J9 SWIMMING - Key Persons
Adam is a fully fledged swim instructor. He is qualified and experienced with a background in competitive swimming. Still training and competing as a master, both nationally and internationally, Adam has combined his love of the pool with his passion for teaching. He has been teaching in primary schools for a number of years as a class teacher and more latterly as a PE co-ordinator. Here, he has been tasked with reincorporating a sports identity within the school.
Adam has taught adults and children of all abilities and is very familiar with teaching swimmers with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). He has learned to adapt his lessons as appropriate to suit their needs and help them progress. Adam has been DBS checked, is certified in safeguarding issues and also possesses his lifeguarding qualification for teachers and coaches.
Adam lives in Borehamwood and is a keen football fan.
Daisy Suffield is a fully qualified and experienced ASA level 2 swim teacher. She started her swimming career as a competitive swimmer with The Borough of Harrow SC before turning her attention to the teaching side of sport. She is resourceful, reliable and possesses common sense. Daisy has huge experience in teaching children: she was Young Leader with Rainbows and Brownies from 2012 to 2016 and went on to become a Lead Coach with Rugby Tots. Here she set up the equipment, explained and organised games, encouraged children to participate and helped where necessary, demonstrating basic game skills and planning sessions. More latterly, she qualified as a ski instructor and taught in Canada for ten months before moving back to England to take up a post at Aldenham School, appropriately enough, as a sports assistant.
Daisy possesses great confidence and enthusiasm when teaching swimming. She explains technique with clarity and a sense of fun. She is able to demonstrate water skills, plan and evaluate lessons and builds up water confidence especially with those who are anxious. Still teaching swimming with J9 as a cover teacher and over holiday periods, she has had experience of teaching both 1:1s and groups, from non-swimmers to competitive squad swimmers and both children and adults. She is adept at teaching all age groups and abilities.
Daisy is a member of Swim England and is DBS checked (enhanced). She lives at home in Harrow Weald with her family.
Gaby has been DBS checked (enhanced disclosure) and has her QA Level 2 award in Emergency First Aid at Work (QCF). Moreover, she has attended a parent and baby (adult and child) course and is a fully-qualified Mermaid instructor. Gaby currently lives in Edgware.
Janine Barclay has been involved with swimming for more than 20 years. Initially herself a competitive swimmer and more latterly as a parent of a national swimming champion, Janine worked with The Borough of Harrow Swimming Club as Club Administrator from 2004 to 2018, liaising and co-ordinating lessons and venues for over 500 swimmers. She is still a member of the Amateur Swimming Association.
A fully qualified, licensed, level 2 ASA swimming instructor, Janine's experience is extensive and varied - from teaching pre-schoolers and primary school children at St Margaret's School, Bushey and with Kingfisher Swimming in Watford to coaching pre-competitive swimmers and competitive squads at The Borough of Harrow Swimming Club. From May 2009, Janine worked for London Swimming ASA on their 2012 mobile pools project, visiting schools to teach swimming to children in deprived areas of London. She has more recently been teaching swimming to both children and adults in Borehamwood and Harrow.
As well as coaxing young children to swim, Janine specialises in teaching nervous adults, those with disabilities and teaching skills and drills to triathletes. She is also proudly coaching a very promising junior who currently ranks number one in the country.
Janine has portable DBS certification (enhanced disclosure) and has attended workshops in ‘how to coach disabled people in sport', ‘safeguarding and protecting children' and ‘teaching turns, the basics'. As part of her continuing professional development, she attended a team manager's workshop in March 2017. She holds valid certification for the RLSS National Rescue Award for Swimming Teachers And Coaches (NRASTAC) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Swimming.
Janine's aim is to encourage all people to swim, irrespective of age, creed and ability. She is married, has two children and lives in Pinner, Middlesex. References can be supplied upon request.
Lisa Cartin is a qualified and highly experienced swim teacher. Lisa started teaching as an assistant in 2000 after completing her NPLQ at a small private swim school in Kingsbury. She moved to Ireland in 2005 and went on to run her own dance school for 3 years whilst completing her level 1 Swim Ireland Award in Teaching Swimming (ASA recognised). She taught in a leisure centre - both groups and 1:1s as well as teaching school swimming. On moving back to the UK in 2011, Lisa began to teach and co-ordinate swim lessons with a local franchised swim lesson operator as well as teaching with various other swim schools in Hertfordshire, before joining J9 Swimming.
Lisa gained further teaching qualifications from the STA (Swimming Teachers Association). She acquired her STA Level 2 Award in Swimming Teaching (QCF) in February 2014. Designed specifically for those who want to teach non-swimmers, beginners and improvers of all ages confidently, the STA Award in Swimming Teaching sits on the Qualification and Credit Framework at Level 2 with Ofqual, and is regulated by SQA, which means that Lisa has attained a high level of aptitude and has enabled her to become familiar with both the STA and ASA Learn to Swim framework.
Lisa understands the elementary scientific principles relevant to swimming. She can plan, prepare and teach swimming and understands the principles of safe and equitable coaching practice. Moreover, Lisa is responsible for planning, delivering and evaluating a series of progressive and fun swimming lessons. She is passionate about teaching and enjoys working with children of all ages and abilities. She teaches a range of aquatic and safety skills including floatation, rotation, water confidence and swim strokes. Lisa promotes good teaching and learning and has attended various CPDs to enhance her qualifications including teaching adults; diving starts and turns; safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Lisa is DBS checked (enhanced) and has recently renewed her Safety Award for Teachers. She is also a member of the STA.
Lisa lives in Watford with her family.
Anyone living in Hertsmere will no doubt have heard of Michelle Vince. She is the hard-working councillor who champions those less fortunate than ourselves and seeks to improve the lives of all, irrespective of creed, race and wealth. We are unbelievably privileged that Michelle is now working for J9 Swimming as one of our swim teachers.
Introduced to us by her swim teacher niece, swim teaching clearly runs in the family! A fully qualified, licensed, level 2 Swim England swimming instructor, Michelle's experience is extensive and varied - from teaching pre-schoolers and primary school children to parents and babies and adults. She is kind and yet will push a swimmer to achieve their maximum potential, if warranted. She is flexible and is fabulous with non-swimmers, including those who are timid of the water and/or who have special needs as well as with those who can swim well. We regularly receive fantastic feedback testifying to her empathetic skills, including this one, received just a few weeks after Michelle started with us: ‘Just wanted to say that Michelle is absolutely brilliant. She's a wonderful teacher and R and O adore her. Also, their swimming has really improved too….' (KM)
Michelle qualified as a swim teacher some 20 years ago. She holds valid certification for Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults and in March 2023 attended an IoS CPD course to integrate swimmers with a physical and/or sensory impairment into mainstream swimming lessons. More recently, she attended a two-day Makaton Workshop to enable her to communicate with some of our non-verbal swimmers and added to her credentials by undertaking Swim England's Level 2 course at the end of August 2023: Teaching Swimming to Babies and Toddlers. This qualification ensures that Michelle can effectively and independently plan, prepare, deliver, monitor and evaluate a series of baby and toddler sessions. Furthermore, Michelle is regularly DBS checked. She carries her own personal swim insurance and is a member of the Institute of Swimming.
Michelle has two children and lives locally in Borehamwood with her dogs and a horse.