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Last week, one of my ladies asked me, “What does FCIMSPA Chartered mean?”
I started explaining the pathway - CPD, experience, progressing from Member to Advanced to Senior - and I could see her eyes glaze over. To her, it was just jargon. So I changed tack. I told her the F stands for Fellow. It means that I’ve been able to prove my CPD, training, and breadth of qualifications spanning my 25 years of teaching exercise to older adults. It shows that I’m equipped to support participants with complex needs and that I’ve demonstrated professional competence well beyond the standard membership requirements. She experiences this in class when I instinctively adapt the sessions to suit individuals who needed a different approach. Every week, the exercise conversation and focus shifts depending on who is in the room- falls awareness, osteoporosis‑friendly exercises, the right delivery for Parkinson’s or dementia - all while making sure no one is pushed to the point of discomfort. That’s where training, experience, and judgement matter. A few days later, I was chatting with someone I hadn’t seen for a while. I mentioned that I was now Chartered, and she asked why. I started explaining, but I realised, I was giving sound bites- not actually explaining why it is important for an exercise teacher in a church hall to be able to show and prove professional status at that highest level- after all, who needs to be as qualified as an architect when they are ‘just an exercise teacher’? My membership body is incorporated by Royal Charter, granted by the Monarch on the advice of the Privy Council. That means CIMSPA can award postnominals in the same way accountants, engineers, and surveyors use theirs. It formalises my role in the physical activity and exercise sector and recognises the depth of knowledge and skill required to work effectively and safely with people who have complex needs. In a constantly changing fitness and health environment, FCIMSPA Chartered shows that I understand the impact my classes have for my participants physical and mental wellbeing and that I’m committed to delivering a class to the highest professional standard. Most importantly, it reassures the people who walk through my door each week that I know what I’m doing, and they are in safe hands. A bean bag- a prop or piece of apparatus? Saturday morning task is refilling bean bags, because funnily enough, you can’t put a split-pea-filled bean bag in the washing machine. 7oz. That's not heavy. 💪 It is not that heavy until you start throwing it from hand to hand- the sound of snatching and grabbing- and then the quietness of the plop into the palm of the hand. Remember the game of 5 Stones? Add pronation and supination, and the bean bag lands on the back of the hand and then the palm. Try a gentle up and over arc, moving the feet- add in a sideways step - challenging the posture, balance and hand-eye coordination. Walk around the room, passing it from hand to hand- and then change directions. The eyes track its trajectory, and the body shifts to be in the right position to retrieve it, and when sitting, you can feel how the body shifts so that your hands are in the right place for the bean bag to land in the palm. Working with a partner, you must ensure a good ‘aim’ and easy passing so it lands in their hands and does not fly overhead. The feet are moving so the weight is shifting from foot to foot like a goalkeeper ready to move into position to save the goal. Now add music- let it fly and land in time to the music- feel the impetus and flight- anticipate and move. The skill of using the properties of apparatus - weight, texture, sound and shape - for outcomes and not as a prop.  Can I find you on Instagram?
It seems as if an exercise teacher can not exist without a social media account. Everyone wants proof of the pudding before they try a class. A perfect class, with everyone performing the perfect combination, beautifully dressed and prepared for the camera. How do I find your pay-per-view? Sorry, no card payment, just pop the money in the tin! Can I try online? Sorry- nope. Not enough room in our house to swing a cat let alone lay a mat down for the cat to lie on! Come to the hall and try it in person. Feel the atmosphere and sense of belonging, the companionship, and the sense of achievement. I will ‘teach’ you step by step, give teaching points, and pick the music according to the class. Do you have a video I can watch to see what it's all about? No, I don't, I do not have a film crew with an editing suite and a magic filter that gives everyone the perfect figure they want. Nor do we rehearse until we get it step perfect; it is living in our muscle memory, not a YouTube clip. My social media feed is flooded with classes for at-home reformer sessions without a reformer to demonstration classes with 3 instructors performing the same routine on a raised platform in a dance studio full to bursting. When watching these clips, I ignore the front rows and watch the participants at the back of the class; more often than not, they are a few steps behind and catch up just as the next movement is cued in. If you are looking for a class, do not assume it does not exist if it isn't online. Search your local halls as there is a world of opportunities, and there will be ‘something’ that ticks your boxes. We work with real bodies - lumps and bumps, shoulders and hips, not a showcase for likes and shares. (By the way- I do not have a cat!) To quote Laura Higgins FCG “A Chair once said to me, "I had no idea a Company Secretary could make this much difference.”
