Privacy Policy

Little Fishes Swim Club (“Little Fishes”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information that we hold about swimmers, parents and guardians, prospective customers, teachers and other people who contact us.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we use it, how long we keep it and your rights.

For data protection purposes, Little Fishes Swim Club is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your information, please contact:

Little Fishes Swim Club
Email: debbie@littlefishesswimclub.co.uk
Telephone: 07805 309102

1. Information we collect

The information we collect depends on your relationship with Little Fishes.

Swimming enquiries and Find a Class

When you use our website to find a suitable class or make a swimming enquiry, we may collect:

• parent or guardian's name;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• child's first name;
• child's date of birth;
• child's age;
• current swimming ability;
• current swimming stage or level;
• preferred venues, days and lesson times;
• other information you choose to provide with your enquiry; and
• information about the progress and outcome of your enquiry.

We use this information to understand your child's swimming needs, identify potentially suitable classes, contact you about your enquiry and, where appropriate, offer a swimming place or waiting-list position.

The classes shown through Find a Class are suitable options rather than confirmed places. Little Fishes will confirm availability separately.

General enquiries

If you contact us through our website, by email, telephone or another method, we may collect your:

• name;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• enquiry type;
• message; and
• subsequent correspondence with us.

Current swimmers and families

If your child joins Little Fishes, we may need to keep additional information to administer their swimming lessons. This may include:

• parent or guardian details;
• child's name and date of birth;
• home address;
• contact details;
• attendance information;
• swimming ability, awards and progress information;
• lesson and venue information;
• payment and account records;
• relevant consents; and
• medical, health, disability or additional-needs information where this is genuinely necessary to help us provide lessons safely and appropriately.

We only seek health or medical information where it is relevant to the swimmer and our provision of swimming lessons.

Teach With Us enquiries

If you contact us about teaching or working with Little Fishes, we may collect:

• your name;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• town or area;
• swimming teaching qualifications;
• experience;
• availability;
• preferred areas or venues;
• areas of interest; and
• any other information you choose to provide.

Our initial website enquiry form does not ask you to upload certificates, DBS information or other documents.

2. Sensitive information and general enquiry boxes

Our website's general free-text enquiry boxes are not intended for detailed medical information or other particularly sensitive information.

Please don't include medical records, detailed health information or other sensitive personal information in these boxes unless it is genuinely necessary for your enquiry.

If your child is offered a place, we can collect information that we reasonably need to provide their lessons safely through the appropriate administrative process.

3. How we use your information

We may use personal information to:

• respond to enquiries;
• assess which swimming lessons may be suitable for a child;
• manage waiting lists;
• offer and administer swimming places;
• communicate about lessons, changes, closures and other important service information;
• maintain attendance and swimming records;
• administer payments and accounts;
• support swimmers' progression;
• take account of relevant medical, health or additional needs;
• manage teaching and recruitment enquiries;
• maintain appropriate business and financial records;
• protect the safety and security of swimmers, families, staff and our services; and
• meet our legal obligations.

4. Our legal basis for using personal information

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful reason for using personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may process information because:

• it is necessary to take steps at your request before providing swimming lessons or to manage our agreement with you;
• it is necessary for our legitimate interests in operating and administering Little Fishes, provided those interests do not override your rights;
• we need to comply with a legal obligation; or
• you have given consent where consent is required.

Where we need to process health or other special-category information, we will only do so where an appropriate additional legal condition applies.

5. Children's information

Little Fishes provides swimming lessons to babies and children, so we necessarily process some information about children.

Enquiries should be submitted by a parent, guardian or other responsible adult.

We only ask for information that is reasonably needed to assess suitable swimming options and administer our services.

We do not use children's personal information for advertising.

6. Marketing and service communications

We use contact details to respond to enquiries and communicate with customers about their swimming lessons and their relationship with Little Fishes.

This can include messages about:

• lesson arrangements;
• closures or timetable changes;
• payments;
• rebooking;
• waiting lists; and
• other information relevant to the swimming service being provided.

Little Fishes does not currently use details supplied through website enquiries to add people automatically to a general promotional email or SMS marketing list.

If we introduce optional marketing communications in future, we will provide an appropriate choice where required.

7. How we store and manage information

Website enquiries are stored within the secure administration area of our website.

A notification containing the enquiry information may also be sent to Little Fishes by email so that we can respond.

Information may subsequently be transferred to administrative records, spreadsheets or other systems used by Little Fishes to manage enquiries, waiting lists and swimming lessons.

In some circumstances, information may also be printed for practical administration. Paper records are stored appropriately and are securely destroyed when they are no longer required.

Access to personal information is limited to authorised Little Fishes staff who need it to carry out their role.

8. Who we share information with

We do not sell personal information.

We may use trusted service providers to help operate Little Fishes and our website. These may include providers of:

• website hosting;
• database and cloud storage;
• email delivery;
• IT and administrative systems; and
• other services needed to operate the business.

Our current website uses Lovable and related website infrastructure and database services, including Cloudflare and Supabase. Our website also uses Google Fonts.

These providers may process limited information on our behalf or as part of providing their services.

We may also disclose information where required by law, where necessary to protect someone's safety, or where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

9. International data transfers

Some of the technology providers we use may process or store information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, appropriate safeguards required by applicable data protection law will be used where required.

10. How long we keep information

We do not keep personal information for longer than we reasonably need it.

Our general approach is:

Swimming and website enquiries that do not result in a place:
Normally retained for up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact, unless there is a reason to keep the information for longer.

Waiting-list information:
Normally retained for up to 12 months, unless we remain in contact with the family or they ask us to continue holding their details.

Teach With Us enquiries that do not result in someone working with Little Fishes:
Normally retained for up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact, unless there is a reason or agreement to retain the information for longer.

Current swimmers:
Relevant records are retained while the swimmer attends Little Fishes.

Families who leave Little Fishes:
Ordinary customer information is generally retained for one further swimming term, unless there is a legal, financial, safeguarding or other legitimate reason to retain particular records for longer, or the family has asked us to retain their details because they intend to return.

Paper working records:
These are securely shredded when no longer required. Working paper records for allocated swimmers are generally retained for the relevant term where still needed.

Some records, particularly financial, legal or safeguarding records, may need to be retained for longer where required or justified.

The website does not currently delete enquiry records automatically, so Little Fishes manages retention as part of its administration.

11. Cookies and similar technology

Our website currently uses only technology necessary for the website to function securely.

This includes a security cookie used to help protect website forms.

The staff administration area also uses browser storage and a cookie to maintain staff login and administration preferences.

We do not currently use advertising cookies or third-party marketing trackers such as Meta Pixel.

We do not currently use Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity or similar visitor-tracking tools.

If this changes, we will update this policy and introduce cookie choices where required.

12. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.

Website information is transmitted using HTTPS encryption, and access to submitted enquiries through the website is restricted to authorised staff accounts.

No method of electronic storage or communication can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we aim to use appropriate safeguards for the nature of the information we hold.

13. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law may give you rights including the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate information;
• ask us to delete information in certain circumstances;
• ask us to restrict how information is used;
• object to certain uses of your information;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
• request transfer of certain information where applicable.

These rights are not absolute and may depend on the circumstances.

To make a request, contact debbie@littlefishesswimclub.co.uk.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

14. Other websites and social media

Our website may contain links to other websites or social-media services, including Facebook and Instagram.

Those services operate under their own privacy policies. Little Fishes is not responsible for how an external website handles information after you leave our website.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, particularly if our website, technology or administrative processes change.

The latest version will be published on this website with the date it was last updated.