Planet Ice – Answers to Concerns
Skate Excellence
Why have Planet Ice changed their teaching programme from “Skate
UK” to “Skate Excellence”?
Planet Ice has decided to introduce Skate Excellence as it was felt a more
suitable Learn to Skate programme to achieve our aim of providing a robust
educational programme that would be fun. Feedback from our Skate UK
courses indicated that people didn’t enjoy the courses and felt they were
aimed more at developing figure skaters rather than teaching people the
fundamentals of ice skating.
What we are hoping to achieve through the introduction of Skate Excellence is
to provide a strong skating foundation for all participants who can then go on
to engage with the ice sport and skating disciplines of their choice.
Additionally the feedback we received under Skate UK skaters highlighted
that prescribed coach to student ratio was too high at 1 coach for every 16
skaters. Under Skate Excellence the maximum number of skaters per coach
is 12 which means that skaters taking part in Skate Excellence learn within a
smaller group, something which enables skaters to enjoy a better learning
experience.
Although Skate UK is the Learn to Skate programme designed and operated
by the National Ice Skating Association (NISA) a number of ice rinks don’t
utilise the NISA learn to skate programme.
Planet Ice and the Skate Excellence developers have spoken to NISA Chair
Hilary Selby and Coaching Director Richard Beamish and they have
confirmed that the Skate Excellence programme does not pose any threat to
the development of ice skaters as it is a programme designed to teach the
basics of skating as part of a pathways that feeds into the NISA development
structure.
It is also noteworthy that Sport England shortlisted Skate Excellence for a
Sports Technology Award earlier this year. This occurred as Skate
Excellence has a fully inclusive learning methodology and embraces teaching
people with a disability to skate unlike Skate UK which is considered
inaccessible to people with a disability due to its focus on developing
competitive figure skaters rather than trying to teach people the “life skill” of
ice skating.
What effect does it have on skaters who are privately taught now that
Planet Ice have changed from the “Skate UK” programme to “Skate
Excellence”?
There is no effect on skaters who are privately taught.
If a skater is taught the “Skate Excellence” programme how can they
progress when they have completed all 8 levels?
The skating pathway is set out below;
Red: People attending who don’t have any formal skating training and aren’t
on any pathway. Currently 70% of people in this category have not had an ice
skating lesson.
Blue: People who are learning the life skill of ice skating. These are skaters’
who aren’t currently skilled enough to compete in NISA competitions.
Programmes in this segment of the pathway are delivered at rink level either
though group lessons or personal tuition.
Green: This segment covers people who are skilled enough to compete or
have developed a high life skill level of skating and wish to transition into
competitive skating. This segment is delivered by NISA accredited coaches
aligned to the NISA’s performance pathway.
NB. Skaters may transition between the performance and development
phases throughout their career.
Once a skater has completed all 8 levels of Skate Excellence they should
then enrol in the NISA Skate UK Star programme if they wish to develop at a
competitive level. This is exactly the same as if a Skater had done Skate UK
Levels 1-8.
Why are you bringing the qualification level for patch ice down to Skate
Excellence Level 5; there has already been an increase in incidents.
Patch ice is the term used to describe time slots the rink makes available for
coaches to provide private tuition or for more advanced skaters to practice
their skills.
Previously there was no minimum standard for skaters to access “patch ice”
and a minimum standard has been introduced as a result of feedback from
the skaters and coaches. We are happy to increase this to a higher level if all
patch users, including coaches, are happy for us to do so.
Coaches contracts
Why has it been necessary to change the contract for the coaches?
After a recent review into the existing system, we have realised that we are
not operating a robust service for either coaches or the general public.
In the past we have operated a payment model that incorporated an ‘in kind’
system where coaches have been charged coaches a subsidised rental in
exchange for coaching our group lessons. On average coaches taught six
learn to skate classes as part payment towards their ice hire.
After reviewing our current system we have come to the conclusion that
changes needed to be made. The system has exposed coaches to issues
relating to tax and employment law, especially in case where they have failed
to declare the “in-kind” benefits to HMRC. Additionally it has meant that we
have had to utilise all coaches who rent ice from the organisation in the
delivery of our educational products, regardless of whether the coach wanted
to teach our products or was the best person to do so.
The changes we have made give full time coaches the opportunity to not only
utilise the Patch Ice we offer but also time available on public sessions. This is
a considerable increase in the amount of time they have with which to run
their business in an extremely profitable way provided they manage their time
effectively. There is also no requirement to deliver rink products unless the
coach chooses to.
For those coaches that do not operate a full time coaching business we are
happy to supply Ice Time by the hour to give them the freedom to choose the
hours that work and equally manage their part time business more effectively.
As with Professional Coaches there is also no requirement to deliver rink
products unless the coach chooses to.
Does the new contract mean coaches are worse off financially?
This is dependent on the coach and whether or not they choose to deliver
group lessons for the rink and how many hours a week they choose to work.
Previously the cost for a coach to hire the ice in Gosport was £122.00 plus an
obligation to deliver the rinks learn to skate courses “in-kind”. In Gosport most
coaches delivered 6 of these courses “in-kind” with each course being 30
minutes in duration.
