Andy has been a teacher with Puddle Ducks for nine years and in that time has won his local star teacher competition an impressive five times! The winning nomination was from Louis about his daughter, and this is what he had to say:
Andy has been teaching our daughter to swim since she was just 10 months old, and now, at nearly four, the progress she has made is incredible. When she first started, she was very trepidatious in the water and nervous around others, but Andy's patient, calm, and gentle approach completely transformed her confidence. He has an exceptional way of making children feel safe and supported while encouraging them to push themselves just a little further each week. Andy always takes the time to offer thoughtful hints and tips to help improve technique, not just to the children but to parents too, so we can reinforce what she’s learning. Thanks to his dedication, our daughter now swims independently and absolutely loves the water. We feel so lucky to have found Andy — he truly goes above and beyond and has made swimming one of our daughter’s favourite activities.
The nomination was chosen by John Challinor, CEO of NationMedia who are the publishers of SwimNation. John had this to say about the nomination:
This is obviously a teacher who is able to build and maintain a rapport with the children - and the parents - that they are working with over a long period of time. By being able to identify and focus on areas that help children improve - and to involve parents in supporting their child’s progress - means that the activity becomes not just a learning process, but one where a family is able to spend quality time together in a shared experience that they all enjoy. To gently encourage children to push themselves a little further each week, whilst maintaining a calm and reassuring presence, is surely at the heart of good swimming teaching. I just wish I’d had access to Puddle Ducks when I was young!
I really did enjoy reading the nominations and, without wanting to sound too corny, every one of them sound like they would be worthy winners who are transforming lives every week.
Huge congratulations Andy from everyone at Puddle Ducks!