Resumption of Swimming Lessons

The getactiveabc swim team have contacted parents of children owed lessons from the lockdown period and are currently delivering the remaining lessons from the discontinued block. Please watch out on social media and our getactiveabc e-newsletters for details on the release of the next block of swimming lessons for new children.

The home portal is currently online.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

ASSIGNED SWIMMING LESSON TIME AND DATE

The class your child has been allocated is only a holding class. You will be able to book the class of your choice.

Resuming Swimming Lessons

Council staff have contacted existing customers regarding when the swimming lesson programme will restart.
We have provided you with information regarding changes that are being made with how the swimming lesson programme will be managed by us moving forward.
Customers have been advised how credits will be applied for those who have paid but did not receive lessons due to the Covid-19 situation.

Due to Covid-19, the user experience will be slightly different, incorporating new safety measures to provide safe, but friendly, leisure environments for everyone to enjoy.There are four simple steps to remember when using any leisure facility.

Step 1: Book in advance:

All sessions will be pre-booked online in advance of you attending a facility; this way we reduce queuing/waiting in reception areas.

Step 2: Access to facilities has changed:

Restrictions on what changing facilitiess and showers will be available for swimmers.
Swimmers are asked to shower at home before swimming – as we are not opening pre-cleanse showing until further notice.
Users are advised to bring their own drinking water, as water fountains will remain out of use.
Strict hygiene and social distancing rules will be in place
To meet the government guidelines for gathering size limits and social distancing, entry into swimming pools will be limited and capacity will depend on the size of each location.

Step 3: Personal responsibilities

Please respect the social distancing floor markers.
Use the hand sanitiser provided on entry, and when leaving each facility and exercise area.
Do not attend any facility if you are feeling unwell or displaying any symptoms of Covid-19, or if you are in a period of self-isolation.
Practice good respiratory hygiene.

Step 4: It’s a new experience for everyone

The customer experience may look and feel a little different than usual, but as always, staff will be there to guide customers through.
The health and safety of all users is a priority at all facilities, and users should be assured that each facility operates to the highest standards of Public Health Agency (PHA) guidelines.

Leisure Services Team are really looking forward to welcoming everyone back into the facilities and thank users in advance for their patience and cooperation as everyone’s adapt to these new ways of operating.

Online Information

Council has purchased a swim school management software system which is an administrative tool to allow us to interact with parents and customers in an easier way.

The system provides a ‘Teacher Portal’ for our staff providing them with a poolside instructors’ poolside device, to allow them to:

Mark Registers
Assessments
Movements
Teaching Plans
Medical Alerts

So if you see a Swimming Teacher on poolside with a device they are assessing your children when they are taking part in a lesson.

This system also has a ‘Home Portal’ which provides parents with their own personal account to allow them to review:

Weekly Progress
Online Payments
Online Booking and Progression Movements
Course history

A communication will be send to our existing customers, inviting them to sign up/login in to the home portal.

Children’s Swimming Lesson Operation

- Customers/Parents will have access to a parent portal online which provides feedback and children’s progression on a weekly basis; details to access this portal will be provided to parents.
- Swim lessons will operate 7 days a week in SLLC.
- Swim teachers will have a tablet on poolside with access to a swim management software package so they can tick off competencies in the system as a child achieves them.
- Any tablets with cameras will have tape over the camera lens for safeguarding purposes.
- Initially tablets will not be used poolside for competencies and therefore weekly feedback will not be available to parents.
- From 30th November 2020 the devices and feedback system will be in use.
- Customers/Parents are notified through the parent portal when their child is ready to progress so that they can select a new lesson for the next level.

How to register

Swimming Lesson Format

From the reintroduction of swimming lessons will start to use continuous assessment, taking a phased approach to implement it. Continuous assessment is a rolling programme where a child can progress through the swim lesson levels at any time, subject to the safe completion of competencies for each level as assessed by the Swim Teacher. The programme will be 48 weeks a year with some holiday periods and Swim Teachers will be provided with software to assess the child’s progress on the poolside. The STA swim programme will continue to be followed.

Will the same swimming teacher be taking the swimming lesson each week?

We will endeavour to use the same teacher for each class; however, this cannot be guaranteed but there will be a qualified swimming teacher for every class.

How long will the terms of swimming lessons be?

Swim lessons will be operated using continuous assessment on a 48 week programme.
No lessons will run for 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week at Easter and 1 week around 12th July holiday. The specific dates for each period will vary from year to year but customers will be notified in advance.

What safety measures will be in place for swimming lessons due to covid-19?

Council will be working with the government and industry guidance; please go to getactiveabc for further details.

Can I move my child to another swimming lesson if I need to?

