Anyone aged 16+ with no experience or prior qualifications can attend a swimming teacher course and after five days be qualified to teach swimming lessons. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is encouraged but is costly and not mandatory. YouTube showcases different practices, but teachers are unaware if they are safe, effective, or recommended in this country. Research from Swim England and the Swimming Teachers Association found a national swimming teacher shortage, with 65% of employers restricted due to not having teachers. There are currently almost 12,000 vacant swimming teacher roles.
This project will create an app to support new and experienced swimming teachers to enter and stay in the industry. It will provide support and resources to aid CPD to reinforce best practice. The mobile app will support learners and teachers with accessing CPD content on-the-move (videos, podcasts, reading). This will include videos of safe and progressive practices, lesson plan and scheme of work development, profiles capturing completed CPD, a confidential mentoring Q&A feature, and the ability to find work with local employers. The project will be an innovative approach in this sector as technology in the leisure industry is limited, particularly for swimming teachers’ own development and session development.