Here at Turtle Tots, we are really proud that our award-winning team of swimming teachers are not only trained to the highest standard and are experts in their field, but that they all have a passion for teaching swimming to babies and toddlers and for ‘bringing on the smiles’.

With this being World Teachers Day (5^th October), we would like to celebrate all that they do and share a little insight into the role of a Turtle Tots swimming teacher to give you a sense of their passion – and hopefully inspire more people to see all the wonderful benefits of becoming a swimming teacher.   

Here we speak to Becki McBride, one of our teachers who works for Fiona Vittery at Turtle Tots Lancashire, South Lakes and Craven.

• Have you always had a passion for swimming?

  I’ve always enjoyed being in the water, and taking part in water-based activities, but I was never an overly confident swimmer because I didn’t have access to swimming lessons when I was a child. I think this is an important point to raise, as there are a lot of misconceptions about you needing to be a competent swimmer in order to become a swimming teacher. The most important qualities for people wanting to become a swimming teacher are to have an interest in swimming and realise its value as a life skill, be enthusiastic, empathetic and enjoy working with people.

• How did you get into swim teaching?

  Like a lot of new parents who perhaps didn’t have the opportunities to learn to swim at a young age, I wanted my daughter to start lessons from as young as possible so she would grow up water confident and water safe. When she was six months old, we enrolled into a Turtle Tots class, which we loved so much. Then as she was moving up to the toddler programme, we moved house and changed franchises which is when I saw the teacher’s advert and contacted Fiona to see if it might be the right fit for me.  Within a week I was shadowing a teacher in the pool and I soon realised this was the job for me and that I can do something for another child like my daughter’s teacher did for her.

• What qualifications do you have and what was the training process like?

  With Turtle Tots support I successfully gained my STA Level 2 Awards in Aquatic Teaching – Baby and Pre-School qualification, which is a professional qualification that teaches you how to plan, deliver and evaluate progressive and fun lessons specifically for babies through to pre-schoolers and their accompanying adult.It gives you the knowledge of how to teach babies, how to interact communicate and read cues, and qualifies you to teach a range of aquatic and safety skills such as floating, rotation, water confidence and basic swimming strokes.

  Following this I spent a week in Edinburgh on Turtle Tots own in-house training course, which shows you everything you need to be able to do to deliver Turtle Tots swimming programme – and the how and whys of their unique approach.  I then undertook a series of assessed lessons with both babies and toddlers in Cheshire, before finally becoming a fully fledged Turtle Tots teacher.  

  From start to end the training process was amazing; it’s natural to feel a little about nervous but everyone at Turtle Tots is so supportive.

• What drew you to work with Turtle Tots?

  As mentioned above my daughter started with Turtle Tots when she was just six months old, and we loved it.  I loved the ethos and was inspired by the passion of the teachers, and it made me want to be part of a baby’s first steps into water, and help make their experience the best they can possibly have.

• What do you enjoy most about teaching?

  Everything!  I love the general vibe of every class; the happiness and excitement that shines from the babies and the innocence of the toddlers and what they say – they make me smile with their comments.  And in that 30-minute class if I’ve made mum / dad and baby as happy as they’ve made me, I know I’ve done a good job.  I never come home thinking I’ve had a bad day; teaching is the best part of my week.  I wish I’d done it sooner.

• Why do you think baby swimming lessons are important?

  We live on an island with lots of inland waterways too, so teaching water confidence and safety skills to a child from as young as age as possible is so important – I think they are the most important life skills you can teach because they could save their lives one day.  In our Turtle Tots lessons, we have a strong focus on teaching lifesaving skills; “safety” is masked by fun, games and songs, but its at the core of everything we teach so that we can help babies learn the skills they need, to help keep them safe in and around water – it lays the foundation until they are able to swim independently.

• What does a shift usually entail?

  Teaching is so flexible – I teach two days a week, on a Tuesday and Sunday, which fits perfectly around my ‘first’ job working in a hospital pathology laboratory.   A typical Sunday will involve arriving at the pool at 8am, opening everything up, removing the pool cover, checking the pool chemicals and the cleanliness of the changing rooms. I then get all the pool kit together, toys, floats, noodles etc and lay them tidy on poolside.  I then check the lesson plans and get the register out, ready to start welcoming the first class at 9am.  I also make sure I have a drink on poolside, because with all the laughing and singing you need to be able to wet your whistle!!   I’ll then teach back-to-back lessons until noon – six super fun toddler classes.  Then I’ll have an hour’s break, tidy everything and check the pool chemicals again ready for the afternoon session with the babies – four 30-minute classes, which are a lot calmer. I then finish at 3pm, do all the usual tidying, check nothing (or nobody) has been left behind in the changing rooms, put the kit away, test the pool water and put the cover back on.  The final job is to lock up the pool building, and the school gate.  I get home around 5pm (smiling all the way home), have a shower, something to eat (I’m always hungry after a day in the pool) and relax.

• Do you have any advice for people who want to become swimming teachers?

  Go for it, you have nothing to lose by enquiring – and you might always wonder if you don’t.  I have never looked back since my initial conversation with Fiona – it’s one of the best, most rewarding things I’ve ever done.  

Teaching pre-schoolers is also a very flexible job that offers sociable hours that can easily fit around your family, lifestyle or like in my case another job.  Plus, there are always opportunities to progress – one day you could even own your own Turtle Tots franchise like Fiona who now successfully runs swimming lessons across Lancashire, South Lakes and Craven.

Feeling inspired by Becki’s story – then please get in touch to start a conversation about joining our award-winning Turtle Tots team or to become a franchisee!