Customers/Parents can use the parent portal to move their lesson to another day/time at any point.

What happens if my child is ready to progress to another level but there are no spaces available?

The child will remain on the current level until a space becomes available. This will be monitored by the Swim Coordinator to ensure there isn’t a build-up of people waiting for spaces on particular levels.

FAQ's

What date will children’s swimming lesson re-commence?

Date to be confirmed

My child took swimming lessons in the Craigavon area in what facility will they take their swimming lesson?

Your children will recommence swimming lessons in the new South Lake Leisure Centre.

All facilities will be using the same lesson programme so your child can transfer to another facility if required.

Please contact a facility of your choice where staff will be on hand to assist you:

Banbridge Leisure Centre: 028 40 628800

Orchard Leisure Centre: 028 37 515920

South Lake Leisure Centre: 033 00 564411

What happens to the swimming lessons that I am owed from the close down?

For all customers who are owed swimming lessons due to Covid-19 shut down credits have been applied.

You will be notified when your credits are about to run out so that you can sign up to a monthly DD. If your credits run out part way through a month you will be asked for a pro rata payment to take you to the next whole month when your DD will start.

I am an existing customer how to re-enrol for swimming lessons?

We are writing to all existing customers to inform them of changes that we have made managing the swimming lesson programme; this includes;

The procurement of a swim school management software system which is an administrative tool to allow us to interact with parents and customers in an easier way.

This system provides a:

‘Teaching Portal’ which allows our staff assistance with administration, assessments, movements in lessons and teaching plans.

‘Home Portal’, this will provide you with your own personal account once you sign up/login to the system. This will then allow you to review your child/children’s weekly progress, your online payments, your online bookings, progression movements in lessons and course history.

Please click the following link getactiveabc.courseprogress.co.uk to register for the home portal;

please use your child’s member number (this will be included in the correspondence that you receive).
This system will allow you to see what level your child is on and how many sessions they are owed.
If you have more than one child on the programme, please refer to separate correspondence for their member number so you can link them all to once account

You will be able to make your bookings from 9:00 on Monday 14th September and we will send you an email to let you know when booking is live.
Please register for the home portal as soon as possible to ensure you are setup for when booking goes live. There is a how to video available on the website https://getactiveabc.com/activities/swim-lessons/

We will be giving existing swimming lesson customers priority to book on to the new programme. New customers will not be able to book lessons until 19th October and their lessons will start on 2nd November

If you have any problems registering for the new system, please complete the help form on the website https://getactiveabc.com/activities/swim-lessons/
or call the facility of your choice where staff will be on hand to assist you:

Banbridge Leisure Centre: 028 40 628800

Orchard Leisure Centre: 028 37 515920

South Lake Leisure Centre: 033 00 564411

Will I get the same swimming lesson timeslot as I had before?

At Orchard and Banbridge the capacity of the programme has been reduced due to current restrictions. We will endeavour to facilitate as many pupils as possible. Pupils unable to find a suitable class will have options available.
At South Lake Leisure Centre the programme is not exactly the same as the previous Craigavon centres due to three pools merging into one. Therefore, you will be able to select a lesson from the programme that suits your needs subject to availability of spaces. All existing customers will be given access to book at the same time, the programme is bigger so there are more lessons available.

I am a new customer and would like to enrol my child for a swimming lesson?

Due to current Public Health advice and Covid related restrictions we are currently unable to welcome new pupils into our swim school. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page and website for future updates

How do I pay for swimming lessons?

Lessons will be paid for by monthly direct debit.
The monthly DD is based on the cost of 48 lessons, equally spread over 12 months.
DDs will be taken on 1st of every month.
The charge for children’s swimming lessons are as follows:
- £24.00 per month or for those parents entitled to a concession £15.60 per month.
- There will be a cash option available £6.00 per lesson or £3.90 per lesson.

To be entitled to a concession you must be in receipt of benefits (excludes child benefit). Proof of benefit must be given to a members of staff (every 3 months) so that a concession can be applied.

If I cannot pay by DD can my child still join swimming lessons?

Please contact the appropriate leisure centre to discuss your payment options:

Banbridge Leisure Centre: 028 40 628800

Orchard Leisure Centre: 028 37 515920

South Lake Leisure Centre: 033 00 564411

Payments and Cancellations

If you cancel your DD/payment you will lose the space in the programme.
If a customer doesn’t turn up to a swim lesson they will not be entitled to a refund.
If a customer provides a medical certificate they will be able to freeze their DD and hold their space on the lesson (e.g. of this is a broken leg).
If a lesson is cancelled by the getactiveabc team, customers will have a reduced DD to compensate and this will be done automatically.

Need Help

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE GETACTIVEABC SWIMMING LESSON PROGRAMME