Intelligent Training Systems Ltd, which provides evidence-based education, design and consultancy services, began working with SkillsActive to strengthen its training provision in 2007.
CEO Martin Haines says: “SkillsActive endorsement was important to us because we don't fit in a currently defined educational mould. The process ensures we met the industry criteria needed for endorsement while retaining our own unique information.”
SkillsActive’s strategic lead for endorsement recommended Intelligent Training Systems Ltd apply for a course training provider licence for its Level 2 and 3 training CPD courses to demonstrate the quality of its provision to learners and employers and increase its customer base.
The license enables training providers to offer unlimited endorsed courses for up to two years without having to submit each individual course for evaluation every time. Training providers are also included on the REPs list of approved training providers, which is viewed REPs’ 28,000 members, as well as quality assurance support and key market information to improve delivery.
Martin says: “The process was simple. From the initial submission document through to the evaluation visit, everything was well laid out and we knew exactly what we needed to do at each stage and our course was approved first time.”
Intelligent Training Systems Ltd also submitted and had approved a Level 4 course (Level 4 Award in Lower Back Pain) for endorsement. An independent panel evaluates these courses using criteria clearly outlined on the SkillsActive website.
Martin says endorsement gives the company a competitive edge over other providers in the fitness sector.
“Endorsement gives us credibility. Students can attend our courses knowing that they are attending a course that has been subject to a vigorous quality process and, as the criteria becomes standardised internationally, it will help us save costs registering our courses in new territories.
“Becoming endorsed is important for the fitness industry because, as educators, we shape the future of the industry. We need to have our courses continually assessed to be confident we’re taking the industry forward with evidence based practice.
“Endorsement will help you sell your course and improve it.”
SkillsActive now has ready made templates to support new organisations looking to gain endorsement. To find out more about how endorsement can improve your training provision visit www.skillsactive.com/endorsement or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jack Clarke, 17, left school at 15 to work on the family farm in Lancaster. After his family moved, he tried his hand at practical jobs such as school caretaking and working in a ground maintenance company before starting work as a trainee engineer at Salop Leisure in Shewsbury.
Soon after starting, Salop Leisure management spied potential in Jack and offered him the opportunity to take an Intermediate Level Apprenticeship in Leisure Operations.
“I don't enjoy class based learning, which is why I decided not to go to College,” Jack says. “With an apprenticeship, I'm gaining hands on experience, qualifications and training as well as earning a wage.”
Jack began his apprenticeship in February 2011 and has now completed his health and safety and first aid certificates as well as manufacturer's product training. He is looking forward to obtaining important gas and electrical qualifications in the future.
“We have a wide variety of repairs coming into the touring caravan workshop and I'm learning all the time. I aspire to be a good engineer and produce work to the highest standards,” Jack says.
Salop Leisure HR administrator Barbara Morris says Jack is one of four apprentices at the company, with the others working in customer service, holiday homes and alongside Jack in touring caravans repairs.
“Apprenticeships provide our staff with the opportunity to gain technical and transferable skills needed for a great start in their careers. It also ensures we have well trained, competent staff to take the business forward. I would encourage all businesses in our industry to consider taking on an apprentice.”
To find out more about Apprenticeships in the sport and active leisure sector please see Apprenticeships
The Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund is working with partners to increase employment of disabled fitness professionals and boost disabled sport and physical activity participation.
National research commissioned by Central YMCA found that almost one in three people wouldn’t hire a personal trainer with a noticeable physical disability. Furthermore, Aspire, a national charity supporting people with spinal cord injuries, found that non-wheelchair users were more than three times as likely to be invited to interview for job vacancies than wheelchair users.
To help tackle these issues, Aspire has teamed up with YMCAfit on the groundbreaking Instructability project. Supported by a 75% subsidy from the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund, which is managed by the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, the Instructability project provides disabled people with Level 2 fitness instructor training.
The Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund has helped expand a London football education programme and offered more than 20 disadvantaged young people a springboard into work or further education.
