Neptune News Feb 2021

11 February 2021

Dear Customer 

I am writing to update you on Neptune's position with regards to resume swimming lessons. At present there is no update from the government or our governing bodies as to when we will be able to get back to the pool. The management is taking this time to review all our risk assessments and COVID-19 guidelines so that when the time comes we are ready to hit the ground running. When the government provides more information to the leisure sector we will be in contact with the pools we hire to ensure we are able to begin lessons as soon as it's safe to do so.

We have had a substantial amount of time out of the water in the last 12 months and the new way of life has certainly presented some challenges for everyone in the industry. We at Neptune feel we have navigated these challenges with success and that our “new normal” which has been in place since August 2020 has provided our teachers with new methods to deliver swimming in a COVID secure manor. Our swimmers have adapted with little or no fuss and have really taken all the changes in their strides. We now must ensure that when we return to the pool following this lockdown that we can continue to provide all our children the best learning environment we can to encourage them to progress.
  • Starfish and Duckling Swimmers (IMPORTANT)

    Since the last mini lockdown, we have had many swimmers who have reached or surpassed the age bracket for their current class. Once we return to swimming this is going to mean we have classes with extremely large age ranges. This is just not something that is going to provide us with the ability to offer a high level of learning for our swimmers. With this in mind, we will be reviewing all classes that have an age limit (all parent & baby classes & ducklings) to identify swimmers that will hugely benefit from moving to the next level up. The age brackets for these classes are listed below 


    • Starfish Beginners - 16weeks - 12months
    • Starfish Improvers - 12 months - 24 months
    • Starfish Advance - 24 months - 3yrs
    • Ducklings - 3yrs - 5yrs

    After ducklings, our classes are grouped by the achievement of skills including distances. If your swimmer has exceeded the age groups above in the last couple of months we will be contacting you shortly to arrange for them to be moved into the next class up. Where this can seem a little daunting for parents, we need to ensure your child is swimming with children of a similar age. The same principle that applies in schools applies in swimming, children learn by receiving lessons that are tailored to their cognitive abilities and by peer interaction. Children who are over 5 and in a ducklings class will be mixed in with children who are only just starting their funded hours within a nursery setting, This is just not a good mixture of learning ages. 


    Many children have missed out on that initial introduction to their preschool journey this year so our teachers will have to go right back to the start to ensure our swimmers know how to wait their turn and follow the safety rules. We will be contacting swimmers who are the following ages to progress onto the next class up. 


    Please be advised that this is not an optional process. We must ensure these children have moved up. We would really appreciate that customers work with us on this, 


    Starfish Beginners - 12 months

    Starfish Improvers - 24 months

    Starfish Advance - 3yrs 1m +

    Ducklings - 5yr 3m +


    We will do our best to ensure you can remain swimming on the same day and at a similar time. If you would like to begin this process with your swimmer now please contact Steph via the hub. 


  • January 2021 Payment

    We have received lots of messages from customers as to what will happen with the January payment that was taken just after we locked down. 


    Communication was sent earlier in January but I will take the opportunity to re-circulate this. We were unable to stop the direct debit in January from being taken as the lockdown was announced with quite short notice. Therefore all customers who have paid the full amount will receive a reduced month of swimming lessons when we return. 


    We may be able to offer a week of intensive swimming lessons depending on when the restrictions are lifted and if we have teachers available. More information regarding this will follow. 

  • How the DD lockdown will run

    As per our earlier emails regarding the DD the system now generates a payment per swimmer, not 1 payment for all. 


    So you will make more than 1 payment to us if you have multiple swimmers. They will be for different amounts but add to the normal total that you pay per month. We are confident that all the bugs have now been worked out of the new system and we thank customers for their patience. 


    Remember you can check all your payment history and upcoming payments on the hub.

It is really important to us that we are able to communicate with our customers effectively. Our main form of communication with customers is via the members hub and by text message. Please ensure you are registered to the hub and that your contact details are up to date. We do post frequently on out social media platforms so please follow us. 

Access the Member's Hub
Steph Westbrook
Director of Aquatics
Neptune Aquatic Solutions