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Paula Smith teaching her student to swim with a kick board.
Picture: SUPPLIED
Left high and dry Swim teachers are in high demand and the worrying shortages may have a domino effect on children’s ability to learn to swim in the future say concerned instructors. Cardinia Life has been advertising for swim teachers for six months with next to no interest.
Head of Swim School Paula Smith said the staff shortage was putting pressure on existing teachers to fill shifts to ensure children learn to swim. “There is a big gap there now of a lot of children that are going to miss out on an opportunity because of the shortage of swim teachers,” she said. Cardinia Life aims to operate with a swim
teaching team of 40. Currently, the team comprises 29 teachers. “For us to expand and meet the demand that is out there at the moment we would like to go back to 40 teachers,” Ms Smith said. About a month ago, Cardinia Life had 200 children on a waiting list for its learn to swim program. They have managed to get 140 of those
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waitlisted children into programs but Ms Smith said it was at a stretch. With many parents now heading back to work after Covid-19, Ms Smith said there has been a surge in demand for weekend classes. “We do find that we have a big growth area on the weekends and we’re not able to fulfill that at the moment,” she said. Continued page 4
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