Spectator Information

Calderstones Swimming Academy adopts a hybrid approach when it comes to spectating around our pool area. We do not have a viewing gallery so it’s really important we manage spectators in a safe and sensible manner. Since we have come out of Covid measures, it has become clear from a teaching and learning perspective that our swimmers are progressing much quicker without the distraction of spectators on poolside. This allows our team to give swimmers the full attention they require to enhance their skills and technique.

We appreciate that new customers (particularly with infant children) will want to be there to support their child initially, and we do facilitate this in week one. The first week allows parents/carers to gain a level of confidence and understanding of how our lessons are run safely by experienced professionals. We fully recognise that many parents are really anxious about leaving their children to be supervised by our instructors, but there is clear evidence that this really works in term so of giving them the independence they require to swim confidently.

By week two, we expect parents to allow our instructors to take independent control of swimmers and parents/carers are expected to vacate poolside. There is a safe handover from changing facility to instructor on both arrival and departure. We have over 400 swimmers coming through our academy and parents have adapted quickly to this arrangement and in the main welcome the need to manage our pool in this way. We hold everyone’s contact details on poolside and can ring parents quickly if we feel this is necessary. As you would expect, the safety of our swimmers is our number one priority and we have extremely high standards when it comes to pool and swimmer management.

All parents/careers are given an opportunity towards the end of each cohort (a cohort is usually 6 or 7 weeks) to come back onto poolside to see for themselves the progression that their child has made. It should be noted that we only allow one person per child to be poolside to keep numbers manageable during this period. The structure of when parents can attend poolside to assess their child’s progression is as follows:

• Beginners/Non-swimmers – the last lesson of the cohort

• Intermediate swimmers – the second to last lesson of the cohort

• Improver swimmers – the third to last lesson of the cohort

• Advanced swimmers – the last lesson of the cohort

We understand that some children will have very specific needs and may require a longer transition. Our instructors assess these situations on a case-by-case basis and are flexible in putting arrangements in place to meet the needs of these swimmers. If you have any concerns about your child and wish to discuss this with our instructors then they will always find the time to talk this through with you. Alternatively, you can email us at swim@calderstones.co.uk and our team will reply to your enquiry.