Archived News & Notices
Today seven teachers from the Club (Helen, Amanda, Doug, Julie, Lee, Hannah and Beth) attended a Flip n Fun seminar in Lincoln. Flip n Fun is a new initiative designed by the ASA to allow swimming teachers to introduce basic diving skills as part of their lessons. The seminar included practical elements, allowing us to try the skills ourselves - which we all very much enjoyed. 
Flip n Fun - 27/01/08
Good Luck - 05/12/07
Unfortunately, Kathryn will be leaving the Club after Christmas. We thank her for all of the time she gave to the Club, and wish her well for the future.
Surf's Up! - 17/08/07
Today, members of the Club and their parents visited the Parkway Cinema for an exclusive showing of the new film, Surf's Up.
New Diving Club Rules - 28/07/07
The new club constitution has been accepted by the ASA. Copies have been given to all members - if you don't have yours, see Doug at the club desk; or alternatively, click here.
New Diving Boards - 28/07/07
The Club has donated a 1m springboard to SLM for use at Grimsby Swimming Pool. This was part of a £5000 AquaStart equipment Award from the national ASA and Sport England, the remainder being mats and a set of tables for dry-land training. We are hoping to have the old board installed as a 'dry board', to be used in dry-land training sessions.
In addition, the condemned 5m platform has been replaced by a brand new 3m platform; meaning that our divers can start to develop their jumps and dives from a greater height.
Fundraising:
Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who supported us in the recent Cash4Clubs promotion in the Grimsby Telegraph, by collecting tokens and voting slips. Although we weren't among the final 3, we did get in the final 20, and are very grateful for your support. Also thank you to Helen for collecting and sorting all of the tokens!
Secondly, a special thank you to Suzanne, who secured some funding for us from her place of work. This money is being put to excellent use helping to pay for teachers' development, which in turn, leads to the development of your childrens' swimming.
If anyone has any good ideas for fundraising, or is willing to help with an event, we would be delighted to hear from you!
Surf's Up - 23/07/07
We have booked a cinema screen at the Parkway Cinema for Friday 17th August to see "Surf's Up", the new penguin film opening on 10th August. This event is open to members of the Club and their immediate family. Cost is £3.00 per person, which includes a cup of tea/coffee on arrival for adults, and a small pick 'n' mix and juice for children. We will be meeting outside the cinema at 9:15am, showing is at 10:00am. See Doug at the club desk if interested...
Training Update - 14/07/07
Today, several of our teachers (Val, Amanda, Lee & Kathryn) attended a CPD training update entitled "Teaching Beginners the Basics". We all found this very useful, as it allowed us to discuss issues with ASA tutors and other swimming teachers; and gave us fresh ideas. These fresh ideas will be used in our lessons and passed on to the other teachers that didn't attend the seminar.
Club Notices - June 2007
Duke of Edinburgh's Award:
A reminder - any 14 year olds (or those who turn 14 during the present school year) interested in learning more, please see Val for details. Or if you would like to speak to any of our members who are already part of this wonderful band of young people, please see Val and she will point you in the right direction! The swimming done as part of lessons can count for the Physical section, whilst helping to teach can be used for the Service section. That is half the award completed! Remember, it is highly regarded on your CV by prospective employers and/or College/Universities - but it only comes with real commitment and effort, and really wanting to take part.
New members:
A very warm welcome to all of our new members and their families. They all appear to be enjoying their lessons, and are doing extremely well. We hope that everyone continues to enjoy their time with us, and benefits greatly.
Unaccompanied children:
We are still having some children left at the pool whilst parents go elsewhere. Please note that we are not baby-sitters, and for safety reasons, please ensure that you remain in the building for the duration of your child's lesson, and if not in the spectator area, ensure we know where you will be.
Clothes on the poolside:
We would like to remind parents that all children should leave their clothes in a locker, or they should be taken upstairs by a parent/carer. Clothes and bags have disappeared from the poolside and insecure lockers in the past, leaving children cold, wet and distressed. A £1 coin is required - this is returned at the end of the session when clothes are removed from the locker. Please do NOT leave clothes in insecure lockers. Remember that changing rooms are open to many other building users - neither we nor the pool accept any responsibility for any losses.
Teacher absence and group combination:
Thank you for your patience during these difficult few weeks - there have been a lot of disruptions for your children whilst teachers have been missing for various reasons. We have welcomed Lee back and Mary should be back with us at the beginning of July. Val is still signed off work, and so unable to go on poolside during Club sessions, but she is working hard to return as soon as possible. In the meantime, she will either be at the desk helping Doug, or observing in spectators.
During teacher absences, groups have to be combined, which sometimes leads to larger groups than we like - but still well within ASA recommended teacher:pupil ratios. Extra helpers are always needed, whether as extra pairs of eyes, or helping to teach. Guidance and help is given to you - could you spare us some time? See Val if you would like more information. Unfortunately, absences are beyond our control, but we hope to back to full strength soon!
