Thinking About a Career Change?

October 1, 2026

Are you a parent, looking to make a career change into something that works alongside your family life and leaves you feeling rewarded? Well then, we have the perfect job for you.

Turtle Tots are currently expanding and looking for new teachers to join our team across Ireland. And the best bit is that you don’t need to have any experience as a swim teacher to get started. We’ll train you up.

Why become a swim teacher with Turtle Tots?

A job that works around family life

We know that life changes when you have children and the traditional 9-5 job doesn’t always work when you have school runs, childcare, family commitments and little people who need you.

Our teachers typically work around 5-10 hours a week, with classes taking place during weekday mornings and at weekends. Midweek most of our classes start after school drop off times and finish before pick up time.

You’ll need to be available for one weekend day, alongside some midweek teaching, but the part-time nature of the role means it can work really well around family life. Although working a weekend day isn’t for everyone, for some parents, it can be a great way to earn some extra money alongside being at home with their children most of the time. For others, it could be the opportunity to step away from a stressful or unfulfilling career and build something new.

We also work to a school calendar so you’ll be off for Christmas, mid-terms and summer holidays. We teach 4, 10-week terms each year, which means you’ll be working 40 weeks each year all together. The other 12 weeks you’ll be off at times your little ones will be off creche or school too.

It’s genuinely rewarding

There aren’t many jobs where you get to see the difference you’re making every single week. As a Turtle Tots teacher, you’ll be welcoming babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers to the water, helping them to learn new skills, be safe in the water and become more confident in themselves, inside and outside the pool. You’ll also be helping parents to become more confident in handling their children in the water.

It’s an active, social and incredibly rewarding career and you get to spend your working day with little ones rather than sitting behind a desk.

You can earn a great wage

We pay our swim teachers €28.50 per hour as a starting rate. This makes us the top-paying baby & toddler swim school in the country, because we really value the time they put in. We also have a very clear progression path in terms of pay, meaning you have the opportunity to earn more.

That means even a relatively small number of hours each week can provide a useful additional income for your family. And if you’re looking for more hours, there can also be opportunities to take on additional classes.

You don’t need to be a qualified swim teacher

This is one of the biggest things we want parents to know. You don’t need previous swim-teaching experience and you don’t need to already hold a swim-teaching qualification. We’ll provide the training you need to become a Turtle Tots teacher, including the relevant swimming teacher and lifesaving/rescue training.

So if you’ve been thinking “I’d love to do something like that, but I don’t have the qualifications”, don’t let that put you off. We’re much more interested in finding the right people, and giving them the training and support they need to become great teachers.

Your experience as a parent counts

Although we want our teachers to have experience with children between the ages of 0-5, you don’t need to have worked with children professionally. We’re looking for people who are kind, playful, energetic, reliable and great with young children.

If you’ve spent the last few years raising your own babies and toddlers, you’ve already developed plenty of experience understanding kids, communicating with them and keeping them engaged. You also understand how daunting it can feel to bring your baby or toddler to a new class and how hard it can be to get out of the house in the early days.

That experience matters.

You don’t have to be a competitive swimmer or someone who has dreamed of becoming a swimming teacher since you were a child. You could simply be a mum who loves being around children, enjoys being active, and wants a job that feels meaningful.

So, what does a Turtle Tots swim teacher actually do?

As a Turtle Tots teacher, you’ll deliver swimming lessons for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Your role will include:

Teaching fun, engaging swimming lessons for babies, toddlers and young children, something we will train you on how to do
Helping children develop confidence and skills in the water
Recording swimmers’ attendance and achievements
Building positive relationships with the families in your classes
Communicating with parents and answering questions
Representing Turtle Tots in a warm and professional way
Creating a fun, supportive and encouraging environment for every child

Classes are generally held between 10am and 12pm midweek and between 9am and 5pm at weekends, depending on the venue and timetable, meaning it can work around your school drop-offs and pick-ups.

You will need to be able to work one weekend day alongside some midweek hours, have a full driving licence and your own car.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for parents who are:

Kind: You genuinely care about children and want them to feel safe and supported.
Playful: You aren’t afraid to sing, smile, get involved and have fun!
Energetic: Teaching swimming is active, and you’ll be in the pool getting involved with your swimmers.
Reliable: Our families see the same teachers week after week, so consistency matters.
Great communicators: You’ll be working closely with parents as well as their children.
Passionate about children: You don’t need to be a childcare professional, but experience with children aged 0-5, including your own children, is important.

And most importantly, you need to be someone who wants to make a difference.

What do you get in return?

As well as a €28.50 per hour starting wage, Turtle Tots teachers receive:

STA Baby & Toddler Swim Teacher qualification, in-water rescue, first aid and CPR qualification, child safeguarding qualification
Career development opportunities
Free Turtle Tots swimming lessons for your children
Discounted swim lessons for friends and family
Partner discounts
A supportive team environment
A job where you can genuinely see the impact you’re having

And, of course, the opportunity to become part of a team that’s passionate about helping babies and young children become happy and confident in the water.

Could this be your next career?

If this sounds like something you’d love, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re currently recruiting Baby & Toddler Swimming Teachers in locations across Ireland.

You don’t need to have all the qualifications. You just need to have the right attitude, a love of working with little ones and the willingness to learn.