How would you read this email from the swimming teacher?

[Overwhelmedandout]

DD (just turned 7, starting Y2) has moved into a new group at swimming and has a new teacher. DD’s not terrible - can swim a couple of lengths, etc.

She has always had issues with concentration. I have suspected for some time that she might have ADHD but her teachers, while commenting on her lack of concentration, seem to think that she’s too young to be able to draw an accurate conclusion.

This evening, completely out of the blue, I’ve had an email from the head of the swimming school, stating that:

“[Teacher] says that [DD] is very capable but because she lacks focus, and doesn’t always listen, she isn’t refining her technique, and her stroke can be quite messy.”

They want me to “speak to her to make sure she gets the most out of her swimming lessons” and moves into the next group after Christmas. I did, and she cried for an hour, and we have all gone to bed upset.

I figured that she must have been pretty naughty for them to send this kind of email. I’ve definitely never had one before, in years of lessons for the DC. Would you read this as “she’s causing chaos in the lesson / setting fire to the other kids” or “she’s daydreaming and isn’t improving her technique”? If it’s the former then fair enough, and she deserves a telling off. If it’s the latter… well, to be honest, I can’t get all upset about a Y2 child having a messy swimming stroke/ if she doesn’t move up a group in four months. But it must have been quite bad, surely - it would be insane to send me a random email telling me that a 7 year old’s swimming stroke is messy and I must tell her off for it?!

I would ring up the company, complain about the teacher and either switch to a different teacher and group/lesson or ask for a full refund. This is a peripatetic teacher overstepping their role.

I think it was a perfectly acceptable message that didn't imply that you should be giving your child a "telling off". It shows concern that your child may not be able to progress to the next level, so she should be encouraged to pay more attention.

If your child cried for an hour it is perhaps because the way you worded it sounded like she was being told off. Perhaps the teacher could reassure her that this was not the case.

Crikey. Really?
(by the way, Why do you say the teacher is peripatetic? Peripatetic means going from place to place to work.)

A swimming teacher is in the same category as a music teacher teaching instrumental lessons. Pool to pool, school to school, classes the parent pays for. I’m using the correct terminology.

@Summertimer Not a model I’m familiar with for swimming teachers (and I used to be one). They usually teach at one swimming pool or leisure centre. Occasionally they will teach across leisure centres in the same group and area but normally will have one main place of work.

Sounds like a swim teacher trying to do their job. Perhaps you should observe the lessons to give yourself a better idea of what's happening and how to help. Do you take your daughter to the pool regularly to practise?

Oh god op why would you do that. You suspect she’s adhd then decide it’s nautighness and give her such a telling off she’s in tears. This isn’t ok; that message was not telling you to have a right go at your kid. Apologise to her.

Interesting, most swimming lessons here aren’t organised like that.

Getting back to the original post. I don’t think a swimming teacher is ever the same thing as a primary school teacher. They paid by you to teach your child to swim and very much not to make judgments in the way a primary teacher might.

I have sat through a lot of swimming lessons… I think more broadly you can group the kids into

1. hyper focused - these kids are watching the teachers and watching the other kids swimming - they are ready to take their turn with no faffing with goggles/chat etc. There are not many of these!

2. kids that generally do their turn fine but prat about a bit while waiting - not necessarily disruptive but definitely not watching the others, do the odd handstand, often a bit of goggle faff, will sometimes do the wrong thing but generally focused enough to progress. Majority of kids seem to be in this bucket.

3. kids that are really hard work. Constantly under water, slapping floats about, splashing other kids and generally mucking about- often don’t have a clue what they’ve been asked to do without reminding, never ready to take their turn.

4. kids that are scared. Generally need lots of positive encouragement and a more gentle approach. It broke my heart one day to see a scared little girl get shouted at by the teacher. From the stands it was so obvious she was just scared but was being told off. I changed pool so my little one wouldn’t have that teacher.

As you move into club swimming you get more of the type 1 kids. The OP’s kid sounds like she is maybe at the more extreme end of type 2 but there are so many of them like that I’m surprised she’s had a personal email unless the teacher has spotted some potential she wants to develop more or the child is actually being more disruptive than expected.

@Summertimer I don’t really understand why a swimming teacher should teach without judgment . A good swimming instructor will be regularly assessing the progress of their students/pupils and feeding the information they are gathering into their lessons and in determining when a swimmer is ready to progress to the next stage. As has been mentioned in this thread some swim teaching programmes make the assessment available online for parents to see, and an end of term email is incorporated to provide feedback. Most parents want feedback and judgment is required to give this. @Bunnycat101 - this email might be part of the standard process for this swimming programme. Your observation does ring bells on my swimming teaching experience! A lot of people on this thread have suggested that the OP could try to get a bit more context around this email. A conversation with the swim school might have saved the poor child the upset. I would include in that conversation the OPs concerns about a possible neurological problem- that could enormously help both teacher and swimmer to make progress. Swimming teachers are no more mind readers than school teachers and have a shorter length of time to get to know their pupils- it’s unreasonable, unhelpful and potentially unkind to send children to learn something without letting their teachers know key information.