Flip n Fun - 21/06/07
Today, three of our teachers (Val, Jane and Kathryn) attended a training seminar in Beverley entitled "Flip n Fun", which we hope will prove invaluable. Kathryn will be starting to help with our Sunday training sessions very shortly. Regretably, Amanda and Helen were unable to secure time off work to attend, but will be updated with the knowledge required for this new initiative.
Val said, "The training was excellent, and I was delighted to discover that our dry-land training sessions also embodied many of the skills for Flip 'n' Fun. In future, this is what we shall call our Sunday diving sessions - don't expect it to be easy, but it will be very beneficial. We shall continue to use our new equipment from the AquaStart Award, plus introduce other skills in a fun way, and hope to purchase more equipment soon."
As well as being fun, the skills taught will encourage & develop agility, balance, concentration, co-ordination and speed; which are important skills for all sports. Once the new sessions are fully established, we hope to open the session to swimming members as well as diving members. We have already seen the benefit to diving members from the sessions we have been running.
Cash4Clubs Promotion - 19/06/07
The votes have been counted and unfortunately we didn't make the top three. However, we collected a large number of voting slips and are very grateful for your continued support. Also a big thank you to Helen for collecting and organising all of the tokens and voting slips!
Cash4Clubs Promotion - 21/05/07
A big thank you to everyone who has supported us so far in the Cash4Clubs campaign. I'm pleased to say that we collected a total of 783 tokens and are through to the next round! We now have to collect as many voting slips as possible - your help again would be greatly appreciated!
Endeavour Shield - 25/04/07
Congratulations to Chloe Laubscher, who was chosen to receive the Endeavour Shield this time. She was chosen unanimously by the Diving teachers for her perseverance and improvement in diving. Well done, Chloe!
Diving Group - New Groups & Extra Sessions - 19/04/07
The Diving section is being re-organised into four groups. The groups will be taught by the following teachers:
Group 1 - Jane Lashbrooke; Group 2 - Val Rowell; Group 3 - Helen Wright; Group 4 - Amanda French.
The divers have been developing their techniques, working towards their next awards and preparing for an internal competition scheduled to held in July (again grouped in abilities).
Extra Sessions:
A reminder that for members of the diving group there are some extra sessions:
Saturdays » Free entry for 12 of our divers into the public session to practice their dives. This session is shared with the public but any divers attending will have a lesson - working both off poolside and the board. If more than 12 divers attend this session, we will work out a rota for payments. This session certainly helps to devlelop skills and techniques. See one of the diving teachers for more information...
Sundays » Dry-land work in the exercise room upstairs. Fun and games to develop balance, co-ordination etc. Part of the session is for diving-specific skills. This is an extremely useful session because it develops the skills necessary for diving, but also develops the techniques required for the dives - shortening the amount of time needing to be spent on poolside (away from the water/board). Again, see one of the diving teachers for more details...
Volunteer Success - Step into Sport - 12/04/07
Congratulations to Lee Woolsey and Kathryn Mooney (pictured left) on successfully completing the National Step into Sport Programme.
Lee completed 200+ hours for Step into Sport, and over 200 hours for the Millennium Volunteer Awards, teaching at the club and also setting-up and maintaining the Club website.
Kathryn completed 150 hours for Step into Sport and is registered on the Millennium Volunteer Award Scheme.
Lee and Kathryn were recently presented with their Step into Sport rewards.
On completing the programme Lee said: "I would definitely recommend the Step into Sport programme, because it allows young people to develop their skills and confidence, gain qualifications, and rewards them for volunteering in their chosen sport."
Hours and rewards:
Bronze » 50 hours » Whistle, Stopwatch and Certificate
Silver » 100 hours » T-Shirt
Gold » 200 hours » Tracksuit
Volunteer Success - Get into Volunteering - 12/04/07
Congratulations to Hannah & Beth French (pictured right) who have reached various stages of the new North East Lincs Sports Development volunteering scheme, Get into Volunteering. Both students of Matthew Humberston School have been volunteering at our Club, assisting with junior swimming lessons.
Hannah is the first young person in the area to complete both 25 and 50 hours volunteering under the Get into Volunteering scheme; an achievement made all the more remarkable because she did this in a little over 3 months! Hannah transferred to the Step into Sport scheme immediately after turning 16 in February and is now well on the way to achieving her first award.
Beth is the second young person in the area to achieve 25 hours volunteering under the Get into Volunteering scheme, and is well on the way to achieving her 50 hours award.
Hannah & Beth received certificates and sports clothing.
Charlie Black and Emma Keetley are also registered with the scheme, and should shortly complete their 10 hour awards.
Hours and rewards:
Bronze » 10 hours » Certificate
Silver » 25 hours » GiV T-Shirt
Gold » 50 hours » GiV Hoody
Val commented on the GiV & Step into Sport schemes:
"Several of our teenagers are involved with one or other of the above initiatives. We wanted to be able to provide them with a scheme which would formalise their volunteering, and therefore their relationship with the Club & us, tangibly reward them for the time and commitment they give, rather than just the 'Thank you' they get each week, and we wanted a scheme which would provide mutual benefits. Our teenagers have shown increased maturity, responsibility, self-confidence and independence. They have a sense of 'ownership' and have become much more involved, not only in helping on a Club night, but also in organisation - some are on our Committee, in which they take a full role - and in extra activities which are run from time to time."