Street League delivers football and education programmes to 16 - 25 year old NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) groups, offenders and substance users.
The Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund has provided a 75% subsidy for four academies to be staged across London. Managed by the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund provides Londoners with up to 75% off the cost of training in exchange for them volunteering in their local community.
Giuseppe Noto joined Tideway Sailability club, which provides sailing opportunities for able-bodied sailors and disabled people, after suffering a spinal injury in a construction site accident in 2005.
Giuseppe, who had to learn to walk again following the accident, had no previous sport experience but his wife encouraged him to pursue sailing as a form of physical therapy - and he took to it like a duck to water.
“I was a natural,” he says. “I loved the freedom of sailing a dinghy as well as the obvious health benefits. I was in a dark place but sailing gave me a new lease of life.”
In 2010, the club had too few instructors to meet demand from the community so Giuseppe decided to apply for subsidised dinghy instructor training through the Mayor’s Sport Legacy Fund.
Managed by the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, the fund provides London volunteers with up to 75% off the cost of training to deliver a sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The funding reduced the bill for Giuseppe’s dinghy instructor training from £400 to £100.
Giuseppe, who averages 100 volunteer hours a month at Tideway Sailing Club and Erith Yacht Club during summer, says the challenging four day training was “life changing”.
“It gave me my self respect back. It’s a big step up from being a casual volunteer and a huge privilege to help able and disabled people develop their skills and their confidence on the water, just as I did.
Giuseppe’s students include military veterans, partially blind people, and people with mental health problems.
“Sailing is one of the very few sports in which able-bodied sailors and disabled sailors can participate on equal terms. My goals are to take senior instructor training and, eventually, make this my fulltime career.”
Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Sailing Development Officer for London Steve Mitchell says 45 sailing club volunteers have received subsided training through the fund, including 24 RYA Dinghy Instructors, six RYA Power Boating Instructors, nine RYA Power Boat Level Two and six RYA Advanced Dinghy Instructors.
“Sailing clubs depend on members as volunteers to maintain all aspects of the club operation and so training and supporting them is very important.
“The funding has been fantastic at reducing the cost of up-skilling club volunteers and thereby creating a new flow of trained club members who can now give back to their club and support the new club members.
“Knowing the many clubs and individuals who have received this funding, I am confident these people will do over and above their agreed 25 volunteer hours. Giuseppe is a good example of how the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund will have a last impact on sailing in London.”
The London Borough of Redbridge Swimming Club (LBRSC) has 30 staff delivering sessions to 320 members, from learn to swim classes through to national swimmers and master’s classes. Sixty percent of staff are volunteers.
Chief Coach Paul Robbins says the club had previously struggled to find teachers qualified to level 2 to take classes.
“Becoming fully qualified is prohibitively expensive for many people, especially in the current financial climate, and unfortunately we can only offer volunteers a small amount towards their training costs. This meant we found it difficult to find good level 2 teachers, and struggled to find cover for teachers when they were ill or on leave.”
In 2010, several of the club’s staff began ASA level 1 and 2 swimming teaching and coaching training with support from the Mayor’s Sport’s Legacy Fund. Managed by the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, the fund provides London volunteers with up to 75% off the cost of training in exchange for volunteering hours, to deliver a sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
LBRSC volunteer teacher and coach Kelsey Richards received 75% off her UKCC level 2 certificate in teaching aquatics as well as her UKCC level 2 certificate in coaching swimming thanks to the Fund - and now wants to progress to level 3.
“I would not have been able to finance these courses myself and am really happy to be able to volunteer for both my club and the community of Redbridge,” she says. “I love the sport and want to be able to coach other swimmers to reach their maximum potential and be the best coach I can be.”
Paul says 90% of the club’s staff have now received funding through the scheme, and several members have also put their hands up for coaching training so they can take on roles at the club.
“The subsidised training has provided current staff with fresh ideas and enthusiasm for their job.
It’s also given our members the opportunity to give back to the sport and become great teachers and coaches working for the club and our pool provider, Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure.
