A new school and a school that already teaches need the same steps. The difference is only which documents, photographs, and video you already have.
Can you open a school without an instructor
An ISSA sailing school is not accredited until it has an instructor who holds an ISSA certificate. That is a person who already teaches this association's courses, not someone who is only about to learn to be an instructor. Such an instructor can work at several schools at once. What the certificate gives the person is written on the Instructor training course page.
If the certificate is not there yet
Candidates can join an instructor training. How they enter is written on the page How to become an instructor apart from this one. What happens on the training itself is written on the Instructor training course page.
The second way is for people who already teach at this school and want to teach courses as an ISSA instructor. How that assessment runs for one person is written on the page Instructor assessment procedure apart from this one. If several people at this school need to be trained or assessed together, the price for the whole group is discussed separately. Options for the group are published on the page ISSA school accreditation at the association.
When the instructor is already there
When an instructor with an ISSA certificate is already there, the sailing school goes through a preliminary assessment. It is a short step before the school is registered in the association's account. The account is called ISSA Hub. The assessment is free and online: you send what the school is like, and from that they decide whether to go on to registration and to the inspection.
What to send for the assessment
For the preliminary assessment of a sailing school you send six groups. Each group below says what to send.
Who you are and how to reach you
Write how the school is set up: a company, a club, a sole proprietor, a self-employed instructor, a non-profit, or another form. Write who will be in touch, and that person's phone number.
What the law requires where you work
Write briefly which rules of the country or the city where the school works apply to your work, and how the school follows them. If a licence, a registration, or a permit is needed, write which ones. If the papers already exist, attach them.
Who will teach the courses
Write whether the instructor is marked in the ISSA Hub account as an Instructor. On the association's site that is the English word for instructor. Attach copies of certificates and other papers about training whose term has not ended.
How you keep people safe
Write how you keep people safe during the class, not only what sits in a folder. Write where you record it if someone is hurt, something breaks, or there was a dangerous situation, and what you do at once when that happens. If safety rules are already written, attach them.
What to show in photographs
Photographs are needed of how the school and the boats look now, not old pictures.
The school
- The office or the place where students are received, if there is one
- The classroom
- The place where the class is explained before you go out
Each training boat
- Life jackets
- A life raft, if one is used
- A first-aid kit and fire extinguishers
- Communications and teaching equipment
What to show on video
Video helps the inspection go faster afterwards. A few short clips are enough, each from one to three minutes. Professional filming is not needed, and you do not need to film the same shot again. Show the school, walk through the rooms, show the training boat, the talk about safety before you go out or part of that talk, and part of a practical session.
What this costs and where the inspection happens
If the preliminary assessment is passed and a positive review is received, the school is registered in ISSA Hub, and the association office sends the invoice for the first year. The ISSA school accreditation fee is 500 euros a year for the first five years, and the first inspection is included in this fee. What the school pays after those five years is written on the page ISSA school accreditation at the association.
An ISSA school inspection is set after the fee is paid.
By video call
- Several video calls.
- Better from the marina where classes happen or will happen, and with the instructor.
A visit
- The inspector comes to the school.
- The school pays the tickets and the lodging.
A request or a question
Next is a request or a question. Write two things: whether you are opening a new school or accrediting a school that already works, and whether you have an instructor with an ISSA certificate.