Your article on the employment crisis in the sector (HCM 3 2022, page 54 or www.hcmmag.com/staffing) raised valid points about what needs to be done to address staff shortages. I particularly applaud Jo Cherrett’s call for an honest conversation about the living wage.
This especially applies to swimming teachers. Two members of my family have left swimming teacher jobs because of poor pay. With a national shortage of 8,000 swimming teachers (Swim England 2021), addressing pay will go a long way to attracting and retaining these professionals at a time when their skills are needed more than ever. Children have already lost two years of swimming; we can’t afford for them to miss any more because of a lack of teachers.
