Vertas Swimming Service Case Study – Suffolk County Council

Introduction to the service

Vertas provides a comprehensive, centrally organised and administered swimming service to assist schools in meeting individual targets and fulfilling National Curriculum requirements. The service is active in 14 swimming pools across Suffolk and delivers coaching to students from 255 schools, offering a ‘one-stop’ solution, including swimming instructors, pool hire, and transport.

We believe swimming is a crucial life skill and strive to nurture young swimmers to dive into a brighter future. Safety in and around the pool and open water remains central to our operations/swimming lessons. We aim to provide children with a solid foundation of swimming skills while instilling confidence to feel happy and confident in the water.

Additionally, we arrange the transportation of all students to and from their swimming lessons, starting with our youngest, reception-age students, up to Year 6. Our transport service, Fleet, provides all transport with enhanced DBS-checked drivers.

What are the objectives of the service?

The Vertas swimming service is designed to empower schools to not only meet but exceed the requirements outlined by the National Curriculum; with our service, we strive for at least 80% of students to swim 25m or more, 70% to swim a range of strokes over 15m, and for 60% of all year six pupils to achieve the Vertas Swimming Service Personal Safety Award. Our high-quality lessons are delivered by 30 of our dedicated Swim England instructors, guaranteeing students receive an excellent swimming education that surpasses national guidelines and contributes to higher attainment levels.

By using our swimming service, schools can be assured students will develop both the required swimming competence and a lifelong appreciation for water. Our progressive programme of activities is delivered alongside a comprehensive programme of awards; in 2022/23, we presented approximately 12,000 certificates, keeping 11,500 children engaged and motivated.

As part of the complete service, Vertas Swimming also supports schools with publishing their swimming attainment levels outlined by the Department for Education. Within our tailored programmes explicitly designed to ensure students acquire the necessary skills, our committed team also helps schools provide the essential data, ensuring it is adequately collated and distributed. We prioritise helping schools meet their obligations and are committed to developing our students’ swimming skills.

What is our solution/our approach and how are we a stand-out company? 

Children’s swimming success is our overarching goal, and we endeavour to achieve this in several ways, offering a variety of activities to both children and school representatives. We take great pride in delivering bespoke lessons and recognise there is no universal way to teach swimming as schools have varying needs, and each child is unique, with different abilities and challenges. In line with this, we strive to make swimming accessible for all, so, our adaptable service can be tailored to meet specific demands with lessons lasting between 30 to 60 minutes. Subsequently, our instructors receive continuous professional development courses to support swimmers with additional needs, ensuring everyone can enjoy the water.

Part of our proactive approach is inviting teachers and school representatives to engage with our swimming service, offering additional shallow water awareness courses to enhance their understanding of water safety and how to deal with emergencies that might arise during swimming lessons. We also strive to deliver an enriched swimming experience beyond the surface, hosting interschool galas to provide students with the experience of formal competitive events and we work closely with the RNLI, introducing students to basic lifesaving skills and participating in campaigns such as Drowning Prevention Week.