We understand that sometimes students and their parents have requests for their favourite teachers. We will always try to accommodate your requests but unfortunately due to the nature of the swim school we cannot guarantee teachers and we reserve the right to change teachers if / when necessary.

You can request to join a waitlist for your preferred class/instructor and we will contact you when a space becomes available.

You can find our most up to date Terms and Conditions via our website here - https://www.fultonswimschool.co.nz/terms-and-condtions/ 

Or if you currently have an account with us, these can be found on our app or parent portal. 

Please note by booking into lessons with us you are agreeing to our terms and conditions, so please ensure that you are familiar with these.

When / if our Terms and Conditions change at any time these are updated on website, when logging into app or portal you will be prompted to accept updated terms and conditions. 

Our booking system runs on a Perpetual basis. This means that your booking on the system does not have an end date. If you do not wish to continue your booking please cancel your lessons by following the below article:

In order to cancel booking with us, please send an email to info@fultonswimschool.co.nz in the email please include

- Child's First and Last Name

- Final Lesson Date

- Reason for cancelling

This must be done prior to the 28th of the month. If this date is missed you will be charged for a full month of lessons

At Fulton Swim School we pride ourselves on having warm pools, we keep our pools to at least 32 degrees.

Botany - Slopes from 0.8 through to 1.2m

New Plymouth - Small Pool 0.7 and Large Pool 0.9.

Patumahoe - Slopes from 0.7 through to 1.2m.

Puni - Slopes from 0.7 through to 1m.

Upper Hutt - Slopes from 0.8 through to 1.6m.

Please note that where required we use benches in our pool at start and end points. These are for students that may not be able to touch the bottom of the pool.

Our facilities are solely used for learn to swim lessons. You can be sure your child will have less distractions at Fulton Swim School and we ensure our class sizes remain small. All of our learn to swim classes have an optimum of 4 and a maximum of 5 students to 1 teacher (8:1 for baby classes where parents are in the pool also). Our Ratio increases to 6:1 in our Legends level as they are confident swimmers and lesson time is extended. This is below the industry standard and enables our teachers to focus on their students and ensures progression is fast. At Fulton Swim School we’re focused and committed to making learning to swim an enjoyable experience at all levels.

We see it as vitally important to reward and encourage our children to swim and to try their best so place a huge emphasis on celebrating all of our students achievements. Its because of this that we offer differing forms of awards including the following:

• Ribbons which are awarded to a child when they move up a level.
• An electronic certificate which is emailed to you outlining your child’s achievements.
• Swimmer of the week award which is awarded to a child in the swim school whom has achieved something outstanding personally to them.
• Our achievement bell which a child gets to ring when they achieve something special.
• We also find the best award you can give a child is the teachers (and your) time and encouragement.

Absolutely. We believe that all adults should know how to swim comfortably. It is particularly important for parents, to help ensure the safety of their children. We have instructors who are trained to help adults learn to swim, perfect their strokes and gain fitness.

Our adult classes start at beginner lessons through to adult technique lessons. Note these are not currently held at all of our branches, so please enquire through our support office if you have particular learning requirements.

The bath tub is a great place to enjoy water play and to help a child become more comfortable with the water. Many skills can be practiced in a bathtub. Don’t be afraid to pour water over your child’s head and face. 

We also encourage parents to take their child in a pool as often as possible. Exposure to swimming and having fun in the pool is the best way to mitigate or eliminate any fear of water or swimming. Remember in any environment with water to watch your child, drowning is quick and silent.

Goggles and Caps are required for children from Explorers level up, however we do encourage them to wear caps from Rugrats level.

Girls: fitting one piece togs (no bikinis, rash vests or board shorts).

Boys: fitting swim briefs or shorts (nylon rugby shorts are suitable).

Children swimming in rash shirts and board shorts are disadvantaged due to the drag that is created in the water by wearing them. This swimwear is great for the beach and to protect children from the sun but makes learning to swim difficult. 

