Nothing Ventured (William Warwick Novels, 1)

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When tryouts for the team were announced, Tanya doubted that she could quality, but she thought : nothing ventured, nothing gained. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. 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. 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 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 . . . What are the risks?Teachers can be forgiven for believing that childrenregularly come to serious harm on outings and activities.The media can sometimes appear to give that impression.Yet the reality is that visits and activities are by any measurecomparatively safe. Minor accidents and upsets are notuncommon – and should not be ignored – but again, there isnothing to suggest these are any more frequent than ineveryday life. 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. Developing confidence and risk judgement among young people is crucial if we are to structure a society that is not riskaverse. We need to accept that uncertainty is inherent in adventure, and this contains the possibility of adverse outcomes. Ayoung person’s development should not be unduly stifled by the proper need to consider the worst consequence of risk butmust be balanced by its likelihood and indeed its benefits. Counter-intuitively, the key to challenging risk aversion among leadersand decision makers, is the application of balanced risk assessment. It is only by objective analysis that the benefits andopportunities of an activity can be weighed against their potential to go wrong. Indeed I feel that the terminology should bechanged to ‘risk/benefit assessment’. For the most part, as previous generations have learnt by experience, it is rare indeed thata well planned exercise leads to accident. It will instead be most likely to bring a sense of enterprise, fun and accomplishment,so vital for maturity, judgement and well-being, which must nearly always offset the residual and inevitable risk. Our mantra atRoSPA sums up this approach: We must try to make life as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible. This is why I amdelighted to support the work of the OEAP and Tim Gill with Nothing Ventured. We welcome the debate this will promote.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. Within education and children’s services,there is growing awareness of the valuefor children of learning experiences thattake place outside the classroom. Worcestershire’s guidance, likeManaging Risk in Play ProvisionImplementation Guide, advises againsttechnical or numerical scoring systems,stating that: 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.” References andfurther informationBall, David, Gill, Tim and Spiegal,Bernard (2008) Managing Risk in PlayProvision Implementation Guide

A mindset that is solely focused onsafety does children and young peopleno favours. Far from keeping them safefrom harm, it can deny them the veryexperiences that help them to learn howto handle the challenges that life maythrow at them. There is an emergingconsensus that our society has becometoo focused on reducing or eliminatingrisk in childhood. And research suggeststhat overprotecting children can lead tolonger-term problems with mental healthand well-being. An holistic view of the riskmanagement of a given activity needsto be informed by the benefits to begained from participating in the activity,not just the hazards and risks. It istherefore a good starting point for anyrisk assessment to identify the targetedbenefits as early as possible in theprocess… Young people encounteringrisk sensibly managed are presentedwith an unrivalled learning opportunityand exposure to well managed riskhelps children learn important life skills,including how to manage risks forthemselves. Responding to this needmay well be one of the fundamentalaims of many areas of LearningOutside the Classroom. It follows thatsuch aims should be encouraged,rather than avoided. 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.Despite the rarity of cases againstschools, teachers or organisations,concern has grown about the impact ofthe fear of litigation. In response,Parliament introduced a new Act, theCompensation Act 2006. Part 1 of theAct makes it clear that, when consideringnegligence claims, the courts may takeinto account the danger of discouragingor deterring ‘desirable activities’ such asvisits. 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. This anxiety is a real barrier to thosewho wish to extend children’sopportunities for outdoor andadventurous activities and experiences.Fears about being blamed or sued, andpressure to carry out burdensomepaperwork, are leading many teachersand others working with children towater down the activities they provide,or even to forego visits and outdooractivities altogether. 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. 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.

I just like to try anything and I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained,” said Holly, 36, who works at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada. ( The Chronicle Herald) The second, Poppleton v Trustees ofthe Portsmouth Youth ActivitiesCommittee, involved a man who fellfrom an indoor bouldering wall afterattempting to jump from one part of thestructure to another. The man sued theoperator and was awarded damages,but the case was overturned onappeal. The Court of Appeal took theview that there were inherent andobvious risks that did not need to bebrought to users’ attention and did notrequire special training or supervision.

Young people of all ages benefit fromreal life ‘hands on’ experiences; whenthey can see, hear, touch and explorethe world around them and haveopportunities to experience challengeand adventure. 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.

The form has, according to KathleenNicol, Training & Quality Manager atEnable Scotland, made a realdifference to the approach of staff. Shesays: “Usually the penny drops aboutthe advantages of risk taking and theimportance of not wrapping people upin cotton wool.” The benefits of outdoor education arefar too important to forfeit, and by faroutweigh the risks of an accidentoccurring. If teachers follow recognizedsafety procedures and guidance theyhave nothing to fear from the law. His Clifton Chronicles ( This Was a Man, 2017, etc.) complete, the indefatigable Archer launches a new series that follows a well-born police officer from his first assignment to (spoiler alert) his appointment as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police some volumes down the road. Wherever possible, rules that were inplace simply to regulate rather than toprotect were removed. The childrenand staff wrote the risk assessmentstogether – for the play equipment, theplayground and ultimately forsnowballing. The aim was to enablechildren and staff to enjoy takingacceptable risks, and to understandthe reasons for any safeguards thatwere in place. For instance, judgements about howchildren are supervised can be difficultto get right, particularly with older youngpeople and during less structured orunstructured periods. Supervisory staff canfeel under pressure to intervene at the firstsign of trouble. This in turn can close downvaluable opportunities for participants tolearn for themselves the implications oftheir actions. It can also lead those takingpart to feel resentful or hostile at what theysee as unnecessary and unreasonableinterference. If it is recognised in advancethat one of the aims of the visit is to allowparticipants some freedom, choice andcontrol, and the chance to take a degreeof responsibility for their actions, this willsupport a more balanced approach tointerventions. This is especially likely ifchildren themselves are made aware ofthe expectations about their behaviour,and are given the chance to reflect onand discuss how they should respond tothe freedoms they have been granted.Countryside Alliance (2009) research onschool visits – see www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/oct/02/school-trips-teachers-legal-action Department for Education and Skills(2001) Health and Safety:Responsibilities and Powers (statutoryguidance note DfES/0803/2001) When Karen Surrall became headteacher of St James CE Primaryschool in West Malvern,Worcestershire in 2005, the childrencomplained that the curriculum was“boring” and parents complained thatthe kids did not spend enough timeoutside. So began a journey with boththe children and the staff.