Turtle Tots was founded by Gaby Lixton and Caroline Sparks when they opened their first swim school in Bristol, UK, teaching babies, toddler and children aged 3 to 4, to swim with their supportive and child-led swimming programme. They had recently become new parents themselves and were passionate about delivering something different in the pool. An experience that suited parents looking for a more child-centred approach, where teachers were more attuned to their little one’s development stage, each child was treated as an individual, and activities were adapted according to their needs.

The Turtle Tots philosophy is to ensure safety and water confidence, encouraging parents to fully utilise the benefits and enjoyment that can have swimming with their children – whether that is at our lessons, on holiday or trips to the pool. We also provide a great social environment for parents and toddlers, giving them the opportunity to meet other families and children, forging friendships for life.

Turtle Tots Bristol fast became one of the largest swim schools in the region and so, with their wealth of industry experience and corporate knowledge, they decided to launch Turtle Tots as a franchising company, giving other like-minded individuals the opportunity to run their own successful swim schools delivering the now award-winning Turtle Tots swim programme to new parents and their little ones in locations across the whole of the UK and Ireland.

Today, Turtle Tots teaches more than 14,000 babies, toddlers, and preschools to swim every week through a network of 50 family-owned Turtle Tots franchise businesses, hundreds of world-class, highly qualified teachers, and multiple pool locations in every region.