Nothing Ventured (William Warwick Novels, 1)

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Forest school is a learning initiativewhere children leave the classroom tohave weekly sessions in woodlands orother outdoor settings, led by speciallytrained teachers. By their very nature,forest school programmes require athoughtful approach to balancing risksand benefits. The activities on offer mayinclude building dens, using knives andtools, and fire-based activities, withchildren being given significant choiceand control over what they do. Theapproach, developed in Scandinavia, isspreading throughout the UK (inWorcestershire over 300 settings arerunning programmes). It is often takenup in early years settings, and is alsoused by primary and secondary schoolsas a way of reconnecting disaffected ordisengaged children with learning. References andfurther informationBall, David, Gill, Tim and Spiegal,Bernard (2008) Managing Risk in PlayProvision Implementation Guide It is a popularly held view that the lawnow takes the view that all risk has tobe eliminated, and that when evenobvious risks lead to injury or loss, thevictims will nonetheless be supportedby the courts. The reality is verydifferent, as shown by two precedent-setting legal cases. The first, Tomlinsonv Congleton Borough Council, was acivil liability claim arising from a youngman who suffered permanentlydisabling injuries as a result of divinginto shallow water in a lake in a countrypark. The case went to the House ofLords in 2003, where the claim wasrejected, even though the parkmanagement had identified the risk,but had failed to carry out plannedsafety measures. One of the LawLords judging the case, LordHoffmann, said: “… the question ofwhat amounts to such care as in all thecircumstances of the case isreasonable depends upon assessing,as in the case of common lawnegligence, not only the likelihood thatsomeone may be injured and theseriousness of the injury which mayoccur, but also the social value of theactivity which gives rise to the risk andthe cost of preventative measures.These factors have to be balancedagainst each other.” One challenge is that within organisationsit is rare to see a consistent, coherentapproach. So while face-to-face staffmay want to give children experiencesthat expose them to a degree ofmanaged risk, their managers, or theircolleagues in charge of health andsafety, may take a different view. The next generation is tomorrow’s workforce. Helping young people to experience and handle risk is part of preparing them foradult life and the world of work. Young people can gain this experience from participating in challenging and exciting outdoorevents made possible by organisations prepared to adopt a common sense and proportionate approach that balancesbenefits and risk. I support this publication for the encouragement that it gives to everyone to adopt such an approach.

Paul Airey, Diana Airey, Roberto Amoroso, BobBurson, Andy Carden, John Garrett, OwenHayward, Martin Hore, Andy Lavin, Karl Midlane,Ian Park, Dave Scourfield, Derek Stansfield, AndyStubbs, Bob Telfer, Mark Williams, RandallWilliams, Simon Willis, Adventure ActivityLicensing Service, Blue Peris Mountain Centre,Conway Centre, Nant Bwlch yr Haearn OutdoorEducation Centre, National Association ofHeadteachers, Low Bank Ground & HinningHouse team, Girlguiding UK, Association ofHeads of Outdoor Education Centres, OutdoorEducation Advisers Panel, Luke Lane PrimarySchool, New Greenhall School, Dee PointPrimary School, Trinity School, The Lakes Schooland Sports College, Thurston Outdoor EducationCentre, Ysgol Y Bont, Ynys Môn, West Cheshireand Chester Residential and Outdoor Service,Field Studies Council. Daily Telegraph A pacey tale of fakes, forgeries and ripped-off Rembrandts worthy of a TV crime caper It will take skill and tenacity for William to solve the crime, and along the way he will encounter many who will change his life, from Miles Faulkner, a crooked art collector, and his influential lawyer - who bends the law to the point of breaking - to research assistant Beth Rainsford, a woman with secrets who he falls hopelessly in love with . . . A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be welcome to return and tie up the gaping loose end Box leaves. The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read.