“We now have an abundance of qualified teachers within the borough, which has enabled us and Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure to provide classes for 50 extra swimmers. We’ve also had a few people attend ASA Level 1 and 2 coaching courses, which is great as I can now look at developing younger adults into quality coaches.”
Paul says the funding has been “priceless” for the club: “Both LBRSC and Vision’s objective for some time has been to improve the quality of teaching within Redbridge and this funding has helped us achieve that. The newly qualified teachers are the future of our club and I’m confident they will remain in swimming long term.”
The Healthy Lifestyle Activities Provider has been training apprentices for the company and its sector partners since late 2009, providing young people with an important entry route into the sport and active leisure industry. Currently, 15% of Fit for Sport’s 70 permanent staff train through Apprenticeships. By 2013, training manager Jack Shakespeare expects that figure to reach 50 per cent.
“Apprenticeships are, in our experience, the most successful way to recruit, develop and retain effective employees,” Jack says. “The training ensures apprentices are competent and engage in living our vision and values. They are core to our future growth and that of our partners.”
Apprentices gain relevant qualifications while they earn
Fit for Sport’s Level 2 NVQ apprenticeship in activity leadership takes learners one year to complete and includes a salary of between £5000 to £14000 depending on age, hours of work and responsibilities. Fit for Sport looks for six key values in any potential employee. They need to be: trustworthy, professional, enthusiastic, fun, a good role model and lead a healthy lifestyle.
“Our staff are our product,” Jack says. “We can motivate them and provide them with the right practical skills but they have to demonstrate those other qualities from the outset.”
Working with SkillsActive, which designs the apprenticeship frameworks, Fit for Sport tailored the framework to ensure the learning matched the practical skills they needed in the workplace. Fit for Sport apprentices gain a level 2 in activity leadership, which teaches them how to plan, deliver and review engaging, safe and progressive activity sessions for children. They also complete qualifications in behaviour management, child protection, first aid and employability training and, if they need them, key skills.
“Not every employer has the same needs so a flexible apprenticeship framework is important,” Jack says. “Our apprentices are practical minded people so we wanted any theory work to be directly relevant to their role, and SkillsActive helped us with this.”
Building a motivated, loyal workforce
More than 90% of Fit For Sport apprentices secure work with the company or its sector partners such as SLM leisure group. Fit For Sport uses its industry connections to support other apprentices into further education or work with companies specialising in adult activity leadership.
Jack says the combination of learning and working offered by Apprenticeships is priceless.
“Apprenticeships allow Fit For Sport to select the right person and develop them in a way that meets the needs of both the company and the apprentice. We invest 12 months of training and mentoring and we get fully qualified, enthusiastic and work ready employees, each of whom understands our company and our values. It also means we save time and money on recruitment. We are using Apprenticeships to build a well-trained, motivated and loyal workforce which will help us grow and develop our business.”
There are four types of apprenticeships available in the active learning, learning and wellbeing sector. They provide a mix of practical and technical skills that allow learners to develop at work and progress to further education.
To find out more about Apprenticeships in the sport and active leisure sector please see Apprenticeships
National research commissioned by Central YMCA found that almost one in three people wouldn’t hire a personal trainer with a noticeable physical disability. Furthermore, Aspire, a national charity supporting people with spinal cord injuries, found that non-wheelchair users were more than three times as likely to be invited to interview for job vacancies than wheelchair users.
To help tackle these issues, Aspire has teamed up with YMCAfit on the groundbreaking Instructability project. Supported by a 75% subsidy from the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund, which is managed by SkillsActive's National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, the Instructability project provides disabled people with Level 2 fitness instructor training.
Over three weeks, participants learn about subjects such as anatomy and physiology, how to use gym equipment and how to put together a gym programme. Once qualified, they are given support to find placements and employment in the fitness industry.
The Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund aims to increase the number of Londoners working and volunteering in sports ahead of the 2012 Games. Denise Page, Director of YMCAfit, is condident the Instructability approach can help change the culture that may stop disabled people working in the fitness sector.