You can purchase Swim caps, goggles and reusable nappies at our on-site shop, located in each of our facilities or through our online shop.

If you find a class day/time that suits you to swim but the class is currently fully booked, you may request to join a waitlist for that class time. You can do this through our online parent portal or FSS App.

Your request will be approved and our team will contact you when a space is available. The space is offered in order of waitlist requests as you may not be the only one on the waitlist for that class.

If you are waiting for a space for siblings at the same time and are offered the space when it becomes available but decline it for now (space only available for one sibling) then that space is not held and will be offered to the next on the waitlist.

If your child is showing flu-like symptoms, has a fever or any stomach or digestion problems or generally unwell, we request that they do not attend swim lessons. 

Please log into the customer portal on our website or FSS App and mark your child as not attending.

Once logged in click on "Account" (if using the app you may need to at this point select the student's name) then "Future Absences" and record a future absence. Follow the prompts from here. You will receive a make up token after their scheduled class time. Tokens have no expiry, however can only be used whilst you have an active booking.

Yes. If your child has special needs / a learning difficulty, please communicate with the staff and instructor about their individual needs. The more information we have on the needs of your child, the more effectively we can teach them to swim.

We can also offer private lessons when required which are made by prior arrangement only and subject to timetable and staff availability.

Maximum number of students in our private classes is limited to 1:1. The class runs for 25 minutes and cost is $60.00 per lesson. Enquire through our support office for more information. 

We recommend that children be exposed to water as soon as they are born. The bath tub is a great place to enjoy water play and to help a child become more comfortable with the water. Many skills can be practiced in a bathtub. Don’t be afraid to pour water over your child’s head and face.

We commence parent and child classes at three months of age. Our classes develop confidence, water awareness and improve motor co-ordination in an aquatic environment. Children will learn skills that are vital for their development as swimmers and also water safety.

Remember it's never too late to start! Here is a link below to a blog that we have that goes over when the best age to start swimming in detail.

Our teachers are trained to work with even the most fearful or nervous swimmers. Reassure your child and stay calm and then let the instructor work with your child.

Some children experience separation anxiety or fear of a new place which both will diminish over time. Over the years we have developed many strategies to work through and overcome a student’s fears and anxiety.

We recommend that you do not pull your child out of the pool during a lesson or stop lessons altogether. This can be detrimental because it allows the fear to be reinforced without giving the lessons a chance to work and the instructor the opportunity to alleviate the student’s fears. Your child’s safety is our top priority.

Please be patient and allow the instructors and staff to do what we do best - teaching every child to learn to swim and love to swim!

If a group class is not full we reserve the right to change and consolidate classes in the timetable. However we will do our best to fill the class up rather than remove the class. 

Yes, we run lesson all year round as consistency is key to learning to swim, so we continue through school holidays.

We do however close on public holidays, Easter weekend and Christmas/New Year period for approx 2 weeks. Keep up to date with our holiday closure times through our social media sites our on our weekly Short Sharp Wrap (via our app).

If you are going away in school holidays, remember to record your child's absence so you can receive a make up token to use when they are back.

Our support office is open between 9:00am and 2:30pm Monday to Thursday, 9:00am and 2:00pm on Fridays.  Although our pools are open on the weekends and our support office is only open during the week.  Our support office is closed for Public Holidays.

Our lessons are booked on an ongoing weekly basis. You're not able to book in a lesson for every second week. Casual or one off lessons might be an option if you're unable to make it every week.

Until the age of 3 years we require a parent or caregiver to be in the water with each child.

If a parent or caregiver would like to be in the pool to reassure a first time swimmer (in an older than 3 years level) they are welcome to do so for the first lesson.

This is a very commonly asked question! Here at Fulton Swim School we do not run by term, we swim all year round and only close over the Christmas / New Year period (approx 2 weeks) and on Public Holidays. 

