Poolside Assistant Training

You will receive your paperwork and contracts via email. Please ensure that the signed page of your contract is emailed back to us ASAP as we need this to be able to set you up for your online e-learning modules. 

 

You will receive an email from the Online Disclosure Services so that you can log in to register your documents. The documents will then need to be provided to us so that we can verify these and pay for your DBS application. The application can only be paid for once we have signed contracts back. 

 

Once you have received your DBS certificate in the post, please send over a picture of this to [email protected]

Puddle Ducks is one of the UK’s leading providers of baby and child swimming lessons, through a nationwide network of franchises.

 

Customer care is foremost, as well as a clean, smart appearance.  You also need a pleasant and outgoing personality as we would expect you to be able to anticipate and respond to your customers’ needs.  You need to be mentally alert with good vision and hearing (contact lenses, glasses and hearing aids are acceptable so long as you are comfortable and safe wearing them for long periods of time, poolside). 

 

We would expect you to work as part of a team at all times.  You need good communication skills, both verbal and written, to ensure you maintain excellent relationships with both your customers and the wider Puddle Ducks team.  You will need a reasonably flexible approach with access to telephone and ideally also email communication.

 

Often, the poolside environment can be extremely warm and dehydrating, so you need to be in good health.

 

Working for Puddle Ducks is a term time role. We will need to carry out a DBS check for you which we will pay for, however, if you leave within the first 2 terms, we will ask for this to be reimbursed to us.

 

Role Purpose

• To provide assistance to the Teacher in an emergency.
• To ensure customers receive the highest customer service possible
• To ensure the pool area is clean, tidy and safe for customers
• To provide assistance to the teacher where necessary to improve the customer’s swimming lesson
• Ensuring the area (both poolside and changing area) are tidy, clean and hygienic when you arrive and when you leave. 
• Equipment set-up, following specific pool procedures and ensuring that the all equipment remains clean and undamaged and is stored safely at the end of the sessions.
• You will be responsible to ensure that all safety and operational notices are displayed prior to any customers arriving and taken down again at the end of the hire period.
• Taking the registers prior to each class.
• Preventing unauthorised access during lessons and directing customers and visitors to a safe place poolside to wait.
• You will be required to watch the adults and children during the lesson and spot any potentially dangerous situation.  In the event of an emergency you will follow the teacher’s instructions, as specified in the risk assessment.
• You will maintain a tidy area poolside during lessons, and help the teacher with equipment if asked.
• During lessons you will remain poolside, but you will NEVER be responsible for the class in the pool. The teacher must ALWAYS be present.
• Feedback is important in improving our business. You will be invited to be totally open and honest in all feedback.  Open and honest constructive feedback will be regularly given to you and similarly you will be expected to provide it to other members of the team and the management team.

Please let us know what size top you are so that we are able to order your Puddle Ducks top. When going to the pool, please ensure that you are wearing your Puddle Ducks top and some black bottoms (leggings, jogging bottoms and shorts are all fine).

We normally recommend for poolside assistants to bring along to pair of  indoor flip flops for them to use whilst at the pool as outdoor shoes are not permitted at the poolside.  

You will also receive invitations from HQ to access our e-learning platform and the manuals platform. 

Once you have access to our e-learning platforms, you will need to complete the following modules and email the certificates across so that these can be uploaded onto our database. 

The following is in the Poolside Assistant folder:

• Annual Health and Safety Training for Poolside Assistants
• Poolside Assistant Training Annual Compliance
• Registers

 

The following is in the Training/Compliance for all Team Members folder:

• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (you will need to set up an account with ACAS through the link provided in the e-learning module)
• GDPR

 

If you are on Facebook, please add yourself to our local Team Facebook group using the below invitation: 

https://fb.me/g/p_BDS31kLAHxSoN8TN/7tCYmxR8

 

We will add you to the poolside assistant whats app group so that you are able to ask any questions at any time  and we can communicate any important information that you will need to know on there. 

We run classes from birth up to 10 years old:

• Floaties – 0-6 months
• Splashers - 6-15 months
• Kickers - 15 months -2.5 years
• Little Dippers – 2.5-5 years (they can be in Little Dippers from 2 years old if the teacher feels that they are ready)
• Dippers 3-5 years old (for those that have progressed from Little Dippers)
• Swim Academy Level 1 – 4-10 years old (without parent in the pool, has teacher in the pool)
• Swim Academy Level 2 – 4-10 years for those that have achieved their 5 metre badge (also have teacher in the pool)
• Swim Academy Level 3 – 4-10 years for those that have achieved their 10m (teacher teaches from poolside)

Staff members receive a 20% discount if their children are in our classes

We run classes across 7 days of the week in Luton, Dunstable, St. Albans and Welwyn.

There is lots of progression available within Puddle Ducks should you want it.

There is the opportunity to get involved with some marketing if and when we are at any events/baby fairs. 

We also offer the opportunity to train as a teacher. If this is something that might interest you, please do let us know and we can discuss this with you. You would be invited to have an in-pool interview where we provide you with details of an activity for you to deliver during one of our classes. This way we can ensure that you would be the right fit for the role before you undergo any training. Training costs are covered by Puddle Ducks. 

Please note, you must be at least 18 years old to train for baby & pre-school and 16 years old for Swim Academy.

For any holiday requests, please use the following link to submit a holiday form.

Team Members Holidays | Puddle Ducks