What is a typical swimming ability level for Year 4 children?

[CeleriacRoot]

DD9 (year 4) is starting school swimming lessons soon, having been going to lessons at a leisure centre since she started reception. I've been pondering what an average/ expected level of swimming ability is for this age group. What's typical? DD is pretty decent to my mind but by no means swimming club material.

There will of course be a whole range. Some might not have even been in the water. Three groups are likely: beginners, intermediate and more confident. The more confident ones probably know all the strokes and have good breathing but are not going to do much more than swim the width depending on layout of the pool. There is no expected level when they’re aged 8/9 and the focus will be on safety and technique.

Anything from 0 to swimming 200m+

It really is a complete range. My DD is the same age but a very slow learner as she's been in swimming lessons for years and has just earned her 10m award for front crawl and backstroke. So she can swim the width of the pool but isn't a strong swimmer. I help out with her swimming lessons at school and there is a total range from children who have never been in a pool before to those that are swimming club material.

My daughter is in year 4 and is in stage 6. They put her in the most confident of the three groups in her school swimming.

At DDs school there was a whole range from complete non swimmers, wouldn't even walk across the smaller v shallow pool, to a few very confident & competent who could do lengths in 3 strokes. This was consistent over 7 years i helped walk them there.
Normally at the start id say 1/3 non swimmers, half could do a bit but not a length and 1/6th competent.

Huge range. My year 5 daughter has spent the last year doing club swimming, racing galas - she is an excellent swimmer and not yet 10 years old. At her recent school swimming sessions in her year group only her and another girl were that sort of ability, most of the kids could swim a length, and some had never been swimming at all.

Being able to comfortably swim a width is usual for most kids that age I think, and many will be able to swim a length or two in one go.

Both DS have done the 10 week swimming block with school. Target is I believe is at least 25m by the end of primary school.

First lesson they assessed them all in the teaching pool (swim as much of length as they could unless they did the lessons at the pool in which case they didn't need assessment) amd split into 3 groups.

Non swimmers, and weak swimmers in the teaching pool.

The stronger swimmers could do at least a width but there was a lot of variation. From a width up to a club swimmer. They used the length of the pool but some were told to stop half way some of the time. They did a lot of stroke work using floats.

It’s likely to be a big range, swimming lessons aren’t particularly popular at DD’s school, so not many are competent swimmers and a number are non-swimmers. In DD’s year, also year 4, there’s DD and another one who both swim at the local swimming club, plenty of non swimmers, some in stage 3, and a couple stage 5/6.

My son was put in the top group (of 3 groups) and he can swim a couple of lengths in 2 strokes with side breathing in front crawl.

there was one child who wouldn't take his armbands off despite being able to stand up in the bit of the pool they were in.

there will be a range of complete non swimmers to ok swimmers.

Year 4 - DS was a club swimmer, and could swim a mile, he loved swimming and swam 3 times a week.
Year 4 - DD struggled to swim a length, and was not interested in swimming.

Thanks, this is informative! DD has her 400m certificate, so I guess is pretty typical for someone who has had a few years of lessons, but definitely nowhere near the level for a swimming club. She was a bit nervous about swimming in front of her classmates but I think it should be fine.

My eldest is year 5, by year 4 the whole class could swim multiple lengths in 3 strokes. I’m amazed there are kids in year 4 who can’t swim - my youngest year 2 and they can all swim at least a length.

Very few state primary schools have pools and swimming lessons, even at a local authority pool are expensive.
It would be very rare for kids this age to all be swimming this well.

You're amazed that not everyone can afford swimming lessons?
Even just going swimming as a family is ridiculously expensive.

My Y4 DC did school swimming last term. The top group of children were those who could already do 25m started in the shallow end. Most of the children started in the training/infant pool and some were terrified of the water so most of the lessons were playing games in the water. They did a bit of water safety and lifesaving too. The aim is just to have them all swimming 25m at the end of it. There was a group of children from the year above with them who hadn't managed to swim 25m the year before doing catch up lessons too. It's nothing to do with showing off your swimming skills or swimming clubs so your DD doesn't need to worry. My DD felt for the first few lessons they didn't even know if she could swim or not because it was just playing games in the shallow end.

At that age (going back a few years) we were encouraged to get badges for whatever metre it was but a chaotic pool with a PE teacher isn’t the best really. Some kids can’t swim or can swim well, others can swim well.