Drop off and collection of swimmers policy

The safety and well being of each swimmer is the club priority. This policy aims to outline the responsibilities of all members;

  • Parents/carers remain responsible for the safety and welfare of their own children when not poolside
  • The coaching and poolside staff are responsible for swimmers’ safety and welfare when they are poolside

Drop off

Until the swimmer is poolside the responsibility for swimmers’ safety and welfare lies with parents/carers

Dursley dolphins state, that parents (or a parent nominated responsible adult) of All swimmers under the age 14yrs should accompany their children to pool facility to ensure they arrive safely and go straight into the changing rooms. Parents of swimmers under 14yrs that are not staying to watch the session should ensure their swimmer is on poolside and that a coach is present before leaving the complex.

We ask that parents with swimmers under the age of 14yrs do not drop their child/children off in the car park at both training sites.

During sessions

The coaches are responsible for swimmers when they are on poolside.

All parents are welcome to stay and watch their child/children during sessions. This allows parents to support their swimmer as they develop their skills, but also if they become ill or distressed during a session, particularly for younger swimmers

Collection

When the swimmer leaves poolside, responsibility for swimmer’s safety and welfare lies with parents/carers

Parents of all swimmers under 14yr should collect their child from inside the pool facility.

Parents are expected to arrive at the time the session finishes to ensure their child/children are not left unsupervised.

If a child has to get out of a session early due to illness, they will be asked to remain on poolside until their parent arrives.

If a session finishes early the coach will supervise the swimmers until the published session finish time.

Parents that are not staying during training session must be contactable by phone

Late collection

Dursley Dolphins follows swim England guidance on late collection of swimmer take from Wavepower document.

Occasionally, parents may be delayed or unable to collect their child from training or after an event on time. The list of emergency numbers for the parents is to be used in such situations. Parents should be asked to inform the appropriate club officer if they are going to be delayed, with clear guidance on what the club will be required to do, e.g. the parent must give consent if they wish for another parent to transport their child home. The club officer must never leave a child or young person alone unless they are over 16yrs and then only with parent’s permission.

Parents who persistently fail to collect a child on time or who have not arrived after a reasonable period of time, and have given no prior notice or informed the organisation that they are delayed, may be failing in their duty of care to their child. In certain circumstances the club will consult the police or local authority safeguarding team duty officer for advice on action to take

If a parent/carer fails to collect their child on several occasions with no contact or reasonable reason for delay, the club welfare officer and another club officer will arrange to meet with them and discuss the matter.