Workforce Development Update

Edition 4: 9 January 2008

Hello and Happy New Year to you all.
 
The new series of Aquatic Fitness training modules launched in September last year has got off to a good start, with over 40 candidates now fully trained to deliver these awards to their customers.  Course feedback has been very positive: 'on the whole the course was very enjoyable, have been teaching jogging for a good few months now, my clients really enjoy it, and seem to get lots out of it, so it was well worth doing',  'thank you for delivering an excellent aqua circuits course for our team, the feedback we had from the staff was great and they all really enjoyed all aspects of the course (even the assessment!)' and 'I thoroughly enjoyed the course and the delivery was excellent and fun...overall it was a well prepared and enjoyable course'.
 
Also accolades have been received regarding the work of our new dedicated IoS tutor Ray Butters.  One ASA Level 2 candidate said, 'I have now been on over 30 training courses, and I can honestly say that you are one of the best tutors I've seen!'  Another Level 3 tutor Paul Robbins has also had some great feedback 'Yet another really enjoyable session on Sunday...the lecture was fantastic as usual.  Just wanted to say thank you and say how successful I thought the Level 3 course was'.
 
Please note that there has been an important change to the ASA portability service of CRB Enhanced Disclosure certificates.  Those issued by other registered/umbrella body organisations will now not be processed, due to the withdrawal of support from other registered bodies who will not share information they have received with us.  All ASA clubs and licence applicants will now have to complete a CRB application form regardless of any previous enhanced disclosure they have with another organisation, however recent.
 
Also recently added to the website is a new section providing a comprehensive Guide to Setting up a Swim School.  Covering such areas as business strategy, risk assessments, insurance and employment related issues, this is a useful reference tool for any swimming teacher looking to set up their own swim school.
 
Another recent addition to the site are the Good Club Guides, a set of user friendly and practical resources available for free for all clubs. The resources provide a guide for volunteers and clubs in good practice relating to high quality club management, in order to support the needs and value the volunteers who contribute their time. There is a Good Club Guide booklet for each club role, supported by a powerpoint resource of suggested activities that will help volunteers to prepare for and successfully carry out their work.  The ASA would like to thank everyone who has been involved in writing and reviewing the resources, with a special thanks to all the volunteers who offered advice and guidance throughout the process, ensuring all the resources have been written by experienced people who have a great amount of knowledge and understanding about each role. 
 
Still on the subject of Volunteers, in response to feedback from the ASA Volunteer Forum the ASA have written a Volunteer Policy to help set standards about working with volunteers.  The policy will provide clarity and consistency for all volunteers working directly with central and regional departments such as the Events Department, Technical and Officials Committees and Regional Committees and will encourage good practice for the support and supervision of volunteers who work within the wider swimming community and the ASA's affiliated clubs.  The Volunteer Policy and Volunteer Charter are available on the website for volunteers to access and use as a template for their own club.

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

If you would like future editions of this update emailed straight to you as soon as they become available, please send your contact details to claire.freeman@swimming.org

Click here to view other updates