QualityPool Lifeguard Competition

How many schools do you currently have participating? We have five participating.

What are the benefits for the schools? The school receives funding that can be utilised to maintain the pool and pay wages to supervising staff. Training is also provided to pool managers/operators and the lifeguards to ensure industry standards are met Partners have experienced an increased level of security by encouraging public access to their pools and have reported a decrease in vandalism since becoming a Partner Pool

What are the benefits for the council? Partner pools provide additional lane space for recreational swimmers, swim clubs, and leisure swimmers The addition of the partner pools provides more than double the provisions of public lane space in Hamilton. The partners provide swimming facilities within walking distance to neighbourhoods who would normally have to travel across town.

What is the value of QualityPool/Poolsafe in this programme? QualityPool is the baseline standard partner pools achieve as part of the agreement. It provides assurance that our partner operations and facilities are safe, and the community have a positive and enjoyable experience.

What difficulties have arisen in its implementation? The Partner Pools programme commenced without any formal agreement and was based on an open and honest relationship between partners and council staff. Improvement was made through service level agreements between individual partners and council. The need to maintain health and safety compliance was a challenge, as the nature of school pool use has evolved from schools providing keys to parents over summer to being a professionally operated business.

Would you recommend this model to other councils? The Partner Pools model has helped alleviate pressure during summer months with increased provision of public lane space It adds to the provision of summer pool space for the Hamilton network of pools and reduces barriers for diverse communities who may not be able to access pool facilities. We highly recommend it, as it delivers excellent community outcomes at a fairly low council spend