Probably won’t surprise you, but more interest in helping / attending here! 
Oh god this has turned into a can of worms… 
Why? What’s happened?
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!
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I hope so.
Also a unified AT portal similar to training portal would be nice!
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Indeed.
But as you say not quite so ‘beta’.
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.
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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.
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I’ve benefited massively from SW’s AT programme despite not being in that Region.
In all fairness my Region has been good too, but it’s much easier for me to jump across the border into SW then drive to the opposite end of W&W.
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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.
Yes but where I am we dont even have low level quals. In any great number.
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.
I dont.
That’s 30 across the Corps!
That’s not even 1 per wing per year.
But its more than at present.
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
Yes, but there are only 13 course directors in the Corps - hence my point above.
No course I’ve been on in the past three years has been fully subscribed; why run nearly twice as many per year given that?
I think that speaks volumes
- We need more course directors for an org of our size.
- We need to advertise these courses and opportunities much much better than we currently do.
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.
Just a thought.
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.
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They already do Andy approaches them and adds them to the Corps calendar, they are then advertised in the same place as all of the courses at Windermere and Fairbourne.
It’s not that easy, Mountain Training appoint Course Directors and they limit the total number nationally, they need to ensure that there are sufficient students nationally for the number of Directors.
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