Our Story
In 2005 the Fulton Swim School Story began. Fresh out of school Daniel Fulton knew he could make a difference by teaching children the life skill of swimming and how to be safe in an aquatic environment.
What started off as a summer job, in his old cold outdoor primary school pool, quickly turned into a success with local families jumping at the opportunity. With the lack of facilities in the Franklin Area and not a dollar to his name, Daniel came up with a scheme to create an indoor heated swimming facility at the very school that started off his love of the water - Puni Primary School
After the summer season was over Daniel canvased local businesses to see if they could contribute to aid in building a shed over the existing pool. The local community quickly rallied behind the initiative and by the next summer we had over 100 local businesses contributing to bring Puni and the Franklin Community an indoor heated facility.
By 2006 we were in full swing, and had quickly established ourselves as a leading swimming lesson provider in the area. Within 2 years we were over subscribed with a waiting list long enough to expand to the nearby Patumahoe School. At the time this was also an outdoor cold swimming pool but with a relatively successful two years in business Daniel decided to head to the bank and get a bank loan to convert the next swimming pool into a year round facility.
After a couple of knock backs from the bank and withdrawing his life savings/ business savings out on the spot he then marched down the road to a bank that could help him reach his dream.
Fast forward a few years, the swim schools based in Puni and Patumahoe were a hive of activity and something to this day Daniel is incredibly proud of. 2015 saw Daniel try his luck in Upper Hutt, to see if the Fulton method was just a local fluke or something we could share with the rest of the country. This gamble proved to be a great success and in 2018 they spread their wings further to include a New Plymouth and Botany facility as well as a new central office complex. 2023 saw the most recent pool to join our fold at Papamoa, to bring the total number of locations to 6.
From humble beginnings of the cold outdoor pool to having a dedicated team of passionate swimming professionals spread throughout the North Island continuing to aim to keep our children (and adults) enjoying, and being safe in the water. We look forward to welcoming you into the life changing world of learning to swim and becoming a part of the Fulton Swim School family.
Our Philosophy
Our aim is to teach every child in New Zealand the life skill of swimming and how to be safe in an aquatic environment.
At Fulton’s we have found that positive swimming experiences bring a lot of pleasure to our learners. Therefore we have designed our programmes to make the experience as enjoyable as possible without compromising the standards. The content of our courses encourages safety, improvement and confidence among students in water activities. Small teaching classes (maximum of 5 excluding Infants, Legends and Squads), and a specifically designed programme are used to ensure children are constantly progressing.
Why FSS?
We love teaching swimming and this is at the forefront of what we strive to spend most of our efforts on here at Fulton Swim School.
By having an incredibly dedicated team of professional teachers sharing their knowledge of the life skill of swimming, we have tailored a structured program to ensure your child is continually progressing throughout their time with us.
From 3 months of age through to adults we have a class to suit your needs. All of our teachers hold Swimming New Zealand accreditation as well as winning several NZSCTA awards for teaching. We take pride in our teachers and invest in their continued development as swimming education providers. Over the years our reputation as one of the best swimming schools around has grown along with our desire to offer the best service we can for our students.
What's important to us
Focus on the importance of year round swimming
Our program runs throughout the year (including school holidays) as we see swimming as the life skill that it is and reinforcing skills throughout the year is the key to continual and regular progression. With running this way we effectively allow you to book in at any stage of the year and pull out at any stage therefore creating that flexibility we all need in this day and age, so you are not locked in for a term of lessons. By running throughout the year we are also able to retain key teaching/ staff members which aims to ensure you are gaining the best possible skilled members of staff all the time.
Our facilities
All our pools are heated to a consistent 32 degrees, ensuring all swimmers, children and adults alike are always warm and comfortable. We avoid using harsh chemicals allowing parents and swimmers to know they are not dealing with the harsh chemicals often used at larger public facilities and swim schools.
Low class ratios
Our facilities are solely used for learn to swim lessons, so you can be sure your child will have less distractions At Fulton Swim School we ensure our class sizes remain small. All our learn to swim classes have an optimum of 4 and a maximum of 5 students to 1 teacher. 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.
Payment explanation
Direct Debit is also our only means of payment, which means our resources are used where they should be, which aides both staff members and customers to ensure your child is getting the most out of their lessons. We prefer not to be chasing payments and being debt collectors which is why this is our only form of payment.
Importance of the relationship between teacher, student and parents
At Fulton Swim School we have set aside 5 minutes after every swimming lesson for your teacher to be able to connect and engage with you as the parent about your child’s progress and so forth. So please feel free to come up and have a chat.
Centralised support centre for all facilities
Recently we have created an office space offsite which is solely dedicated to helping you contact us more efficiently and ensure your queries are answered promptly via email and phone. This frees up our staff to spend more time in and around the pool where its most beneficial. We also have a Team Leader/ Deck Supervisor available onsite to aid you on your visit daily so feel free to chat to them about the progress of your child also and if you have any concerns. Our website and customer app also aids you with your Fulton experience by ensuring you can book classes, view timetables, update details, and see your child's progress 24/7.
Importance of progression and celebrating achievements
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 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 as 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.
We welcome you to the Fulton Swim School family and please if you have any questions come and chat to us at the pool or call us and we can help you get the best out of your learn to swim experience.
Let's dive into lessons!