When tryouts for the team were announced, Tanya doubted that she could quality, but she thought : nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The method set out in Managing Risk inPlay Provision Implementation Guidedoes not involve any scoring orarithmetic, since such procedures canbe confusing and difficult to applyconsistently in play and learningcontexts, and moreover can struggle tocope with the subtleties and dilemmasthrown up by real-life situations. Instead,it puts forward a narrative approach thatsimply encourages those carrying outthe assessment to state the factors theyhave considered and the judgementsthey have reached. English Outdoor Council, in cooperationwith the Outdoor Education Advisers’Panel (2005) High Quality OutdoorEducation After graduating from university, William begins a career that will define his life: from his early months on the beat under the watchful eye of his first mentor, Constable Fred Yates, to his first high-stakes case as a fledgling detective in Scotland Yard's arts and antiquities squad. Investigating the theft of a priceless Rembrandt painting from the Fitzmolean Museum, he meets Beth Rainsford, a research assistant at the gallery who he falls hopelessly in love with, even as Beth guards a secret of her own that she's terrified will come to light. Nothing Ventured... is aimed ateducational and recreation practitionersand managers working with children andyoung people, including teachers, youthworkers, early years, play and out ofschool professionals and others workingin children’s services. It has a focus onadventurous activities, although much ofthe content is relevant to other learningcontexts. It is written with an Englishlegal and policy context in mind, but isalso relevant to those engaged inoutdoor activities in Wales, Scotland andNorthern Ireland, and – to a degree –beyond these shores.

It’s very serendipitous how things work out so my takeaway is that nothing ventured, nothing gained.” ( The Coast Halifax) So one of the ways that we can helpchildren to prepare for adult life is toexpose them to managed risk, whilesupporting them in learning how tocope. For instance, we help children tolearn how to manage the risk ofdrowning not by keeping them awayfrom the sea, rivers or lakes, but byteaching them how to swim, and how tomanage the water environment. Outdooreducation often takes an incrementalapproach to risk, gradually increasingchildren’s exposure as they gainconfidence, with self-management,sound judgement and self-reliance asthe ultimate goals. IntroductionChildren and young people have a thirst for adventure andchallenge. This is evident from their earliest efforts to crawland walk, and can be seen throughout childhood. What ismore, the majority of children grow up to be competent,confident people who lead healthy, fulfilled lives.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained is a proverb that is over 500 years old. We will examine the meaning of the expression nothing ventured, nothing gained, where it came from, and some examples of its use in sentences. Some myths have emerged that act as areal barrier to a balanced approach torisk. These myths, summarised in thebox below, are explored in more detailthroughout this publication. Nothing Ventured... Balancing risks andbenefits in the outdoors aims toencourage readers to take a reasonableand proportionate approach to safety inoutdoor and adventurous settings, andto reassure them that managing risksshould not be a disincentive toorganising activities. It is not a ‘how toguide’. Rather, at a time when manywonder whether society has gone too farin trying to keep children safe from allpossible harm, Nothing Ventured... addsits voice to the call for a more balancedapproach: an approach that accepts thata degree of risk – properly managed – isnot only inevitable, but positivelydesirable. About the Outdoor Education Advisers’ PanelFor information about the work of the Outdoor Education Advisers’ Paneland to find your local outdoor education advisor, visit www.oeap.info fromwhom further copies can be obtained. Such materials should be helpful andsupportive. However, guidance can onlygo so far, and can never deal fully withall the possible circumstances andsituations that may arise on a visit orduring an activity. Indeed too muchguidance, at too great a level of detail,can be counterproductive, because itcan reinforce a distorted approach torisk management that focuses ontechnical compliance rather than criticalthinking and proactive problem solving.According to Marcus Bailie, Head ofInspection at the Adventure ActivitiesLicensing Service, when things gowrong, the primary questions posed inany resulting inquiry, whether conductedinternally or by the courts or regulators,are ‘what happened on the day?’ and‘was it reasonable?’.

Hence the risk of harm cannot andshould not be eliminated entirely, if weare to give children the chance torespond to life’s challenges. What ismore, the fact that most children leadmore constrained lives at home meansthat extra efforts may need to be madeto give them a taste of freedom,responsibility and self-reliance. Thrilling, absorbing and entertaining, Nothing Ventured introduces a character destined to become one of his most enduring legacies. Continue the series with Hidden in Plain Sight and Turn a Blind Eye. While this Act did not change the legalbasis for liability claims, it has had theeffect of emphasising the existing needfor the courts to take into account thebenefits of activities when consideringthe duty of care. Recent cases haveprompted lawyers to suggest that thecourts, in the wake of the Act, acceptthat some activities carry with them aninherent level of risk.