Family Fun Evening - Playtowers - 15/12/06
Thank you to everyone who came along to our Christmas fun evening at Playtowers tonight. We hope you all enjoyed yourselves - including the parents and teachers who went in to play! Grimsby Telegraph's "Elfy" came down to see what we were up to and our photo was also in the Grimsby Telegraph! Our thanks go to Julie for organising Elfy's visit. There are some photos from the event in our Photo Gallery, which can be accessed using the link in the Navigation bar on the left.
NELSA Awards - 25/11/06
This Saturday was the NELSA (North East Lincs Sport Association) Annual Awards Evening at the Winter Gardens. Several members of our club were nominated for awards:
Michael Hodge - Junior Disabled Sports Personality of the Year
Mary Winn - Coaches Award
Diving Teachers - Senior Team Award
Lee Woolsey - Norman Melia Young Persons' Services to Sport Award
Everyone nominated for an Award received a certificate of nomination, and Mary & Lee were presented with medals for coming 3rd in their categories.
Also, a special mention goes to our President - Pete Winchester - who won the Sports Personality of the Year Award! Well deserved, and long overdue in our opinion! Pete is also President of Grimsby & Cleethorpes ASA, and has swum the Humber a record 68 times, raising a large amount of money for charity.
Well done to all of the nominees.
P.S. I'll try to get hold of some photos from the evening to put in our Photo Gallery - this can be accessed using the link in the Navigation bar on the left.
Congratulations - 21/11/06
Congratulations to Kathryn Mooney for passing her ASA Level 2 Certificate for Teaching Swimming. Kathryn teaches the Improver 2 group in the first session and the Improver 1 group in the second session. We are very proud of her and thank her for her continued commitment to the club. Well done, Kathryn!
Endeavour Shield - 09/11/06
Congratulations to Elaine Baxter, who was was chosen to receive the Endeavour Shield this time. Elaine swims in the Senior session, and works with Julie. She was nominated by several of our teachers for her excellent progress and effort. When Elaine first started, she was quite a nervous swimmer but she has worked extremely hard with Julie to improve her strokes and build up her confidence. She can now be seen swimming up and down the lane with ease. Well done, Elaine!
New Diving Sessions - 22/08/06
From this September, there will be some new sessions introduced, aimed mainly at the diving group. They are:
» Free entry for 12 of our divers into the public session on Saturday mornings to practice their dives with advice from teachers. This will be from 10:15 - 11:15am.
» A dry land training session on Sunday mornings, 11:15am to 12:15pm, in the exercise room upstairs. This will be used to improve flexibility, balance, strength, speed, co-ordination and fitness. Practices are also used to improve diving technique. All of the drills used are based on the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) programme. Members of the swimming sections in the Improver 2, Improver 2/3 and Improver 3 groups are also welcome to attend this session, to improve all of the above, which will help with their swimming. A small price of 50p will be charged for use of this session.
Hopefully these new sessions will be well attended, as they will play a significant part in the development of our swimmers and divers.
Open Water Survival Award - 27/07/06
On Friday 27th July, youngsters from our club entered Alexandra Docks fully clothed to attempt the club's 'Open Water Survival Award'. The evening was linked with the ASA's 'Get Safe 4 Summer' campaign, and was designed to make the youngsters aware of the dangers of Open Water and how to react if they were unfortunate enough to fall into a lake/river or the sea.
Thunderstorms nearly caused us to cancel the event for obvious safety reasons, but luckily they blew over in time. The rain continued, but didn't put us off! Also, part way through the Lock Gates opened, which meant that the conditions were very real and demonstrated some of the power of Open Water. The event was closely supervised by an Open Water lifeguard and Val in the water, to ensure the youngsters' safety.
All 32 young people who turned up entered the water, so well done to them all! All participants received a 'Get Safe 4 Summer' certificate from the ASA for taking part, and will receive a trophy and extra certificate during our presentation evening, which will be held at the end of October.
Photos from the evening will be posted shortly to our Photo Gallery.
UPDATE: Photos are now in the Photo Gallery, but I'm still waiting for some more. Click here to access the Gallery.
Endeavour Shield - 28/06/06
Congratulations to Michael Hodge who was chosen to receive the Endeavour Shield this time. Michael has persevered over the past months to master a number of skills that he finds particularly difficult, but has done so without complaining that he hasn't been awarded a badge, and with a smile every week. Well done, Michael.
Diving Development Day - 11/06/06
We hired the diving bay for an hour at Yarborough Leisure Centre on Sunday 11th June, and took 14 members of the diving group to introduce them to using a 3m springboard. Most had never used other than a 1m board previously. The venture was a huge success and we plan to organise more sessions, although future visits will be for 2 hours, instead of 1, as the time passed so quickly! All divers who went did really well - with most of them even trying a pike fall off the 3m board!
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