When booking lessons you will be required to provide credit card details to save on file to pay for the remaining lessons of the month and then ongoing monthly payments on the 1st of every month.

As consistency is key to learning to swim, so we continue through school holidays. The holiday period is a popular time that everyone is swimming through the warmer months, so we want to be keeping up the practice! 

We do however close for a period of time over the Christmas / New Year period (approx 2 weeks). To give our teachers a well deserved break. There is no charge for lessons of this time however our DD will still run on the 1st Jan for the pro-rata amount for lessons after this closure period.  Please note that unless you cancel your booking prior to the 20th of December your booking will automatically roll over to the New Year.

An active booking is your enrollment or your child's ongoing enrollment in lessons with us at Fulton Swim School. When you cancel your lessons your booking has a drop date added to it. Your booking remains active until this drop date is reached. Drop dates are often the last swim day of the month once you have requested to cancel.

You're able to keep up to date with your child's progress using our FSS App or online Parent portal.

FSS App

Login to App and select "Account"

You may at this point need to select the student's name

Select "Evaluations"

Click on your child's current level

Online Parent portal

Login to parent portal on our website

Select "My Account" 

Click on "Evaluations"

Click on "Group Lessons"

Scroll down and select your child's current level

After following the above prompts you're able to view the goals for this particular level.  You're also able to see by looking at the stars how your child is progressing.  1 star means that the goal has been attempted.  2 stars mean that the goal is currently being learned.  3 stars mean that the goal has been mastered!  You're also able to see the date that the goal was updated by selecting the down arrow on the right hand side of each goal.

Any time you like. We take bookings 24 hours per day, 7 days per week via our website. However we can only take bookings up to 1 week in advance. 

If you need any assistance with levels / booking please do not hesitate to contact us at info@fultonswimschool or give us a call. 

Is your child under 3 years of age?

3-5 months: Jellyfish (not available at all locations)

6-13 months: Nemos

14-35 months: Wiggles

Is your child over 3 years of age?

Complete our online assessment form to find out the correct level: Swim Level Assessment - Fulton Swim School. 

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact our Support Office.

You can either phone our support office during our opening hours or you're able to update your Credit/Debit card yourself on either your FSS App or online parent portal.

FSS App

Login to App and select "Account"

Scroll down to "Payments"

Select "Update Payment Info"

Read the terms and conditions and then select "Continue"

Scroll down and select "Payment and Agreement"

Input your new Credit/Debit card details (card number, expiry date, CVV - 3-4 digit code from rear of card)

Click on Submit

Online parent portal

Login to parent portal on our website

Select "My Account"

Scroll down to the "Payments" section or click on "Payments"

Scroll down and select "Enter Payment Information"

Read the terms and conditions and then select "Continue"

Scroll down and select "Payment and Agreement"

Input your new Credit/Debit card details (card number, expiry date, CVV - 3-4 digit code from rear of card)

Click the checkbox next to "I'm not a robot"

Select Submit

To decide what level your child is in there are a number of options available.  You can use our online Swim Level assessment guide which is available on our website or by clicking this link: Swim Level Assessment - Fulton Swim School 

If you are still unsure you can call our support office and they can discuss the different levels with you or they can book a quick 5 minute assessment at the pool for you if required.

The assessment at the pool is free of charge and one of our instructors will be with your child to assess where they are at with their swimming skills and then recommend a level to book.  You can then book classes online, at the pool with the deckhand or by calling our support office.

When making a booking online with Fulton Swim School you have agreed to an ongoing booking, which will continue to roll over until you provide notice of cancelling to us.

In order to cancel booking with us, please send an email to info@fultonswimschool.co.nz in the email please include

Child's First and Last Name

Final Lesson Date

Reason for cancelling

This must be done prior to the 28th of the month.  If this date is missed you will be charged for a full month of lessons. 

