Water Babies teacher training
Want to make a difference?
If you want to learn how to become a great swimming teacher, you’re in the right place. Water Babies teachers are among the best trained in the world and we’re proud of giving every parent, carer and child the best experience possible in and out of the water. If you’re ready to learn more, all you need is passion – we’ll provide the rest.
As a Water Babies teacher, you’re helping babies, toddlers, pre-school and school age children reach their full potential as part of our world-class swimming programme. Good teachers can deliver compassion when you need support, companionship when you need a friend and just the right boost that our little ones need to reach their next big milestone in life. But most importantly of all, the lifesaving skills we teach at Water Babies have helped to prevent tragic accidents time and time again. Interested? Read on…
What we’re looking for
A big heart and a passion for teaching young children is a great start. We’re looking for extraordinary people to inspire our next generation of swimmers, and you don’t need to have any previous experience either.
Many of our teachers are parents, who caught the bug for teaching when they experienced it for themselves in our classes.
Step 1
Shadowing a Water Babies Teacher in live classes
A taste of what’s to come
Initially we will want you to ‘shadow’ some classes to gain experience. Shadowing involves being in the pool with a Water Babies Teacher during their own live lessons, handling babies and completing a set of skills. We ask for three to five hours of shadowing, and it’s a great opportunity to get a feel for our amazing lessons and wok with our wonderful teachers.
You’ll complete some shadowing tasks and record some observations as part of your Level 1 qualification.
Step 2
Pre-course theory modules
It’s all in the preparation
When you register for the teacher training course, you will be given access to the resources and assessment tasks for the Level 1, 2 and 3 qualifications. This is where our modular training method comes to the fore and, over the course of about two weeks, you’ll attend six online theory sessions with one of our senior tutors and complete a further two in your own time as part of your self-study.
We’ll teach you about lesson planning and child development and you’ll learn the intricacies of the swimming strokes during our modular training sessions.
Twinned with this will be e-learning activities on our Learning Management System (LMS), much of which you’ll complete during the online sessions with the tutor.
Step 3
Water Babies practical course
Where the magic happens
This 5-day course will see you spend most of the day in the pool – wahoo! We’ll cover all the delivery elements of our Water Babies programme and you’ll get a full understanding of why we do what we do, and how we do it.
You will be using training dolls to learn the specialist skills, techniques and songs, and you’ll get the chance to deliver simulated lessons to the rest of the group as if they were a real class. So, get your singing voice ready and be prepared to have wrinkly skin at the end!
Step 4
Teaching live lessons & final theory work
Putting your learning into practice
On completion of the practical course you’ll come back to your local franchise area where you will teach live lessons and continue to learn on the job. You’ll start by co-teaching two classes with an existing teacher, then you’ll be supervised solo for a minimum of 10 more. During these lessons, a trained Mentor will support you to become the best teacher you can be.
Running alongside this fun and exciting part of your journey, you’ll have two final theory modules to complete online to help you finish your written work. The last piece of the jigsaw will see you teach a further six lessons as part of special assessment days, in which one of our qualified Assessors will come to observe you and sign you off.
Then, the only thing left to do is teach!
Remember, during this process you’ll end up achieving the bespoke Water Babies qualification created in partnership with Swim England. This qualification is known as the Swim England Level 3 Teaching Pre-School Swimming (Advanced). No teacher at any other swim school in the world can achieve this, and allows you to officially say that you are the best of the best in teaching baby and pre-school swimming…It doesn’t get any better than that!
You can be proud to be called a Water Babies Teacher when:
- You have attended the pre- and post-course modules and completed, submitted and passed the accompanying theory work.
- You have completed your minimum of two co-taught, 10 mentored and six assessed lessons to the required Water Babies brand standard.
- Your Criminal Records Check is successful.
- You have attended the Safeguarding in Aquatics Workshop.
- You have gained a recognised lifesaving qualification.
Our Values
Why Water Babies is one of a kind
- We care
- Customer First
- Life’s too short for dull
- We win, together
- Get stuff done
- Be the best, then better it
Passionate and supportive teachers
Our teachers are trained to the highest possible standard through England’s National Governing Body – Swim England. Water Babies teachers exclusively earn the Level 3 Teaching Pre-School Swimming (Advanced) qualification. They’re also warm, passionate, approachable and will support you through every step of your swimming journey with us.
Our accreditation
- Every instructor is SWIM England SEQ Level 3 qualified
- Endorsed by CIMSPA, ensuring your baby learns from the best
- Lifesaving and safeguarding
