in the Corps to deliver local AT.
More people get the basics done, the more can become adv instructors.
I can’t talk for other areas but I know LaSER have been really proactive in the last couple of years with LLA courses. Sussex and Surrey wings specifically seem to have run loads of them and inviting the wider area, not just their own wings! Not sure who was spear-heading it but I think OC Surrey Wing (also the ATTO) was the main force behind it.
If that isn’t happening in other areas that would be nice to see start to happen.
Not quite sure what you are looking for here? Genuinely interested as the portal can be amended to support this kind of stuff if it’s sensible.
There simply isn’t the demand for that many. What you are asking for is 90 weekends worth of training & assessment. Give or take, that’s 7 weekends each per course director who all, no doubt, have additional roles, responsibilities and time pressures.
Also, Mountain Training place a minimum number on a trg course of 4 participants; that’s their rule, not ours.
Who are a big chunk of our ML trained staff, which means that other activities aren’t taking place, if we aren’t taking Cadets and Staff into the Mountains then we aren’t developing that next generation of ML’s.
That doesn’t mean you need 30 courses next year, it means you need to identify people who want a course, support them through the process and then get a couple of courses run at capacity.
My target is 8 extra LLA for my Wing this year plus getting all of those who did ML training years ago and who never went for assessment (including in the 2 years they know that they weren’t going to be able to use it for much longer without an assessment) back into ticket as LLA’s.
You do have a point. I’ve always said that within this organisation we are really good at putting people into roles (sometimes not the right people, sometimes to many people wear too many hats but that’s a different thread in itself).
What the organisation isnt very good at is. OK so you’ve volunteered be a Wing or Region SME the expectation is that per annum you must ensure that the following xyz is run and not just be a point of contact
Giving it some thought.
Maybe the best way to organise Corps AT staff training is along the lines of the SATT.
They work to regions and advertise their courses to everyone. Seems to work well?
If AT trg for staff was focused at region level we could get more accomplished perhaps?
Also focusing on walking AT would help! Simplest and cheapest of the AT activities after all!
Then have specialist teams delivering all the other myriad of AT staff training in addition.
This is basically what should be being done by the RATTO.
As said, LaSER does this well, but un sure about other areas. Even if each region ran 3-6 courses a year, that would be a hell of a lot of new Lowland Leaders.
