Nothing Ventured (William Warwick Novels, 1)

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All of these goals depend upon creatingspace and time for children to take adegree of control for their actions: givingthem meaningful challenges thatinevitably give rise to real risks. Thismeans that the outcomes will never beentirely certain. While the risks can bemanaged, they cannot and should notbe eliminated, and absolute safetycannot and should not be guaranteed. 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. Reading Paulette Jiles' revenge western Chenneville, it's easy to remember she's a poet. She plays ... 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.

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. 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. 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. Enable Scotland is a charity thatcampaigns for a better life for childrenand adults with learning disabilities andsupports them and their families to live,work and take part in their communities.One service it offers is to provideactivities and visits for children andyoung people, including adventurousand outdoor activities. In response toworries that the activity planning wasbecoming too cautious and overlyinfluenced by the impetus to removerisk, the charity developed a risk-benefit assessment form that gatherskey information about the benefits forparticipants. The form asks about thebenefits to the person of taking part,and how would the person feel ifprevented from taking part. The formalso asks for information on whatcould go wrong – but the nextquestion is ‘what could be done to geta positive outcome?’ Noght vēter noght haue spare to speke spare to spede Nothing venture, nothing have; spare to speak, spare success

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Of course, the key question is ‘what isreasonable’? The answer, notsurprisingly, depends largely upon thecircumstances. But two important recentlegal cases, explored in Myth 5 below,show that the law provides a sensibleframework. They bring out two cruciallegal points. The first is that the courtstake the view that risks and benefitsneed to be balanced, and any proposedpreventative measures need to take thisbalancing act into account, and also tobe proportionate in cost terms. Thesecond is that where risks in an activityare inherent and obvious, and peoplechoose to take part, the law takes acommon-sense position about the dutyof care.

Review activity programmes andoutdoor initiatives and draw up explicitstatements about the benefits ofparticipation, including life skills andcompetences as well as curriculumbenefits. Ensure these benefits arewidely disseminated, discussed andunderstood. 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?’. Nothing Ventured is the incredible and thrilling novel by the master storyteller and bestselling author of the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, Jeffrey Archer. Why doesadventure matter?Few would disagree with the view that parents, teachersand others who look after children need to take a morebalanced approach to risk. Adventurous activities are a keyresponse to this plea to redress the balance around risk.They are amongst the most engaging, enjoyable andrewarding learning activities that children and young peoplecan do, inside or outside the classroom. They can buildconfidence, offer new experiences, provide insights intocharacter and even transform lives. They have the power todo this precisely because they are up-front in their goal oftaking children beyond their existing competences: theymake explicit demands on those who take part.Nothing ventured, nothing gained is a proverb that means if one does not take risks, one cannot achieve anything. The sentiment is that one must be willing to risk something dear to him or risk failure if one wants to reap a reward. The expression nothing ventured, nothing gained appears in John Heywood’s 1546 work, A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue: “Nothing ventured, nothing had – if you don’t speak, you don’t advance.” However, the phrase is found in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, in The Reeve’s Tale: “I will arise and take a chance, too, by my faith! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, or so men say.” Some believe the proverb nothing ventured, nothing gained is a translation of the French proverb, from the 1300s: “Qui onques rien n’enprist riens n’achieva,” or “He who never undertook anything never achieved anything.” As with many proverbs, only the first part of the phrase, nothing ventured, is used sometimes with the assumption that the listener will understand the rest of the sentiment.