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0:00 from an uncertain to confident, from unable to capable.

0:05 Drowning remains um a significant um and preventable risk particularly for children.

0:19 Hello and welcome to the educator TV.

0:21 I'm Kylie Spear and joining me today are Gareth Cop and Peter Smith, directors at Aquaar Swim Schools. Aqua Star Swim

0:31 Schools has been named as a winner of the Educator Service Provider Awards for 2026. Welcome to you, Peter and Gareth.

0:40 And thank you both so much for joining us today. Good morning, Care.

0:45 How you going? Your smile's almost as big as ours. Well, I imagine you must be very pleased with this result. Well, firstly, a question for you, Peter.

0:56 Congratulations on being named a 2026 five-star service provider. What does this recognition mean for Aquaar and your team?

1:06 This is a tremendous honor for Aquast and most importantly, a recognition of the people in our organization. Um, it

1:14 validates what Aquaar has been doing over the last 20 years. You know, great service is much more than delivering a swimming program. It's about building

1:22 trust, understanding the needs of our school community, supporting families, and more importantly, getting the outcomes for the students. We strive to

1:30 become a genuine extension of of our school community, understanding their individual requirements and delivering programs that are safe, organized,

1:38 flexible, and with the expectations and delivering the expectations of the schools. The recognition belongs to the entire Aquaar team. We thank our school

1:47 partners. We thank our families that they put the trust of the children in us and more importantly we educate the kids

1:55 uh with water safety and swimming education.

1:59 Gareth Aquaar is committed to building confidence and water safety skills for swimmers of all ages. Why is this

2:08 mission so important to your organization? Well, as you can clearly hear, um I'm not Australian. I'm from England. Um, but

2:16 when uh when I arrived over here some 25 years ago, I quickly realized that uh this wonderful country is both blessed

2:26 and hindered by u by sort of our natural landscape. I mean, we're surrounded by water um rivers, lakes, which can be

2:34 perceived as fun um for various activities, but you know, can also be quite dangerous um for others. So,

2:42 swimming is not simply a sport, it's a recreational activity.

2:45 um to an essential life skill um which predominantly saves lives. Australia's got such a strong connection with water

2:53 yet drowning remains um a significant um and preventable risk um particularly for children. Our school swim programs they

3:01 they open the door for for swimming and safety education for for those children that might not be in a financial position to participate in in learn to

3:10 swim after school private lessons. So you know the swimming program for us is particularly important. So yeah we we

3:19 get to deliver our expertise to those children which might not necessarily get that.

3:25 Peter over almost 20 years Aquaar has developed its own teaching methodology.

3:32 What is one specific element of that methodology and what results have you seen from it? Yeah. So, one of the most

3:40 important elements of Aquaar's teaching is our structured regression and individual um assessments. Rather than

3:47 teaching every every swimmer in a class the same, we teach each child based on their ability, their confidence, and their skill level and place them in an

3:55 appropriate level where we're supporting them and encouraging them to learn. Um we have small group ratios and a key part of our approach is our ongoing

4:04 assessment. So, we don't simply just assess a swimmer at the beginning and and at the end of the program. We continuously assess them, making sure

4:13 that we're meeting their needs. And the results have been significant. We've seen great consistency in student progression, improved water confidence,

4:21 and strong swimming outcomes, particularly among students who may initially be nervous or reluctant in the

4:28 water. Our school program demonstrates the scale this impacts. In 2024, for example, uh Kylie, we taught 7 and a

4:36 half thousand students over 48 school programs. And now this year, we're teaching approximately 10,000 students over around about um 70 programs in

4:45 2026. That is a lot of students we're actually teaching. For us, the greatest measure of success is seeing a swimmer

4:52 move from an uncertain to confident, from unable to capable, and from simply

4:59 participating in enjoying the water. and more importantly being safe in the water.

5:05 Yeah, that's massive. Gareth, Aquast,

5:13 how do you ensure your school programs are both engaging and impactful for students?

5:20 50 schools seems like an awful lot. And understanding that um you know, no no school school group is exactly the same.

5:28 um no no student group is exactly the same. We we have to quickly sort of assess the children when they come in and sort of group them according to

5:36 their their abilities and and confidence levels like like Pete said. Um, it's quickly getting them into the program, understanding where, you know, where

5:44 their level of confidence and and swimming ability sits, and then sort of guiding them and placing them into those specific sections within our program so

5:53 that they can get the most out of those those eight 8 to 10 days swimming intensive program. It helps as well with the the particular teachers that we we

6:02 have available to to provide these programs during the day. A lot of them come from a more mature teachers. Most

6:10 of them have actually had, you know, got got children themselves. They they find themselves as as parents, you know, having their children at school and then

6:18 coming into um swim teaching as as an occupation to fulfill their days. So then once these children come in from

6:25 the the local schools, they already have an understanding of that child's needs based on that their age because chances are they may have had those that age child already.

6:37 And finally, Peter, looking ahead, what are your goals for continuing to support schools, families, and local communities

6:46 through swimming education and water safety? Kylie, in short, our goal is to reach more children. Um, strengthen our

6:54 partnership with schools and continue to raise the standard of swimming and water safety education across the communities we serve. We believe schools provide one

7:04 of the most important opportunities to reach children who may not otherwise have access to these regulous win programs like Gareth said previously.

7:12 And we want to continue to expand these partnerships. supporting families and local communities remain equally important. Um we'll continue to engage

7:20 with schools through community events, fundraisers, scholarships, and other initiatives, which is what we do now, while creating employment and leadership

7:28 pathways for young people to come and teach at Aquast. Um our long-term vision, Kylie, is simple. Help more

7:36 people become confident, capable, and safe around the water while becoming an even stronger partner to schools and communities we serve. If over the 20

7:46 years we look back and know that Aquaar has reached thousands of children and we've we've helped them on their path to

7:55 become confident in the water. Um that is a success for Astar Swim Schools.

8:00 That's just awesome. Well, thank you both so much for your time today and congratulations to the whole team once

8:07 again on a brilliant result. Peter and Gareth, amazing.

8:13 Amazing, [laughter] Kyle. That's unreal. Thank you very much.

8:18 Thanks, Colin. And we're very proud to be uh the winner of this uh award.

8:26 Absolutely. We couldn't have done it without the entire Aquaar team. So hopefully they're going to be watching

8:32 this at some stage. So just a big big shout out to everyone that works within the organization from from teachers to

8:41 supervisors to our marketing team to our customer service team. Um yeah, everyone involved

8:48 and thank you of course to our viewers for watching the latest episode of the Educator TV. We look forward to seeing you again soon.