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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Open Day at PADI Bristol
PADI Pavilions
There is a recession! There is bad news everywhere! There is doom and gloom with every conversation.
How refreshing to see that PADI has opened up a wonderful, open, large, modern new office in Bristol, big enough to be the new EMEA centre, but also big enough for major expansion.
How refreshing to see that PADI are taking the industry seriously and taking huge steps to help the membership, and help the customers.
How refreshing to see new programs, new ideas and new media products. All designed to take our industry to new heights.
Plenty of room for expansion
Janet and I spent a wonderful day at PADI’s new offices in Bristol. I was very impressed by the building, the attitude of all of the staff and the positive comments made by all of the invited attendees.
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Planet Scuba Open Day
Planet Scuba
There will be a very special event at Planet Scuba and it would
be lovely if you could make it. Next month it will be
their 10th birthday, and I would like to invite you to
come and join the party.
The celebrations kicks off at 10.00am on
Saturday 29th June at the Planet Scuba
Dive Centre, Bishops Stortford, CM23 5NZ. (We are a mere five minutes drive from Stansted Airport and we benefit from ample free carparking.)
AUP (Hollis /Oceanic ), blue o two, Mares, Ocean Optics
Photography and Scubapro have all said they
will be attending, and they will be bringing a
selection of their latest shiny toys for you to play with.
I’ll be giving a talk about becoming a diving professional,
whilst David Jones will be discussing Plastic
Oceans.
Come along for the BBQ and bring your
significant other. Non-divers, family and small
people are also very welcome. (We have
arranged for a Bouncy Castle and Face Painter
to keep them entertained).
It will be great to see you! Please RSVP to Planet Scuba by Friday 21st June.
How to contact them;
Stephen Manton # 615783
Planet Scuba (S-35028)
PADI 5 Star Instructor Development & Rebreather Centre
Unit 2, The Links
Raynham Road
Bishops Stortford
Hertfordshire
CM23 5NZ
Tel: 01279 466011
Email: info@planetscuba.co.uk
Web: www.planetscuba.co
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PADI Rescue Course
Getting ready to “Save Lives”
We had a great weekend! I love teaching Rescue Coureses, they are always so very exciting, and full of energy. Also, I consider that this is the first course in the PADI system where we really start to think about the safety and wellbeing of the divers around us. It really is the first step of the exhilarating ladder to become a PADI professional and eventually a PADI Instructor.
Dave, Anthony, Nick and Nigel were all fantastic throughout the course, and all demonstrated how competant they were with every exercise.
Getting ready to surface unresponsive divers
It really shows how well they have been trained so far.
The course went very well from start to finish, and that was mainly due to the professionalism of the Divemaster Candidates that were helping with the course. So I would like to give my personal thanks to Tara, Chris and Simon who were fantasic.
Garry, the course instructor was his usual helpful, encouraging and tireless self.
A wonderful weekend! Thanks to everyone involved.
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PADI DM’s and PADI Instructors learn great teaching tips on EFR instructor course.
PADI Divemasters and PADI Instructors can learn a lot from the positive coaching techniques that are taught on the EFR Instructor course. I have used these same skills over the years to successfully teach Scuba Diving.
The EFR Instructor course is a fantastic course to teach. It is designed to teach First Aid in a manner that will give people the confidence to care. So that when someone collapses in the street, First Aiders will instantly approach and give help without hesitation.
All too often in the past, First Aid instructors have “tutted” and shaken their heads while their students have made mistakes on their first attempts to give CPR to a Mannequin
In fact not that long ago, when Mannequins had lights and alarms on them, the Mannequin itself was also letting the Student know that they weren’t doing very well! This all resulted in people taking one step backwards when confronted by a casualty, because they “knew” that they were not capable of offering First Aid.
Ironically, the people who did step forward were people who had NOT attended a First Aid course, but had watched TV programs where they saw that all you needed to do was blow and push somewhere, and the victim came bouncing back to life!
