Consultation on new Foundation Coach qualification paperwork
In early 2020 British Skydiving created a working group to develop a new structure of Coach qualifications. We will be delivering the first qualification this year- the Foundation Skills Coach. This qualification will initially be in Formation Skydiving, Freefly, Wingsuiting, Tracking and Canopy Formation. Other disciplines will be added after the trial period.
British Skydiving’s STC (Safety and Training Committee) and MDC (Member Development Committee) have been updated throughout the process and have seen the paperwork we have developed. The next stage is to share this paperwork with you. This is a key part in the development of the new coach qualifications.
Why introduce new Coach qualifications?
While there are some great skilled coaches in British Skydiving, the quality and qualification process can be inconsistent for these ratings. They are our own in-house ratings, and there is just the one level of coaches to teach the basic skills needed to gain your stickers. There is a need for multiple levels of coach ratings to recognise the range of highly skilled coaches we have and to have an external accreditation process. This will raise the standard of the coaching skills and knowledge available, create a journey for coaches to develop their knowledge and skills by working their way through the levels and to have a Nationally recognised accreditation process by Ofqual. The core aim is to create better coaches, with better quality coaching, giving you the members better skills, which means more fun.
The key documents are – Terminology explaining the key terms and processes, Foundation Coach Manual– this is a draft document which once we have had your feedback, will be put through a creative process and have images added, and finally the draft CPD process.
Please review these documents and let us know your thoughts and any recommendations. These qualifications are not being developed in a vacuum and then just parachuted into you all. We want to develop the best qualification we possibly can, to create the best coaches, not just in skydiving but across all sports.