Julia is the Founder of Smart Swim UK and Co-Founder of Smart Swim Hong Kong. She is an STA Baby and Pre-school Tutor as well as a Birthlight Tutor in Infant Aquatics. She trains teachers both in the U.K. and abroad. Her passion for teaching children to love the water shines through in every one of the classes she teaches.

Julia has a vision to see children love the water and encourages many children to become little fish! She has a talent in helping both children and adults to overcome their fear of the water and learn to swim. She believes in teaching through having fun, understanding ones buoyancy, having good breath control, as well as learning life saving water safety skills. The most important element to learning to swim, is trust with the person teaching you!!

Julia began developing the vision for Smart Swim School in the fall of 2004. After moving to Reepham in 2010, Smart Swim has grown and added 8 staff to the team and teaches almost 300 children a week!

Julia has four children of her own. Her youngest son, Hudson, was a 10 pound home water birth. Her two eldest, Daniel and Taylor, are both qualified teachers and work for Smart Swim. Her littlest Amy-Li is her little fish and loves being underwater.

Julia loved doing the Birthlight Diploma course and is the only person in Birthlight to pass the diploma with a distinction in both her course work and her practical assessment, and this lead to her becoming one of the Birthlight Infant Aquatic Tutors. Training other teachers is a passion of hers and her dream is to see baby swimming spread throughout China, where her daughter is from.

Qualifications:

• STA (Swimming Teachers Association) Full Teachers Certificate
• STA Baby & Pre-School and TUTOR certificate
• Birthlight Infant Aquatics Diploma and TUTOR certificate
• STA Special needs Certificate
• STA Aquacise Qualification
• National Rescue Award for Swimming Teachers
• First Aid Qualification
• WATSU Intro Course
• Hydrotherapy Level 1

Alison has had a love for both swimming and teaching for as long as she can remember. She was a member of a swimming club at the age of 6 and swam competitively until the age of 15. She always knew she wanted to teach and became a secondary school teacher in 1992. After 9 years of teaching French, she got married to Paul and started a family. Both her boys (Oliver and Innes) have been taught to swim with Smart Swim and this inspired Alison to become a swimming teacher herself.

Certificates:

• STA (Swimming Teachers Association) Level 2 Aquatic Teaching: Beginners

Diplomas:

• Birthlight Diploma in Infant Aquatics

Further Qualifications:

• NaRS: National Rescue Award
• BA Honours in French and Linguistics
• PGCE

Affiliations:

• Associate Member: Swimming Teachers Association

I joined the Smart swim team in September 2009 after my son Jacob started swimming lessons with Smart Swim. My youngest son Charlie used to be scared of the water, but with the gentleness of the Smart Swim method and the patience of his teachers, he now loves the water. I use to be a Deputy manager in a children's nursery until I left to have Charlie . I am first aid qualified. I enjoy welcoming the parents to their lessons and helping to ensure that Smart Swim runs smoothly.