From a financial perspective the “in-kind” value is calculated by taking the cost
a coach charges for a 15 minute lesson and then multiplying by the amount of
time required to deliver the rink courses. Based on the evidence available the
average coach in Gosport charges between £9 and £11 for a 1-to-1 private 15
minute lesson. Therefore the “in-kind” value was worth between £108 based
on a coach having to provide 3 hours of coaching “in-kind” at a value of £36
per hour (based on £9 for 15 minutes). This means that the coaches were in
reality previously paying £230 per week.
Going forward coaches can now pay to be able to use the rink to teach during
all public and patch sessions (63 hours 30 minutes per week) at a cost of
£250.00 per week or they can choose to pay on a sessional basis of £12.00
per hour.
Additionally each coach who offers their services to deliver rink products and
who fits the organisations needs will be paid £12.00 per 30 minutes coaching
as an independent contractor and as far as we are aware this is the highest
rate in the industry (GLL who operate rinks in London and the South of
England pay up to £12.73 per hour).
To give an example for the impact of the new contract if a coach previously
taught for 15 hours a week they could generate £540 teaching 1-to-1 private
lessons (at £9 per 15 minute lesson) but would have had to pay a rent of £122
and deliver six, 30 minute rink learn to skate lessons in-kind, which meant that
they would have earnt £418 in a week. Under the new system the coach
would still generate £540 teaching 1-to-1 private lessons (at £9 per 15 minute
lesson) but would have to pay £180 rent. However if they chose to teach six,
30 minute rink learn to skate lessons, as they do under the current system,
they would be paid £72.00 resulting in the coach earning £432. This means
that under the current system a coach teaching 15 hours would be £14 better
off.
The coaches rent has been put up therefore they are putting their prices
up; can you lower the rent so we can continue paying the same price for
private lessons?
The coaches are private businesses and are entitled to charge what they wish
however as demonstrated in the example above coaches may be better off
under the new system even if they continue to charge their existing rates.
The contract has meant we have already lost one coach, how many
more coaches will we lose?
It is a personal choice where a coach chooses to teach and we cannot control
which coaches choose to teach at Gosport Ice Rink. It should be noted that
the following coaches have all chosen to sign on a sessional basis; Julia
Parvin, Paul Crocker, Jodie O’Keefe, Lesley Liggett, Eron Green and Mrs
Hazel Goding.
How does a coach book their private training sessions?
There is an on-line booking system. Although it is rudimentary at the moment
it is being developed based on feedback we have received.
Patch Ice
Why do I now have to fill in a registration form to skate on patch ice?
This is so we can monitor who is using patch ice and have contact details of
who to contact in an emergency or if there is a problem with the ice.
If it is for my safety, what if I am a member of NISA? I am insured to
skate on patches.
It doesn’t matter if a patch user is a member of NISA as the registration isn’t
just for insurance purposes. Also as there is no public register of NISA
members or coaches it is not possible for the rink to easily verify NISA
membership.
In terms of NISA insurance all NISA members are provided with £5m free Civil
Liability insurance cover. This insurance policy covers members when they
are carrying out NISA authorised activities. These would typically include:
 Competing - Home or abroad
 Volunteering - At a NISA permitted/authorised event
 Representing NISA at an event - judging etc
Civil Liability does not cover accidents to the insured. It is a policy that covers
the insured as an individual should they become involved in an accident and
then find themselves subject to litigation.
All NISA members between the ages of 3 and 75 are provided with free
personal injury insurance. However, the cover on this policy is very limited
and covers only major injury1.
1
Source for information on NISA Insurance: http://iceskating.org.uk/index.cfm/membership-tests/
How are you going to keep my details from the above form safe?
Paper copies are kept at the rink with the information being uploaded to a
secure system. We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office
and adhere to the Data Protection Act.
Planet Ice
The Ice Rink is outdated and needs major improvements, are Planet Ice
doing anything to renovate the Rink?
There has been planned developed of the rink for the past few years but there
have been delays due to planning permission. These issues have now been
addressed and rink upgrades are due to commence in April 2016.
Why does Planet Ice not reinvest the money made for the Christmas
Show?
The Christmas show is not staged by Planet Ice but by an independent
community group.
What does Planet Ice do for the local community?
Every term we provide 3000 free skating vouchers to local schools to use as
rewards for pupils for good attendance. These vouchers enable the pupil and
a guest of their choice to skate for free at the rink.
We also prove a number of free learn to skate or learn to play ice hockey
courses throughout the year.
As a rink we often provide prizes for local community groups to utilize towards
raffles, completion prizes etc.
This year we have launched a Skating Stars programme where we have given
15 young people who have never skated before the chance to learn to skate
for free within a “Dancing on Ice” style national competition.
As employers we have introduced a robust apprenticeship programme in
partnership with a Tier 1 educational provider. It should be noted that we pay
our apprentices a rate above the national apprentice rate. We have also
partnered with the Shaw Trust to provide employment and training
opportunities to people with a disability.
Is anything being done to improve the catering/facilities for spectators?
There is a new menu being introduced over the next few weeks and we have
already started to invest in developing our catering staff. As part of the
refurbishment we will improve the experience for spectators and participants.