Jo Stalley

During the year, the Region will be starting an audit of club constitutions to ensure that these comply with the amended Model Club Constitution, issued by Swim England in August 2018.  All clubs should review constitutions on an annual basis, and are required to submit their constitutions to the Region for approval, every four years.  In addition, SwimMark clubs are asked to submit proof that their constitutions have been approved by the Regional Membership Officer, as part of the accreditation process.

As Swim England Regulations require that all affiliated clubs operate on the basis of a standard constitution, during the next few months, we will be checking our records to establish when constitutions were last submitted and will be contacting Club Secretaries where we find that constitutions have not been approved within the last four years. 

More information on Club Constitutions can be found on the Swim England website.

New Clubs

We have produced a guidance document for those considering forming a new club in our Region. If you need support please contact the Regional Membership Officer at: [email protected].

Swim England is launching a Coaching and Teaching Register in 2019 that will bring benefits to clubs, coaches, teachers and participants.

From January to March 2019 all clubs will be required to provide basic information on all active coaches and teachers, regardless of qualification or discipline for inclusion on a new Swim England Coaching and Teaching Register.  This includes paid and voluntary coaches and teachers.

As a membership organisation, we are eager to strengthen our relationships with those delivering within clubs.   The Register will be a platform to provide better communication and support to coaches and teachers, and help us, as the Governing Body, to demonstrate best practice in terms of recording and providing quality assurances on the delivery of our sport.  It will also give clubs a central database to record their delivery workforce and ensure that their qualifications and training are in order and up-to-date.

There will be two stages in the roll out of the register.  During the first stage, which runs until the end of March 2019, clubs will need to let us know who their coaches and teachers are.   A new ‘Coaching and Teaching’ tab has been developed within the Online Membership System (OMS) which will provide a simple way for clubs to identify and create a list of their teachers and coaches.

During the second stage we will ask coaches and teachers to verify information we hold on their qualifications, DBS and safeguarding training.  At this point it may require them to supply further documentation if required.

Jane Nickerson, Swim England Chief Executive Officer said: “We know our dedicated and hardworking coaches and teachers do an amazing job across the country and as the governing body we want to support them with improved services and enhanced learning support.  The Register will also allow us to take ownership of providing quality assurance for our own workforce”.

“Swim England’s intention is that the register is a positive process that does not impinge on the delivery of our aquatic sports whilst ensuring that we all adopt best practice.   This is why we have implemented a phased approach to implementation”.

There will be no additional cost for coaches and teachers to be part of the register other than existing fees paid by members.  As set out in Swim England’s Regulations, it is the responsibility of every club to ensure that volunteer coaches and teachers are members of Swim England.  Also that paid teachers and coaches are a member of either Swim England, the Institute of Swimming or the BSCA.

Coaching and Teaching Register key dates:

Stage One (January – March 2019)

• The first stage of this process will require affiliated clubs to inform us who their teachers and coaches are through the new “Coaching and Teaching” tab on the Online Membership System.
• Swim England members of the club, as well as members of the Institute of Swimming, can be added.  See FAQ for information on BSCA members.
• Clubs will need to specify what role each individual is undertaking and the discipline.
• The list will provide a way for clubs to identify and track their coaches/teachers moving forward (from 1st October 2019, we will be able to utilise information held on the Register as evidence for Element 13 of the SwimMark criteria).
• Clubs will be required to include all unpaid and paid coaches and teachers.
• The deadline for clubs completing their coach and teacher information is 31 March 2019.
• Further guidance notes will be circulated shortly.

Stage Two (April – July 2019)

• Coaches and teachers will need to verify information held by Swim England. This will include qualification(s), DBS and safeguarding training.
• In order to verify the information, individuals will need to log into their OMS account between May to July 2019.
• This will be a simple process – additional communication and guidance will be provided in early April 2019.

We understand that there will be questions and queries and have therefore created an FAQ document CLICK HERE