STA LAUNCHES NEW POOL SAFETY AWARD
19.09.2006
As one of the UK’s leading QCA accredited awarding bodies concerned with swimming teaching and water safety, STA has announced the launch of the Pool Safety Award, a new qualification designed to ensure that primary and secondary school staff have critical life saving skills when teaching swimming or supervising lessons at the poolside.
In response to the gap in the training experience of many school staff, STA has designed and developed a fit-for-purpose course that will provide the necessary life saving skills to deal with swimming related incidents, and will add value to individual staff members’ skill sets. Details of the new award were presented by STA at the Association for Physical Education\'s National Conference (AfPE) in July 2006.
Steve Franks, STA Operations Director said: “The issue regarding school staff having limited swimming and/or water rescue skills remains a real concern. To date many of the awards that have been available have had limited success, because they have not been designed with school staff in mind; in general terms they have been pool safety awards that were created for other professions and then adapted.”
“Therefore STA is leading the way with the introduction of this new Pool Safety Award, as no other qualification currently exists that has been specifically developed for school staff. Furthermore, the award will provide critical life saving and rescue skills, and ensure that all school staff are appropriately qualified whilst supervising structured swimming activities. Issues of due diligence and compliance with HSG 179 and BAALPE 'Safe Practice in Physical Education and School Sport' are also important factors,” Mr Franks added.
The entry requirements for the Pool Safety Award are that candidates are a minimum of sixteen years of age at the time of examination, and/or that they are involved in teaching, assisting, or supervising school swimming or pool sessional activities. The course duration is six hours, marking a significant reduction on previous courses. To make it as accessible as possible, the course can also be broken down into two, three-hour blocks according to individual school requirements.
The award, which has been piloted at several schools in the Midlands, provides core skills in relevant legislation, creating a safe pool environment, rescue techniques – including spinal injury management – immediate first aid and basic life support, pool hazards and associated risks, operational duties and responsibilities within a pool environment, alarm systems, normal operating procedures, and emergency action planning. Staff are assessed on the completion of a portfolio work sheet and tutor-led continual assessment throughout the course.
“The introduction of this award will hopefully encourage more swimming teaching to be undertaken in schools, as the award gives school staff accredited skills that will enable them to deal competently with emergencies in pools where supervised school swimming is undertaken,” Mr Franks concluded.
STA is dedicated to raising standards in water safety, and this new award is seen as an important life skill for school staff who are responsible for supervising structured swimming activities. STA is also promoting the Pool Safety Award for inclusion on the National Qualifications Framework, with support from SkillsActive.
For further information about STA please call 01922 645097 or email sta@sta.co.uk.
