Agenda - pdf - Selby District Council

One of the key priorities for us has been to provide a high quality learn to swim
programme at Abbey Leisure Centre. Over the last 12 months, we have steadily
increased the number of children learning to swim to over 750 from approximately 600
since 2010 at Abbey Leisure Centre; however, we believe that significant improvements
can be made resulting in:
• A higher standard of swimming tuition
• Improved parent satisfaction
• Increased occupancy levels and revenue
• More effective links to other aquatic disciplines
To achieve the above outcomes listed above, we feel that it is crucial to introduce the
ASA (Amateur Swimming Association’s) National Plan for Teaching Swimming (NPTS).
The NPTS is a comprehensive and progressive teaching programme based upon sound
technical and educational principles.
Over the last 12 months, Abbey Leisure Centre has delivered their own version of
swimming lessons, which do not give a clear pathway for swimming. The review of
standards has not been as robust as needed and many of the employees have not had
the required skills to deliver the nationally recognised programme for swimming tuition.
The National Plan will improve the number of swimmers who continue to learn to swim
in the later stages and provide a clear link into clubs for those who have completed or
progressed well through the stages of the NPTS. The programme also offers more
capacity in terms of places meaning each lesson would offer between 10 - 12 places
rather than the eight places (or in some cases lower) at Abbey Leisure Centre.
We originally planned to launch the NPTS in September 2011; however, there are still a
number of transitional tasks needed to be completed. We will ensure that the National
Plan for Teaching Swimming is introduced in February 2012 but need to ensure that the
plans are in place to deliver a quality programme. The reasons for the plan being
introduced later than originally expected were:
• The STA (Swimming Teacher Association) qualified teachers at Abbey Leisure
Centre needed to take part in a CPD qualification to develop the fundamental
skills to deliver the National Plan
• A robust programme of staff training is needed to ensure that the highest
standard of tuition is delivered (This has now been arranged for October 2011)
• Links to the ASA will need to be developed and a Service Level Agreement
signed by us to include Abbey Leisure Centre into our portfolio of approved
centres
• NPTS documentation will need to be introduced in Selby (lesson plans,
assessment sheets etc)
• Parents of existing children will need to be informed of the transition as there will
be the need to change particular lesson times
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