“We hope that learners will overcome barriers specific to the fitness sector and disability, such as a lack of disabled role models, difficulty accessing training and work venues, and an assessment structure which can be impractical for certain participants.”
Half of the participants on the Instructability pilot in late 2010 are now in employment, working at local leisure centres, helping both disabled and non-disabled people achieve their fitness goals. Tasha Webster, Director of Operations at Aspire, has similarly high hopes for the 30 Londoners who will this year benefit from the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund subsidy.
“Longer term it is hoped that by employing more disabled fitness instructors in the industry this will increase the number of positive role models and encourage greater participation in physical activity by disabled people, who are significantly less likely to meet the recommended levels of activity for health.”
1COMRES 2011
Street League delivers football and education programmes to 16 - 25 year old NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) groups, offenders and substance users.
“The sole aim of The Academy is to accelerate participants’ progression into sustainable employment, mainstream education & training,” Sally says.
The Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund has provided a 75% subsidy for four academies to be staged across London. Managed by the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund provides Londoners with up to 75% off the cost of training in exchange for them volunteering in their local community.
Sally says Street League recruited 59 young people for the first Academy in October through channels such as Job CentrePlus and the probation service. North Londoner Tony Young, 20, was approached about the course after attending the Street Football sessions.
“I was going for about four job interviews a week but not getting anywhere so I thought I’d see what the Academy could do for me,” he says.
Over eight weeks, Tony and the other participants attended workshops in employability, health and nutrition and gained qualifications in community sports leadership, first aid and coaching. They then committed to 20 hours of volunteering their skills in their community.
“The best thing about the course was learning interview techniques and CV writing skills, which I never learned at school,” he says.
After graduating from the course, Tony was offered a coaching apprenticeship at Street League. He now spends his day coaching young people just like him: “I used to have no idea what I wanted to do. Now I’ve got new skills and a new career helping people and giving back to my community.”
An impressive 23 of the 40 who completed the October Academy programme have progressed to further education or sustainable employment, supported by Street League’s progressions staff. Sally is confident the young people who complete the funded Academies in February, June and October 2011 and February 2012 will have similar success.
“The Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund and the National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure have helped us expand our structured football and education programme across London and engage a greater number of young unemployed people through the power of football.”
The amount of the adult population who do not participate in sport or active leisure has hovered at around 80% since 2006, according to the Active People Survey.
To help engage and improve residents’ activity levels, Sutton Council has partnered with Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust to train people in areas of high non-participation to help build participation in their communities. The project is supported by a 75% subsidy from the Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund, managed by SkillsActive's National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, and additional funding from Sutton Council.
Programme coordinator Brian Pote-Hunt says recent research carried out by Ottaway Strategic Management ltd found that Sutton residents who had been inactive for a long period of time “don’t feel confident getting into the Lycra scene – they want to do something that’s free with people from their local community”.
“We’ve responded by putting together a ‘community activator’ programme which gives people the skills to run community based activity sessions for small groups of people.”
Participants on the four day Central YMCA course learn how to set up physical activity sessions in their community, gaining their Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing. They are also provided with the all important insurance to run community sport, health and physical sessions in their community.
Brian says 13 people from a diverse range of backgrounds attended the first programme in March 2011, shortlisted from a group of 30: “We had a librarian, journalist, engineer, au pair, unemployed people and people looking to volunteer locally. But the one thing they all had in common was an interest in helping people lead healthier lives.”
Participant Trevor Graham says many of his engineering colleagues at 02 work long hours, and so exercise slips to the bottom of their priority list. Following his training, Trevor now leads 30 minute activity sessions three mornings a week involving a warm up, full body workout and cool down.
“I’m just trying to help them get their recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day. The first few sessions were hard for some of them, but they’re carried on and now I get between five and 15 people turning up to each session. It’s great.”
Brian says other training participants plan to work with mental health groups, children’s centers and domestic violence victims: “If each of our ‘community activators’ worked with a group of 10, then that’s 130 people we’re providing with an opportunity to become fitter and healthier.”
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