A heartfelt thank you to all customers who nominated their teacher for Teacher of the Term! It means he world to us to hear your lovely feedback and give us a real boost! Leonie was our winner, and she received a massive seven nominations! We're so proud of her and all our teachers, and all the nominations are below.
Our Judge was Ali from Hypnobirthing Mumma, who offers classes in London teaching an in-depth holistic antenatel KG Hypnobirthing programme that is designed to release fear and build confidence by teaching women to trust their bodies, practicing relaxation and visualisation techniques-
"My reason for selecting this nomination is because I like the the parents view that the teacher understands each child’s ability - a real skill to ensure each child is treated as an individual, building a rapport to understand the ability in a short space of time during a lesson and not all just taught at assuming they’re all the same level.
The calm & kind manner I’d say as a parent is vital to encourages a child to learn through teaching in this manner. A fun environment learning through play will encourage children so much more from my experience."
Thank you Ali and well done Leonie!
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Congratulations Leonie!
WINNING NOMINATION
"We’d like to nominate Leonie please for Teacher of the Month. Leonie teaches with a combination of fun, assertiveness and a real understanding of each child’s ability. She is intuitive enough to judge when a child needs to be pushed a little further and when they need the reassurance of sticking with what they know. She has an incredibly calm and kind manner which translates to the children and parents. Our son has made significant progress in her classes and genuinely looks forward to his weekly swimming lessons with Leonie." Emily, Leo’s mummy
"Please can I cast 2 votes (1 for each of my children Fin & Eva) for Leonie. She is an absolutely fantastic teacher, we have tried a number of swimming lessons and teachers and she is hands down the best. Leonie has a great bond with the children and can sense when to push them and when not to and makes every class really fun, they both love it and their confidence in the water has improved no end thanks to Leonie." Fin and Eva's mummy, Alice
"Leonie is absolutely brilliant and Theo’s enjoyment of lessons and progress has been marked since we started lessons with her." Rachael, Theo's mummy.
"Leonie is great at creating enjoyable, fun lessons and is wonderful at making the children giggle and enjoy their time in the water." Rebecca, Oliver's mummy.
"My teacher of the term is Leonie who teaches my son Alfie Friday mornings at Broadwater Primary School. She is fantastic and Alfie has learnt so much! She's fun and enthusiastic just a star teacher." Georgia, Alfie's mummy.
"We just finished our first 8-week session of Floaties lessons with Leonie in Sellincourt Primary School. I just wanted to tell you how brilliant she's been. She's clear and helpful in giving instructions and explaining why we're doing things, and my five-month old daughter loves her! We're looking forward to starting our next block of classes next week, and to moving to the Splashers class in January." Hannah, Ellen's mummy.
"Leonie is absolutely lovely with the babies, gives clear instructions and is always friendly and helpful. I was very impressed how quickly she recognised Harvey and I am really glad that she is Harvey’s swimming teacher." Harvey's mummy, Sarah.
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Andy
"We would like to give our vote to Ellie's favourite teacher Andy! Ellie has been with Puddle Ducks for a little while. She’s enjoyed every lesson with Andy, in fact, Andy had been the reason to keep her interested in the water. We were very impressed about the fun and energetic class atmosphere that Andy has created. He is always positive, encouraging Ellie whenever he can and very is patient with her.
Ellie was not confident with going under the water to start with. She could get really upset and refused to cooperate. With Andy's help, Ellie has made some remarkable progress in the last few months. She could blow bubbles with her full face in the water and conquer her fear of going into the water. In fact, she was very eager to show Andy what she could do and wanted him to be proud of her.
We believe Andy truly deserves "The Teacher of the Term" this acknowledgement for his great influence in the children's swimming ability and their overall confidence in the water. Thank you Andy, you are the best! Good luck in the competition, in any case you are our 'Teacher of the Term' already." Sabrina, Ellie’s mummy
"I nominate Andy from classes at Strathmore. He is amazing and my baby boy seems to love his style of teaching. He is so attentive and engaging. My 19 month old has a smile on his face the entire class. Many thanks Andy." Mirja, Lowen’s mummy
"Our nomination is for Andy who runs our ‘Floaties’ class at Strathmore School. We'd like to nominate Andy for ‘Teacher of the Term’. From the very first session Rei was at ease with Andy despite not even liking to dip her toes in the bath before her first swim class with him. He’s always been patient and understanding with her despite Rei’s tendency to be up one week and down the next. Even when she's had to sit out the class he’s always kept a close eye on her to check her behaviour and wellbeing and offered encouragement and advice to an occasionally traumatised mum and dad. When times have felt hopeless he’s always made us feel that it was ok to skip an activity if Rei was not in the right mood - the important thing was that she was happy spending time in the water and that it was fun and rewarding. There was never any sense of panic or rush to advance to the next stage – just allow Rei to enjoy being in the water. Thank you Andy." Tom and Melissa, Rei’s Daddy and Mummy
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Neen
"I’d like to nominate Neen for teacher of the term. She’s amazingly patient with my daughter and whilst challenging her, she never pushes her beyond her comfort zone. Therefore Lyra has developed a trusting relationship with her and loves her swimming lessons." Lorna, Lyra’s Mummy
"Jannine is friendly, encouraging and has a very positive approach to teaching the little Floaties. She has made both myself and little Beatrix much more confident in the water and we look forward to our lessons each week. We vote for Jannine to be 'Teacher of the Term' because she’s been so wonderful during our lessons; we will miss her now that our sessions are coming to an end, but I am confident that from Jannine’s input, we will go forth and enjoy lots of splashing in the new year." Louise, Beatrix's mummy
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Marian
"Marian is extremely enthusiastic with the kids and always has them laughing. She also has a way of explaining the exercises so they are easy to follow and always makes sure each child has some one-on-one time. She's amazing!" Yardena, Angelo's mummy
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Pete
"Both Cameron and Madeleine have Peter on Sunday mornings at Riversdale school.
Peter has been a fantastic teacher to both the children, he has a clear and encouraging style to his teaching which the children really respond to. Cameron has especially warmed to Peter. The first session he had with Peter I remember Cameron didn’t want to kick on the woggles, and Peter said to Cameron ‘why don’t you try and splash me’. This made it fun for Cameron and he’s pretty much been fine on them ever since. We really appreciate that Peter understands Cameron and can adjust his style to Cameron as and when he needs it, taking it in his stride so that Cameron doesn’t notice and therefore not making it into an issue. Peter has also been great in reassuring us as parents that there will be times when Cameron might not want to do things, but it’s nothing to worry about.
In all honesty, we feel like we’ve hit the jackpot in finding Peter as a teacher especially for Cameron and this has led us to rebook time and time again with Puddle Ducks. I hope that if Pete ever stops teaching that the other teachers will be as understanding and as encouraging as he is, I’m sure they will as I believe this is part of the Puddle Ducks ethos." Sarah and Simon, Cameron and Madeleine's Mummy and Daddy
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