Certified? Qualified? Accredited? These terms are used quite a bit in the promotion of Pilates courses and classes. But how do you know what you are signing up for? Do your classes’ content adhere to strict, objective guidelines? Or are they self governed? When it comes to your health and well being it’s best not to take a gamble, so it’s imperative that you know who your instructors are answering to when they receive their accreditation.
The Australian Pilates industry has grown rapidly over the past decade. And so too has the amount of providers claiming to be certified, accredited or qualified. The responsibility used to lay with the client to determine who they should trust with their fitness. Luckily, as the industry has grown it has become recognised by government bodies and standards have been set in place to ensure providers don’t lead you astray.
Accredited training courses for providers adhere to strict national or state guidelines set by the government and are delivered by Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s). This is different from simple certification – which can given out by private training organisations and Pilates studios, some of which are not always monitored by or adhere to governmental standards.
It is a good idea to check your instructor’s qualifications. Are they properly trained? Did the training they receive adhere to strict guidelines? If their certification is accompanied by a course code and their certificates display the ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) logo then you’re off to a great start!
Here at Core Pilates we’ve maintained a strong connection with PilatesITC (Pilates International Training Centre). PilatesITC is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and was responsible for bringing standards to the Australian Pilates industry in May 2004. Today, the Training Centre provides accredited courses in the Pilates method, from a Certificate IV through to the Advanced Diploma level, which now articulates into a Bachelor of Sports Coaching and Exercise Science through the University of Canberra.
Our Director, Lisa Jackson, holds an Advanced Diploma in the Pilates Method and is a faculty member for the PilatesITC. Our instructor, Denitta Morris, holds a Diploma in Pilates Instruction and our instructor Cassie O’Grady, is completing her Diploma of Professional Pilates, both from PilatesITC. We take great pride in being properly accredited and love to know that we are offering our clients the best instruction possible because of our intensive and monitored training.