My pathway into governance was by happenstance. As a voluntary company secretary I was mentored by some excellent chairs, and I was fortunate to have excellent training at the Institute of Directors. In addition, the ICSA (now the The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland) Certificate in Charity Management at London South Bank University provided a really good grounding in everything from charity and company finance and law and ‘scanning the horizon’. My greatest achievement was, as a non-accountant, under exam conditions, creating a set of accounts from a 2-page ‘story’. I learned that you do not need a financial brain to understand the accounts- you just need to understand where, why and how the money flows. Company Secretaries are listed at Companies House as officers, making them as important as the Chair and Treasurer, but the role became optional under the Companies Act 2006, and their importance diminished. Anyone can do that- or can they? The skill lies in managing the meeting itself. Getting everyone at the table. The continual meeting cycle of creating an agenda, sending out the minutes, following up on actions and starting all over again. You get into a rhythm, and there is a process. The agenda is the building block of a meeting; the minutes show how, when, and by whom decisions are made and as a legal record, require accuracy and attention to detail. I took the time to understand why people disagree, to see it from their perspective, because good Board members do not try to be awkward on purpose. We then come to implementing the decisions. As a teacher, who these decisions will impact I ask myself 4 simple questions: How will it land? Will everyone understand? Will they know why? How do we make sure the message trickles down without dilution or contamination? In a nutshell: does the person writing the advice know how it will affect the person receiving it? How does this make me a better trustee? The chair knows what needs to be done and included, but it is the secretary who weaves it into an agenda so everyone can participate. I have been told that I ask the questions no one else asks- that is because I am reading between the lines always mindful of how the process will impact the person working with it rather than administering it. Being a Trustee is more than being at the table. It is really about listening, working through the information, and asking questions, and answering emails. The skills I developed as Company Secretary have given me the understanding of how the meeting process works and the bravery to ask questions. My chairing experiences taught me how to draw out questions, create a decision-making pathway, and give ownership. Governance is intriguing—it can be exhausting, meticulous, and rewarding- and when you see people exercising you know that all of the meetings you attended and bits of paper you generated along the way were worth the effort! Proud to be Chartered! It’s Chartered Week celebrating Chartered practice and the people, organisations and registrations that are raising standards of competence and ethics across society today. This year’s theme is Celebrating Trusted Professionals. It’s a great opportunity to recognise the Chartered heroes whose work and commitment help to strengthen public confidence in their sector. I am very proud to be a Chartered Senior Practitioner
We can not be everything to everyone- not everyone likes the gym and the sight of all those machines is just too scary. And the music and the smell...and the right shoes and clothes?
What if I have a bad heart? I have a torn rotator cuff? I tried it and didn't like it. But, for older bodies weight training is essential. This article explains why getting the muscles growing is essential. There is a huge difference between what is available in a clinical trial with a researcher and what is available at the local gym, and what can be realistically achieved at home, but we can all suggest and remind our participants to do their exercises, and we can incorporate some of them into our classes, when suitable. I do not have leg presses in my bag- not sure they would fit in the boot of the car- but if and when you are offered training- take it up! Full Circle…and back again! We all sit and reflect on things we have done, paths we have created for ourselves and others. Sometimes you start something and pass it on, and sit back with pleasure and joy as you watch it grow and take a life of its own. This weekend, the Sport and Recreation Alliance celebrated the launch of Let's Dance 2026, and I quietly acknowledged that it has taken 10 years for that dream to come full circle. In 2016, I attended the APPG Sport meeting when Dame Tracey Crouch spoke about the new Sport England strategy. I was privileged to ask the first question - about the value of dance within physical activity. Determined to create the evidence needed to show that Movement and Dance was not the decoration on the top, 7 years later, in 2023, we launched the Movement and Dance report at Westminster. Now, in 2026, return to the church hall floor with Let’s Dance led by Angela Rippon. However, this year Angela is bringing another 25-year dream to life- that dance will be embraced within hospitals to work with patients and staff in every section of the hospital alongside the physiotherapy team. Last year, I shared my experiences with her and Alan Naismith. This is another full circle, because my initial qualification was created for those who worked alongside physiotherapists in hospitals and care homes, delivering exercise as rehab and prehab for older adults. Everyone, wherever they live, should have access to high-quality movement and dance led by qualified teachers, instructors and practitioners. This March, let’s celebrate the value and the joy of getting fit through dance and movement to music. Tracy Levy, (FCIMSPA Chartered). Fellow Chartered Senior Practitioner What does this mean?24/12/2025
