A few years ago, we became involved with the training of young people who had chosen ‘sub aqua diving’ as either the ‘Skill’ or the ‘Physical Recreation’ section of their award.
Since then, several groups have enjoyed the experience of taking part in our sport. We generally limit the number in each group to four or five candidates as we find this to be a manageable number to look after.
The training is restricted to the swimming pool (and lecture room), as this takes away the need for the purchase of diving suits etc.
We train over a fixed period, covering all the essential points within eight pool sessions and two or three lectures. We make a charge for this to cover a contribution towards the cost of pool hire and the provision of equipment and air.
We ask that all candidates complete a self-declaration medical form and have parental consent.
It is made clear at the outset that, as the training we give is an adaptation of our full training programme, it will give a good overall view of sub aqua activity. It will not be a full training programme and future involvement in the sport will require full training.
As an indication of how seriously we take our responsibilities, many of those Club members involved with this tuition have submitted themselves to a check by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). This is now known under the name Disclosure and Barring.
The CRB’s aim is to help organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable to work with children or other vulnerable members of society.
If you are about to enrol onto the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, or you know of any individual, school or youth group who might like to discuss matters further, please contact us.
