Stamps for Sign-Outs

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

Safety is the number one factor when making decisions in the Aquatics Department. Whenever we make a decision about processes or policies we always ask first, "Is this safe for our members?" The Aquatics Department offers swim programs for children from age two to eighteen. For our swim program participants under the age of eight, the Club requires these children to be signed in and out by a parent or guardian. When a parent signs their child in for a swim program this is a written affirmation that the child is now under the supervision and care of the CCV employee. When the parent signs the child out for the day the supervision and care is transferred back to the parent. It is extremely important for this transfer of care to occur because this means the child is safe and is being taken care of by a responsible adult. Our most popular swim program is Learn to Swim, this program serves families of children ages three to seven, the age many children first learn how to swim. Our aquatics facility serves on average 800 members a day and with so many members at the pool is important that these children in the Learn to Swim Program are accounted for through sign ins and outs for their safety. In the past, swim instructors had a difficult time getting each child signed out at the end of the program. To encourage the children to wait for their parent to sign them out we introduced "Stamps for Sign-outs" during the 2018 Learn to Swim Program. Swim instructors informed their students that at the end of class the students must wait for parent to sign them out in a designated location on deck. Once the parent signed them out the swimmer was rewarded with a hand stamp. The incentive of the hand stamp made following this direction fun for the kids but also put parents at ease knowing their child would not walk off after the class ended. The hand stamp improved our sign out numbers and was a visual cue for instructors to know that the child had been signed out properly at the end of class. We will continue to use this method to ensure our program participants are safe under the care of an adult at the pool.

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

We implemented this program from day one of the Learn to Swim program. The participants were informed by the instructors and the parents were also made aware of this process by our sign in attendant. After a day or two this process became routine and the children were excited to see which new hand stamp they would receive that day. Members whose children participated in our swim program commended the process and were appreciative of our priority for child safety around the pool. Other clubs could implement this program quite easily with hand stamps or other rewards such as ice pops, stickers, or lollipops.