What is it and why did I do it? How can I explain the Chartered process? CIMSPA, the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, is the professional development body for the UK’s sport and physical activity sector workforce. To stand confidently alongside doctors, teachers and health professionals, we need to demonstrate the same rigour, standards and governance. Professional status gives us that common language of credibility and it allows us to collaborate on equal terms. As an elected Trustee at CIMSPA, I witnessed the creation of Professional Status. I can see that the purpose of the process is fundamentally based on practitioners’ need and desire for recognition in a sector where we are often just considered ‘an exercise teacher’ or ‘coach’. Professional Status does what it says on the tin- it shows that we are professional practitioners, progressing via both CPD and experience from being newly qualified through advanced to senior levels. Chartered Status CIMSPA is the only professional body in the UK that provides chartered status for the sport and physical sector. (CLICK HERE). Chartered status is a mark of distinction awarded to those who meet the sector standards with qualifications and experience that underpin their multiple areas of expertise and outstanding competencies. A Chartered member will have demonstrated true excellence, innovation and impact within their field, delivering excellent outcomes for clients while also creating a significantly positive impact on the sector. Individuals can only be issued with a level of Chartered status upon completion of the Chartered assessment process. Chartered Senior Practitioner is the highest level of professional status available. It shows that you are delivering an outstanding, specialised service to your clients and are leading the way in influencing positive change in the sector. The Chartered process involves several key steps:
How did the assessment ‘work’? There are three units, each with 3 criteria, taken over a period of 6 months and provides the opportunity and time to pause and critically reflect every aspect of teaching, delivery and professional practice. Candidates are assessed by a senior sector specialist assessor via a presentation or professional discussion. After the presentation the assessor asks questions, dives deeper into your thought and delivery processes and questions your intentions and outcomes. Unit 1: planning exercise programs and planning for change. I had to demonstrate how I professionally design and plan my two distinctly different classes, for different audiences and different scopes of practice. I had to justify my approach, how it has evolved and reflect and evaluate how it has impacted my delivery and explain why I discounted other approaches. Unit 2: Highlighting my impact- the opportunity to critically reflect on my professional practice and to evidence the significant and sustained impact I have on my clients. Building on Unit 1, I had to go deeper into my professional delivery methods, explaining how I assess participants' readiness to exercise and how I monitor their well-being. I showed how I professionally plan and deliver participant-centred classes that are fit for purpose, and the impact my practice has on participants, especially those who, for many reasons (health, medical conditions, etc.), might not otherwise take part in any other physical activity and show the value of my classes beyond physical exercise. Unit 3: Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Lifelong Learning. I was required to evidence, evaluate, and reflect on the last 5 years of CPD; however, with records going back 10 years, I could show how my CPD informs my practice and my participants' exercise experience. The presentations were recorded and sent, along with the evidence, for internal verification and then to the Board for approval. At the end of the process, having successfully passed all 3 Units (9 criteria), I was awarded Chartered Fellow Status as a Senior Practitioner (FCIMSPA Chartered), the highest professional status awarded by CIMSPA. The outcome? Why all the effort? How does being awarded the title of Fellow and Chartered Status make me feel? I am just a local teacher. Why do I need to do all of this? Professional status is becoming more important and my badge of achievement - Fellow Senior Practitioner - demonstrates my level of training, CPD and lifelong learning. The Chartered process shows that I completed the CIMSPA Senior Chartered Practitioner assessment process, demonstrating my extensive experience and sustained positive impact on the sport and physical activity sector. My practice withstands the rigour of professional assessment, enquiry, and analysis, and my investment in CPD and lifelong learning enables me to be the best teacher I can be, and benchmark myself alongside other professionals within the sector. Being accepted and passing was not a rite of passage; it was something I thought was for those who own and run gyms and work in rehab clinics, had published papers and created exercise brands. Through a thorough and comprehensive deep dive into 25 years of teaching, professional practice, and CPD I feel as if I have passed the final dissertation at the end of a 25-year Master’s degree. Everything I have done and experienced has brought me to this point. It is not as an add-on or nice thing to have- it is the pinnacle of my teaching career.  Getting ready for Christmas season, the 12 classes before Christmas! May the days leading up to Christmas sparkle and shine, and may all your wishes and dreams come true. Class planning. The eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Armistice Day, the end to the First World War when we remember all those who gave their lives in service to their country since 1914. My alarm was set for 10.50 my music was ready to 'wind down'. I connected my phone to my speaker, and at 10.59 we will sat or stood, heads bowed, as silence descended, a silence like no other. In the 25 years I have been teaching every class has a connection to November 11th, from code breakers to the land army, parents, brothers and sisters, great uncles and great nephews, nieces, grand parents. “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them,” (Laurence Binyon)  |
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