Words that feel familiar inside an aquatic business may be less clear to someone encountering them for the first time. In Welcome Workplaces, Sarah Scarce and the Welcoming Australia discussion brought that question into the practical work of inclusion.
The session connected language with lived experience, community relationships and the conditions people need to participate. Its closing invitation was deliberately manageable: look at an existing sign or brochure and consider what could make it easier to understand.
Look closely at familiar expressions
Scarce described difficulties interpreting language used in aquatic settings. Expressions that make sense to an experienced local audience can require much more explanation for someone translating them.
Her point was to think about how the meaning could be described more clearly. This opens a practical review of everyday communication: the words may be familiar to staff, but what does a person need to understand in order to use the service?
Learn from the people receiving
the message
The speakers recounted a training conversation in which people from refugee backgrounds shared their experiences with lifeguards. Familiar symbols and language could be interpreted differently. The examples were individual accounts, not rules about entire cultures. The important feature was who had the opportunity to explain the experience. The session presented direct participation as a way to hear perspectives that a facilitator could not fully reproduce on someone else’s behalf.
Make the exchange reciprocal
The Welcoming Australia contribution encouraged reciprocal relationships in inclusion training. Rather than treating one person’s culture as the only subject of examination, the discussion made space for people to share with each other. That approach connects communication with trust. It also moves the conversation closer to the real experience of using a facility: what people expect, which parts need explanation and what staff may be assuming is already understood.
Start with one useful change
Scarce’s final suggestion focused on reviewing a single piece of communication. That made the idea accessible to an operator without requiring a complete redesign before beginning. The session’s broader discussion also considered whether people, places and programs were ready to welcome new participants. Clearer language sits within that wider picture. It is one practical part of helping someone understand the environment and ask the questions that matter to them.
The starting point is curiosity about how communication is received. A small wording change can be a useful beginning when it comes from listening to the people who are expected to understand it.
A question to take back to your team
Our editorial reflection:
Which familiar phrase on your signs or in your enrolment information would be hardest to explain to a first-time visitor?
Explore the full conversation
Drawn from Welcome Workplaces at SPARK 2026.
Session credit: Sarah Scarce, Aqua English; session discussion with Welcoming Australia.
These ideas are paraphrased from the session.
Watch back and learn more by viewing through the SPARK Cvent App on your phone.
Media contact: Luke Daly
Chief Executive Officer, ASSA
Mob: +61 414 086 858
About the Australian Swim Schools Association
The Australian Swim Schools Association (ASSA) is the national body representing swim schools across Australia and New Zealand. Through professional development, industry events and its BOSS (Business of Swim Schools) community, ASSA backs the SwimSchoolers who run, manage and teach in the nation’s swim schools. It champions an industry that teaches people to swim and saves lives.