It's important to have fun while learning
Something needed to be done! The First Aid world pulled together and changed the way that First Aid skills were taught.
The modern instructors always give praise, always telling people they have done well, even when they are obviously getting things a bit muddled.
But….and here comes the magic! EFR Instructor courses show instructors how they can improve people without ever letting the student know that they were doing it wrong in the first place. Without ever letting them know that there was a better way of doing things!
The techniques are truly remarkable and effective. The EFR Instructor manual shows a couple of ways to conduct these “Positive Coaching” tips.
Over many years of teaching, I have discovered another couple of very powerful techniques designed to improve students, even though all I ever say to them is
“Well done, you’re doing great!”
These same techniques have been invaluable to me as an instructor over the years. I have always shown them to my Divemasters so that they can always help students improve in a very fun and positive manner.
Learning by having fun.
All learning has to be fun, All learning has to be stress free. Our EFR Instructor courses show people just how much fun teaching can be, and also shows how to adapt the teaching to Scuba Diving. PADI Divemasters and PADI Instructors can learn more than First Aid from an EFR Instructor course. It’s a great way to learn some of the techniques that are taught on our PADI Instructor Development Courses.
Posted in Steve's View, Teach People not Courses series, Uncategorized
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PADI Instructor Exam at Whittlesey
4 new PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors
David, Charlotte, John and Andy were all successful at the PADI Instructor Exam in Whittlesey. All scored maximum points and are all eager to start to teach scuba diving and pass on their enthusiasm to others.
Posted in PADI IDC, PADI Instructor Development, Uncategorized
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PADI DSD Leader
There is a question that I’ve been asked a couple of times recently. It’s:
“Do Instructors get certification recognition for DSD Leader?”
Actually up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know the answer myself. Which is why I thought I’d mention it here.
The answer is.. Yes they do! A DSD leader certification counts towards MSDT and Master Instructor. So if you’ve converted any DM’s recently, you could be closer to your next level than you think.
Posted in Steve's View, Uncategorized
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2 Books for Divers to read on holiday!
Hi All,
Tony Groom contacted me a couple of weeks ago. Tony is an author now, but in his past life, he was a very active Navy Diver. He sent me a copy of his books: “Diver” and “In2Deep” (I was very proud that he signed the books with a message)
Of course I was very pleased to receive the books, and was looking forward to reading them.
DIVER
I read Diver first. It was riveting! Tony’s life has been packed with adventure. He talks about life in the Navy, the team spirit and friends he made, the fear of battle in the Falklands, and the camaraderie while disposing of live bombs. He also talks of his life as a Sat diver. Despite the seriousness of the book, Janet often wondered why I kept laughing out loud. Tony certainly has a great writing style. I wrote and told him how much I liked his writing, he said that he used to get terrible English reports when he was at School!
IN2DEEP by Tony Groom
In2Deep is a very exciting thriller. Again it’s a page turner. The hero Nick Carter finds himself in trouble right from the start of the book. He is an ex-Navy Diver illegally pillaging a wreck in the Mediterranean, and then gets caught up in very nasty company; so nasty in fact that they are part of a Terrorist plot which could devastate Europe.
I wouldn’t normally mention Books on this Blog!! But being a diver, I found both of these books very entertaining and also educational. Tony explains fundamental diving laws very easily, and in a way that most instructors would be envious of.
You can buy the books from Amazon, but if you also want a personalised message from Tony, you can buy from www.deep-sea-diving.com
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Congratulations from PADI
PADI Congrtulations
PADI have sent me this certificate. It shows that I taught over 300 Instructor Level Certifications in 2010.
I really love my job, I really enjoy helping people to reach their dreams and to be the very best that they can be. I don’t do my job to get awards. But it’s really nice when it comes along! So many thanks to all my friends who have been so supportive, and especially to Janet, who works tirelessly developing our new materials.
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