GLL and STA have joined together in a new 3-year partnership that will see the charitable social enterprise – and now the UK’s largest operator of swimming pools, transform the way it delivers swimming teaching qualifications nationally. The programme has been designed to enhance training opportunities and provide a progressive new aquatics career pathway for GLL’s 1,450 swimming teachers.

By creating our own national training framework that is powered by STA’s swimming teaching qualifications, we will be able to open up new career pathways and grow a quality workforce that is work ready

Nationally, the UK has seen a shortage in qualified swimming teachers and 30% of 10 year olds leaving primary school unable to swim. The new partnership – unveiled at the iconic London Aquatics Centre on Monday 30th October – will tackle this at scale. STA’s level 2 swimming teaching qualifications will be embedded into GLL’s 141 swimming pools nationwide. The programme will be rolled out from January 2018.

Andrew Clark, GLL’s National Sport & Aquatics Manager said We have evolved the learn to swim sector enormously in the past 10 years with over 200,000 pupils each week and this partnership will allow us to revolutionise the way its workforce is trained. By creating our own national training framework that is powered by STA’s swimming teaching qualifications, we will be able to open up new career pathways and grow a quality workforce that is work ready; thus ensuring staffing demands are met. As a social enterprise that works in local communities, the move also supports our ambition of providing affordable, accessible and exemplar training and employment opportunities for local people.

We will be extending our internal tutor network that has relevant front-line teaching experience, to support our workforce, ensuring that good quality delivery is maintained throughout our facilities. Furthermore, with STA’s level 2 qualifications being endorsed by CIMSPA, we know they are of the highest quality and meet our needs as an employer, added Andrew.

Ultimately we share a vision of wanting people to see swimming teaching as a profession and one that can open-up a lifetime of career opportunities

Mac Cleves – Head of GLL College said: This partnership will revolutionise and support the GLL college agenda, by supporting the three delivery arms of the college. The activity will include widening the opportunity to GLL staff to achieve more qualification and CPD, plus increasing our internal delivery team and become more self sufficient, secondly supporting our ‘Better Apprenticeship’ agenda in aquatics and diving, and finally supporting the offer of employment opportunities and career pathways to our wider communities through our growing commercial offer.”

Dave Candler, STA’s CEO said: We are delighted to be partnering with GLL and excited to be supporting a programme that is set to positively change how they deliver swimming teacher qualifications. GLL have set the bar high, and we are very keen to support their ambition using our 80 years plus expertise of training great swimming teachers and tutors.

Ultimately we share a vision of wanting people to see swimming teaching as a profession and one that can open-up a lifetime of career opportunities, added Dave.

By working closely with CIMSPA and GLL to develop an aquatics careers pathway, our aim is to professionalise the industry so we can retain its workforce and attract more people to become qualified. The more trained swimming teachers we have, the more people we can teach how to swim and be water safe, which wholly underpins our charitable objectives.