Once payment has been made and you decide to withdraw your child from swimming lessons there will be no refund or credit for the payment made. 

Fulton Swim School are proud to announce that we now offer online Gift Vouchers.  We also have physical gift vouchers available too which can be bought directly from our facilities. 

To buy an online voucher please choose the link for your desired location below:

Patumahoe https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/fsspatumahoe/gift-certificate

Puni https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/fsspuni/gift-certificate

Botany https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/fssbotany/gift-certificate

New Plymouth https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/fssnewplymouth/gift-certificate

Upper Hutt https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/fssupperhutt/gift-certificate

If you have received a voucher for Fulton Swim School, congratulations and we look forward to providing you with swim lessons.

Please contact our support office providing your name, gift voucher number if you have one and the amount provided for lessons. If you do not have a Fulton swim school account already, please follow this link  create account  and this will help us to process the voucher and add the voucher credit to your swim account.

To redeem a make up token you must use our FSS App or online Parent Portal.

To Redeem via App 

Login and check that the correct location is showing at the top of the screen.  If not, select "More" (bottom right) and "Switch locations" and then select the correct location where you swim. 

Select "Account"

Select the student's name

Click on "Makeups" then click "Use Token" on the token you wish to use (oldest tokens show at the top).

Classes in the student's level that have a space available that day will show as open.

Click the > on the right hand side of the class you wish to book.  Click "Use Token" to confirm.

If no classes show, there are no spaces available that day. Please be sure to change the calendar date (top right) to see what is available the following day.  Please note that you are only able to book makeup lessons up to two days in advance.

To Redeem via Parent Portal

Login and check that the correct Location is showing in the top right of screen.  If not, click on the location button (the first of the three buttons in the top right corner of screen) and then select the correct location where you swim.

Select "My Account"

Click on "Makeups" under the student's name then click "Use Makeup Token" on the token you wish to use (oldest tokens show at the top). 

Classes in the student's level that have a space available that day will show as open.

Click on the class you wish to book then select "Submit Request."  An E-mail confirmation will be sent to the E-mail address on your swim account.

If no classes show, there are no spaces available that day. Please be sure to change the calendar date (next to the "Choose a Makeup date:") to see what is available the following day.  Please note that you are only able to book makeup lessons up to two days in advance.

Tokens are not issued at the time of recording an absence. They will be issued onto your swim account after the class you are absent from is completed.  You will receive an email once token has been generated.

For any class that you are going to miss, you need to let us know via our FSS App or online parent portal PRIOR to the class starting to receive a token.

Login to your FSS account, select "Account".  Select the name of the student who is going to be absent.

Click on "Future absences" and follow the calendar prompts for the day you are absent. Your token will appear after the class has taken place.

Our make up tokens have a 3 month expiry. This allows plenty of time to redeem your token to make up your missed lesson. Tokens can only be redeemed for make up classes and not be used as credit for your standard booking.  You also must have an active booking in order to redeem make up token. 

Tokens cannot be transferred to another student, they must be redeemed by the student that has accumulated them. 

Tokens are only issued if you record your absence before the class begins. By doing this it opens a temporary space for someone else to redeem their token.

If you have recorded an absence for a class and cannot find the token, please contact our support office.

Make up lesson spaces are subject to availability. Unfortunately we cannot cater to everyone's schedule. Our schedule changes throughout the year and others are recording absences daily, so keep checking regularly.

Tokens can only be used whilst you have an active booking. Do you still have an active enrollment with us? If you have cancelled your lessons you will find you cannot book a make up class until you re-enroll. Your token will remain on your FSS account until expiry. 

If you have an active booking and your token is restricted please contact our support office.

Our teachers continually assess their student’s ability. Once a child has achieved a goal in 3 consecutive lessons, they will be marked off as having achieved that goal.

Once all goals have been achieved the child will be able to move up. All children progress at different levels, some levels they will move through quicker than others. They will be given their level ribbon and get to ring the achievement bell!

