24 May 2007
‘Learn to Swim’ Scheme Gains Seal of Approval
On 21 March 2007 Derby City Council became the first local authority in Derbyshire to achieve ‘Aquamark’ status for its ‘Learn to Swim’ scheme. This is an industry recognised award from the Amateur Swimming Association. The Council received the top Aquamark award of ‘Premier Scheme for Teaching and Coaching of Swimming’ after an independent assessment. This culminated in the pools reaching, and in many cases exceeding, the required Aquamark standard in the four key criteria of programme operation, staffing, customer relations and policy and staffing.
Derby City Council has been working towards Aquamark since 2002 when a customer consultation was carried out. It is through this process that pool users have seen many positive changes with Learn to Swim. Sarah Ingram has been working as a Learn to Swim coordinator since 2002 at Queen’s Leisure Centre and Helen Jones at Moorways Pool since 2006.
Sarah and Helen now take up the story…
The biggest changes over the last three years have been the introduction of the National Teaching Plan to replace our old Swim Academy Scheme, a new database called ‘Pool IT’ being implemented and the introduction of new aquatic strands. This has lead to more tailored classes such as the ‘Elite Squad’ being run.
The quality of swim teachers and their teaching has improved considerably since the introduction of the National Teaching Plan as teaching requirements are now better understood. The new ‘Pool IT’ system has provided a much better and efficient booking system for classes. This is one of the ways we have increased the quality of our customer service. The tailoring of classes also means that children on the scheme are more likely to develop swimming skills at their own pace without feeling under pressure to achieve. Overall, brilliant feedback has been received from customer questionnaires since the changes were put in place.
Achieving Aquamark has helped us to finely tune a Learn to Swim scheme that was already growing and improving. It gives the scheme a seal of approval and enables parents to be confident knowing their children are learning to swim in two of the best centres in the country. We feel proud of achieving Aquamark knowing how much hard work a lot of people have put in over a five year period. If we keep working on the initiatives we have introduced we could hopefully become a role model for other swim providers to follow.
For more information on Learn to Swim please contact:
Sarah Ingram
Learn to Swim Coordinator – Queen’s Leisure Centre
Telephone 01332 715650
E-mail sarah.ingram@derby.gov.uk
Helen Jones
Learn to Swim Coordinator – Moorways Pool
Telephone 01332 341736
E-mail helen.jones@derby.gov.uk