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Original poster

Is primary school swimming compulsory?

11 replies

KennAdams · 15/09/2022 18:42

DS just gone in to Yr 4, has swimming this term and is flat out refusing to go. Having daily meltdowns about it. He is 8 and has additional needs.

School have said it's compulsory and whilst I would like him to go and give it a try I hate the thought of him becoming destressed and getting upset in front of his peers.

He does not like swimming pools, I think it's a fear of the bright lights and the noises echoing and so on.

He's fine in the bloody sea 😅

OP posts:

SpinningFloppa · 15/09/2022 18:49

No I had the opposite dd is autistic and school refused to take her.

ButterflyBitch · 15/09/2022 18:50

It is compulsory. It’s part of the curriculum. But if he has additional needs then they need to be making adjustments. Could he wear earplugs? I’m not sure what would help him be more comfortable but I wouldn’t like to think they’d force him to go if it’s truly distressing him.

Lazyladydaisy · 15/09/2022 18:51

I believe its considered to be part of the national curriculum that children should be able to swim 25m by the age of 11.
Having said that I'm sure there were children that didn't go swimming at our primary school...just don't send a swimming kit? They can't force him into the water!

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PollyEsther · 15/09/2022 18:51

It's compulsory, but I refused permission for DS3 to go and school didn't argue.

There wouldn't be a pool left if they'd have tried to take him

NoYouSirName · 15/09/2022 18:52

My dd is autistic and doesn’t go. It’s a reasonable adjustment.

liveforsummer · 15/09/2022 19:01

They might say it's compulsory but they can't really enforce it. Just say no and don't send the kit

Sirzy · 15/09/2022 19:04

My son didn’t go. He is autistic and can’t cope in swimming pools at best of times (I’m not surprised with the acoustics of them) and he wears a tight lycra suit that school couldn’t get on and off easily. We discussed it and agreed the time for him was much better spent working on his targets in school.

i take him to a hydrotherapy pool so he can get a grasp of basics

SpinningFloppa · 15/09/2022 20:35

My son missed his swimming lessons because of Covid his school have not done them again so I’m going to pay private so this “children must be able to swim by x age” clearly isn’t true

Cryingbutstilltrying · 15/09/2022 20:47

How do the kids get to the pool? Ours have a hired coach to take them which we pay for and have to give consent to go on. So just don’t give consent for him to go, and that’s that.

I would email stating the exact reasons you do not give consent for the swimming lessons, ideally quoting anything in his pupil profile /ehcp back at them. Also highlight that it would be dangerous for the other children as your child would be so distressed and need multiple adults who would not be able to assist the others. I found that to be the best way to get school to realise when they were being unreasonable (our issue wasn’t swimming, but another PE activity that pushed every one of ds buttons).

Yabbadabbadotime · 30/06/2023 12:28

Has he learned to swim at all?

If you could evidence him learning outside school (eg in a quieter private lesson, smaller pool etc) they would likely drop it if he's meeting the expectation.

ForestofBears · 30/06/2023 12:53

It’s compulsory in that it’s part of the national curriculum, but it is also compulsory in DC1’s secondary school and she didn’t do it because it distressed her to the point that she refused to attend school at all that day, so it was agreed that she wouldn’t have to do it because it was better that she miss swimming than miss the whole day. It should be possible to argue that your DS does not go swimming as a reasonable adjustment for his autism. I may well have this problem next year with DC2 who went to swimming lessons at the pool the school take them to for over a year but most weeks refused to get in the water for most of the lesson even with one to one support, but she doesn’t have a diagnosis of anything.

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