Nothing Ventured (William Warwick Novels, 1)

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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... 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. 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.

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. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE)supports over 275,000 people aged14-24 in a programme that, accordingto the charity, “aims to instil a spirit ofadventure, and have a lasting impacton young people’s behaviours, skillsand life chances”. A key part of itsprogramme is for participants to carryout an unaccompanied expedition thatmust be completed through theparticipants’ own physical efforts. TheDofE’s Expedition Handbook is clearthat “adventure and discovery alwaysinvolve some measure of risk”, thatexpeditions should involve respondingto a challenge, and that one of thebenefits of doing an expedition is thatparticipants learn to manage risk.While the initial level of challenge isdetermined by the team, “the weatherand the demanding surroundings inwhich the expedition takes placealways necessitates the teamresponding to a series of unforeseenchallenges.” The Expedition Guide alsostates that, of all the qualities entailedin the safety and well-being ofparticipants doing DofE expeditions,“that of sound judgement is the mostimportant. Sound judgement, alongwith responsibility and maturity, arisesfrom effective training coupled withprogressive and varied experience overa period of time. It cannot developunless there are opportunities toexercise judgement.” Worcestershire’s guidance, likeManaging Risk in Play ProvisionImplementation Guide, advises againsttechnical or numerical scoring systems,stating that: 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. Countryside Alliance (2009) research onschool visits – see www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/oct/02/school-trips-teachers-legal-actionAn 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. References andfurther informationBall, David, Gill, Tim and Spiegal,Bernard (2008) Managing Risk in PlayProvision Implementation Guide

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. National Association of FieldStudies Officers (2003) Quality,Safety and Sustainability in theDelivery of Learning through theEnvironment 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 . . . Many who work with children and young people wouldagree that they should be given the chance to learn how tocope with a range of challenges, and that they should notbe overprotected. Yet it is easy to slip into a pessimistic orcynical frame of mind about risk when someone brings uphealth and safety as an issue. Ambitions are scaled down,obstacles imagined, and enthusiasm levels fall. English Outdoor Council, in cooperationwith the Outdoor Education Advisers’Panel (2005) High Quality OutdoorEducation

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. However, certain translations of Herodotus 7.9 include "if nothing is ventured in life, then nothing is gained". Suggesting either the phrase or something similar stretches to even before 960AD. It’s very serendipitous how things work out so my takeaway is that nothing ventured, nothing gained.” ( The Coast Halifax) 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. Published by the English Outdoor Council,an umbrella body of the principalrepresentative organisations in the field ofoutdoor education, in association with theOutdoor Education Advisers’ Panel, whichcomprises nominated representatives ofChief Officers of Local Authorities inEngland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

One of the key benefits is theopportunity for children and youngpeople to learn about risks forthemselves, to experience a degree offreedom and to take more responsibilityfor their own safety and well-being asthey grow up. Many adults have vividchildhood memories of everydayfreedom, playing out of doors for hoursat a time in places that were excitingand adventurous, often well beyond theanxious gaze of parents or other adults.Children and young people growing uptoday do not have the sameopportunities for everyday adventure.Over the last twenty or thirty years ormore, their movements have becomemore restricted, their free time morecurtailed, and their behaviour moreclosely monitored by adults. Forexample, the ‘home territory’ of theaverage eight year old child – the areathat child is allowed to travel around ontheir own – has shrunk by 90 per cent ina single generation. Today, manychildren of this age are not even allowedoutside their front doors alone. 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. 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. 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.It is widely believed that the teachingunion the NASUWT advises itsmembers not to lead or take part ineducational visits. In fact, NASUWTguidance does not state this (though itdoes advise members to think carefullybefore becoming involved). The unionhas given its formal support to theLearning Outside the ClassroomManifesto. ConclusionsEducation in its broadest sense is not just about delivering acurriculum. It is about giving children the chance to extendtheir life skills. It is about developing their confidence. It isabout fostering their resilience and sense of responsibility.And – let us not forget – it is about the enjoyment,engagement and excitement of venturing out into the realworld, with all its capacity for uncertainty, surprise,stimulation and delight.