Mother fears staffing cuts at Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre could compromise child safety
Thursday, 11.50am - A MOTHER has raised concerns over child safety following a reduction in staff teaching young children to swim at Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre.
Thursday, 11.50am - A MOTHER has raised concerns over child safety following a reduction in staff teaching young children to swim at Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre.Jo Gilfedder has pulled her four-year-old son from group swimming lessons after managers decided to cut class sizes from eight children to six, and reduce tutors from two to one.
Previously, children have benefited from lessons with one teacher in the pool and one poolside. However, bosses say the extra tutors have only been present due to training.
Mrs Gilfedder, 39, of Highcliffe Road, Grantham, feels it is dangerous to allow one poolside tutor to supervise six children.
She said: "It's just a way of saving money, but some of these are four- or five-year-old children.
"All the parents are up in arms. Now, I'm going to have to pay 15 for a one-to-one lesson instead of 5 for group lessons."
Leisure Connection manages leisure centres in the district on behalf of South Kesteven District Council.
Leisure Connection regional manager Mike Darlison defended the decision to cut staff, saying class sizes are matched to teacher supervision "in line with Amateur Swimming Association recommendations and to maximise the use of our pool".
He added: "Most classes are recommended to be taught from poolside, so we have moved to a one teacher per class programme, with a further assistant being brought in to provide in-pool support for groups where there are pupils with specific needs.
"We rely on advice from our aquatics advisor on site and our regional swim manager to ensure we meet all required supervision levels."
Mr Darlison would not confirm staff redundancies, but said: "Staffing remains constantly under review on all our contracts, especially in a recession."
He added: "This is not about job cuts. Due to the growth in our swim schools, particularly in Grantham, we have in fact introduced more classes to accommodate more children and we're training more assistant swimming teachers to become fully qualified.
"We're always looking for more swimming teachers so would love to hear from anyone interested in a career in swim tuition."
The Meres Leisure Centre holds 143 swimming classes every week as well as free swimming lessons as part of the Government's learn-to-swim initiative.
What do you think to the staff cut? Is it unsafe or necessary in the recession? E-mail your news and views to comment@granthamjournal.co.uk
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