Shadowing session at Westway. Group of secondary schools boys doing PE lesson. Sessions with this group will run to the end of term. Some limited experience and wide range of ability in the group.
I shadowed one Instructor with four boys climbing in two pairs. One pair was proficient at climbing, the other less so and one boy was very nervous. All were encouraged to tie their own knots, the belayed in pairs using Grigris. Session went smoothly with skills development around tying in, belaying and climbing.
Instructor was busy but had brief opportunities ti explain his approach. Useful debrief at end covering:
- His positioning when doing initial briefing, watching boys tying in and setting up grigris,
- preferred choice of screwgate carabiners (Petzl) to be able to check gate closure,
- in restricted time managing the balance of climbing with developing skills tying in and setting up grigri, and
- managing safety - one boy spoken to in the session fir throwing himsekf off the climb rather than sitting back when being lowered.
Key learning points for me:
- Focus on positioning of instructor to provide best view at different stages of the session/process
- absolute clarity of safe behaviours
- balance of time between climbing and skills aquisition. More time would have been sent on the wall if the instructor had done the tying in but skills would not have been aquired.
Area :
Westway Sports Centre
