With the availability of qualified swimming teachers an issue nationally, leisure management trust Stevenage Leisure Limited (SLL) has entered into what is says is a first-of-its-kind agreement with the Institute of Swimming to assist with recruitment and training.

SLL already provides swimming lessons to 12,000 schoolchildren per week at 10 wet sites through its Learn to Swim programme, but a new pool is soon to open at The Dunstable Centre later this year, and the trust says it requires a further 12 teachers. To fill these vacancies, it is working with the Institute of Swimming, which trains 60per cent of all swimming teachers in the UK, on a sustainable model of recruitment, looking to source new trainees through the Institute’s recruitment academy.

Rebecca Cox, managing director of the Institute of Swimming, explained: “It will take the stress away from SLL as we will manage the advertising and marketing of these vacancies, handle the applicants, develop the interview strategy and support their training process. This will deliver the best candidates and the best-trained swimming teachers for this award-winning leisure trust.”

As part of the agreement, SLL will also introduce blended learning courses and CPD (Continuous Professional Development) from the Institute of Swimming to supplement its own Swim England training courses. Both organisations are Swim England Qualifications Approved Training Centres.

“We are passionate about delivering high quality swimming lessons and are delighted to have partnered with Institute of Swimming in order to expand the opportunities for aquatic education within the community,” said SLL managing director Ian Morton. “This unique collaboration will offer a new and effective approach to swimming teacher recruitment.”

The first trainee teachers recruited through the partnership are due to enrol in the Institute of Swimming Academy at SLL in August 2019.