Yesterday I went to the pool to do aqua aerobics and yes kids were able to stay in the crèche for the full time of the lesson. In my previous post about not having childcare for the full length of the class, I sent a complaint to the council to see if they were able to allow me and others to do the exercise class and not cut it short to pick kids up.
I was over the moon when I got a response and of course tried it out and got friendly staff and no one saying “We can’t do that, who told you this?”
When I arrived I spoke to the lady who emailed me about coming in, and she organised the ladies to stay later at the crèche to allow me to participate in this session at the pool. I had a very enjoyable time and was very impressed that they sorted the issue.
I just want to say a big thank you to Liz at the centre she was amazing and helped me out so I could finally do a class when I had the kids with me.
What are your thoughts? Send in your comments.
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UPDATE: I got a response to my letter to the council (see at the bottom of this post). The lovely lady has told me that all I need to do is tell the staff that I am going to do the 10.30am session of Aqua and to let them know that I need the creche staff to stay till 11.45am to allow me to finish my class. I have thanked her and have not yet tried this, will do for the Wednesday class. I have also let them know that the average customer would not know to ask this as they would expect childcare to cover the session of the fitness class. Reasonable really.
I want to go to the pool to do an aqua fitness class. This class is at 10.30 and lasts an hour. So would end at 11.30. Ages ago I found out that the pool in their stupid wisdom cancelled the crèche for the time that I needed to be at my favourite class. I was so annoyed that I wrote a post about it then, this change to my fitness schedule had me tears. Why cancel something that allows people to use your services!
Other ladies that I have met have been saying that the crèche is open now at this time. I called the pool out of curiosity as I desperately wanted to go to the pool to exercise again. I asked if they had childcare for their 10.30 fitness classes. She said yes, although I would have to be back at 11.15 to pick the kids up as this is when the care ends for the kids.
So let me get this straight. The fitness centre is offering classes at 10.30, the childcare does not cover the whole class and of course after working out you would need a shower and change of clothes and this adds to the time allowed for childcare. I would never be able to fit it all in, and definitely be over the pickup time of 11.15.
Why would I want to pay for a full class not to get a full class? And as stated, I would have to leave even earlier to make sure I showered and changed and got to the crèche in time for picking up the girls. Outrageous isn’t it. Maybe another centre on the mountain can accommodate?
Blackheath Pool does not state that they have childcare options
Springwood Pool has closed the crèche until the 3rd of May for refurbishment (also don’t want to drive that far – would rather be closer to home)
Lawson and Glenbrook on the website does not look like they have a crèche. (This gets too far to drive as well, would rather stay closer and go to Katoomba.)
As a business that is there to of course provide a service to the public but mainly make money, this is going against their mission. Closing off an audience that would use your services and products is not wise in my book. What are your thoughts?
Is it just me or this not acceptable? If I had more options on care I would go to the gym all week or at least more often than not going. I do want to tone up and lose more weight, but this is not helping.
Are you in the same boat as a mother/parent? Do you live in the Blue Mountains and faced this issue? Please fill out our poll on the right hand side of the site. Interested to see how the many numbers we get.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
PS. Have rung the council and the man on the phone agrees with me. Why have part childcare that does not cover the class. Will do as suggested and send in an email to them. Will see where that goes and if it gets any action.
I have written my email to the council – see below:
17th April 2013 Attention: The General Manager
I wold like to attend the Katoomba Pool and do their fitness classes that are at 10.30am during the week day. To do this I need to have childcare. This issue arises around when the childcare ends, which I have been told is 11.15am. This would mean that I would need to cut my lesson short and then get ready to pick up my twins from the crèche.
I am not happy with this alternative as I was aiming at making a change and wanting to exercise more. As a full time parent to twin four year olds it is impossible to do this when there is school holidays and if not for school holidays if the lesson falls on a day that the kids are not in pre-school then I cannot do the class. I have no help or family so if I don’t look after the kids they are not cared for.
Why would you not have care for all available classes that are at the centre? If a class starts at 10.30am then the childcare should at least got to 11.45 so that a reasonable person will be able to shower and change and get ready to collect their children.
I am annoyed and angry that your centre is discriminating against mothers and parents that have child care responsibilities. This group of people really want to use your service as well and should be allowed to do so. Carers of kids need a break and what better way than exercise. Exercise helps with making you feel better about yourself and of course has the added benefit of keeping you fit and healthy. Why not tap into the niche market of parents who want to tone up and make sure to have care for the kids so they can use your services. I thought you were a business also and if so you would think that if you do this right, you will get repeat business and people signing up for more membership. The easier it is to access the services, more times the person will come back and of course promote your business to others – word of mouth is a powerful tool.