You will then need to find another class in the next level up.

If you need to change your swim day/time or your child has moved up a level you can make a transfer.

You can do this by logging into your swim account through the parent portal online or our FSS App.

Click on "Account" and select Enrollments. You will see your current enrollment and below this have the option to "Transfer Enrollment" click on this.

In the filters select the level you are looking for, you will be given class options for that level. Select the class you would like to move to and then click 'Submit Request' 

You will receive an email confirmation if the class is available and transfer successful.

If you select a class that says "waitlist" you will be added to the waitlist and contacted only when a space is available.

Please note that an additional lesson charge may be required if your chosen transfer day differs to your current booking and provides an extra lesson in current month.

Contact our support office if you require further assistance with a transfer.

Your monthly direct debit payment can vary each month. The payment is based on how many swim lessons you or your child have booked in for the month ahead. 

You can work this out by counting how many swim days there are each month, this will vary between 4-5 lessons and multiply this by cost per lesson to work out how much the next month's payment will be in advance.

When enrolling yourself or children into swim lessons, you will be required to provide a payment method of either a credit card or debit card at the checkout. 

Your card details will be saved to your swim account and deducted on the 1st of every month for the month in advance.

We do not accept cash or payment via internet banking.

You can find the cost of lessons on our website. Please select the LOCATIONS tab at top of our webpage, then select the pool location.  If you scroll down on this page you will find the cost per lesson for your designated site there.  Tip: It's right above the pink "SECURE YOUR SPACE" button.

If you would like your direct debit payments to stop, you need to send an email to info@fultonswimschool.co.nz before the 28th of the month with your cancellation reason requesting to cancel your swim booking for the following month.

If you miss the cancellation cut off time (28th of the month as stated in our terms and conditions) our direct debit will be set up to run the following month meaning you will be charged for lessons from the first of next month. We are not able to reverse the direct debit, so please ensure your cancellations are made before this date.

Once payment has been made and you then decide to withdraw your child from swimming lessons there will be no refund or credit for the payment made.

Fees for our swim programmes during the year are to be paid in advance by monthly Direct Debit from a nominated credit or debit card on the 1st of each of each month.

Payments are processed on the 1st month regardless of working days/weekend. Please ensure you have allowed for this payment by making sure there is enough money in your nominated account for up to 5 working days following your payment date. 

If Direct Debit fails a rejection fee of $20.00 will be added to the outstanding balance. The rejection fee is added immediately if the payment is unsuccessful after the second attempt.

Your credit or debit card information is saved securely in your online account.  You are able to update or change your credit or debit card yourself on the parent portal or FSS app.  You can also do so over the phone during our support office opening hours.

You can find the cost of lessons on our website. Please select the LOCATIONS tab at top of our webpage, then select the pool location.  If you scroll down on this page you will find the cost per lesson for your designated site there.  Tip: It's right above the pink "SECURE YOUR SPACE" button.

You are able to access your Statement on your Parent Portal (via our website) by following the below steps.  Login, select My Account, select Transaction History.  At the bottom of this section you are able to select either Generate Statement, to see your current balance and last payment details, or Generate Ledger, to see your charges and payments over a self selected period of time.

At FSS all of our teachers go through an extensive hiring and training process. They are all fantastic at teaching children how to swim and be safe in the water. If you have any specific requests regarding your teacher/s and class/es we will try to meet those needs. However we cannot control events that may occur in our teacher's lives that may require them to change their schedules occasionally.

It is impossible to determine how long a child will take to learn to swim. Some factors which will affect learning process are age, physical development of child, frequency of lessons, amount of exposure to water and parent style / approach to swimming.

Each child learns at his or her own pace. If you participate in weekly swimming lessons throughout the year this equates to approximately 20 hours of swimming tuition. That is not much time to learn the life skill of swimming. The more swimming the child does the better they will progress.