I really wanted to do an aqua fitness class this morning but as it is school holidays I will not be paying to have a short lesson, you may as well not bother.
Last year on the 4th of Jan I learnt that in your wisdom you cancelled the late session of the crèche which is the 10.30 session that would allow me and others to participate in classes at the Katoomba Centre. I know find out that it is back in a half arsed way – why don’t you have care for the full time of the class that is on offer not just part of it. I am sure if you were presented with this option you would say no and not go either.
I blog and have written about both experiences. http://mummytotwinsplusone.com/4-years-and-beyond/creche-for-part-of-fitness-class-i-dont-think-so and the older one from last year http://mummytotwinsplusone.com/feeling-frumpy/no-more-pool I hope that you see to fix this silly decision of not to having adequate child care facilities for all of the fitness classes, this service is a way to make sure you get more business, allow mothers and other parents have the ability to get fit, lose weight and have some much needed time out. Don’t promote your services locally when you are making sure a part of the community cannot use your services due to a lack of child care available.
I want this to be fixed so that I will soon have the option to go to the class I want to go, not to be discriminated against. If it is a matter of cost, how about offering job sharing? This is a cost that can be factored into the business to generate more business. Once you let everyone know about the childcare at the centre I am sure that more people will come and sign up for classes. If I was assured childcare I would become a member rather than purchasing 10 pass tickets. The 10 pass tickets give me the flexibility as if I was a member when would I use the service if I cannot do the class I wish to do, with no care I cannot do anything.
Please fix this as I am keen to do an aqua class during the week.
Why is it that extra activities for kids are so expensive, swimming, tumbling, gym, dancing and much more. I would like to have the girls continue with their swimming lessons and also to be able to do tumbling lessons. This is not going to happen due to the cost. Just to give you an example of the cost:
Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $140
Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $125 plus $32.50 annual gymnastic NSW membership fee
The price above for each activity is for 1 child. So as I have 2 children, I would need to double it. So the costs would be:
Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $280.00
Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $315.00
My question is, how does the average family give their children exposure to these sort of activities? With the girls going to pre-school 3 days per week, there is no way we will be able to cough up extra money for anything else. Last year we were able to give the girls about 3 sets of swimming lessons, but I don’t think that will happen this year.
Lillian turns her left foot in a bit when she walks and trips over more, especially when she is tried. Nothing that strengthening the ankle or more sports would help. To do the sports and training you have to pay. I cannot just put one child into sport, I would like to put both in for the experience as well. The physiotherapist at Katoomba Hospital said tumbling classes would really help Lillian, but how do I do this when they are so expensive.
One of my other questions is why is the council pool charging so much to teach kids and babies to swim. This is a skill that can save your life, swimming is essential in Australia as we are surrounded by water and nearly everyone has a pool, goes to the pool or the beach. I believe that swimming allows you to have the ability to exercise, be safe and to participate in a great lifestyle. Why does the council charge so much? Why cannot the fee be a token to the centre, say $20 or $50 for swimming for your children to learn. It should not be $280 to teach your kids to swim for only 10 weeks. Then after the first 10 weeks you have to pay it all again. How many school terms are there in Australia, well there is 4 terms per year. So that would mean that I would need to pay Katoomba Pool, $1120.00 for a year of tutuion for swimming lessons.
Learning to swim should be free or nearly free. From my conversations in the Blue Mountains, NSW, there are a lot of people and kids that don’t know how to swim. What happens when these kids go to their swimming carnival at school? Is it then the schools job to teach kids to swim? Do schools have a learn to swim programme? I am not sure and have not found out, so if someone knows please let me know.
I grew up in North Queensland, Hervey Bay to be precise and I swam at a young age. We were close to a beach at all times, always on a boat and had to swim. I think everyone has a right to save their lives and others by knowing how to swim. I love swimming and really enjoy it, I cannot imagine not knowing how.
So this year, I think we will take the kids swimming ourselves and teach them swimming techniques. We also cannot take them to tumbling classes no matter how much I would hope to do it. Julia and Lillian’s balance and ability are so great, that I would like to build on it, and have them do something active that is also healthy. For a society that is worried about weight gain, overweight and obese kids they are definitely not doing anything to help families with easily accessible activities.
Why is it now a matter of how much money you have, if you can learn to swim or not. Money is not the issue, it is making sure that the government/council makes this available at all levels. Learning to swim is something everyone needs to know how to do, rich or poor.
Do you have the same concerns over costs for children’s activities? Do we need to get like minded people together to see if we can lower costs? Should we have an online petition for the council to do something about this? Let me know your thoughts.
