Parents helping in changing rooms at school swimming lesson.

[TattiePants]

DS is in yr 1 and his class have swimming lessons this year. Parents are invited to watch the lesson and are also encouraged to help out in the changing rooms before and after the lesson. In yr 1 this tends to be more ordering encouraging them to do it themselves than drying /dressing them but last year it was more 'hands-on'.

Actually when I say parents help out, what I really mean is mums. Due to pressure from other parents, the school only allow mums in the changing rooms, although dads can and do observe the lesson.

AIBU to think this is mad and out-dated. As a mum why am I less of a threat to 5 and 6 yr olds than DH? I understand that some dads may feel uncomfortable in this situation but surely they should have the choice. BTW there is always a teacher / TA in the changing room.

"Am I alone in being unhappy about disclosure of anything except convictions and I suppose pending cases?"

No Andrew I find it really bloody irritating as well. I actually hold a Standard Disclosure (needed for my job) but loads of places nowadays want an Enhanced. Indeed for a few jobs at my place of work you would need Enhanced not Standard and I can't get a clear one even though I was never convicted of any crime.

I used to take my Reception class swimming at a local pool when I taught that year group. We hired out the pool (it's a small one designed specifically for teaching). Parents didn't come with us but when we got to the pool the TA and I would help the children change along with the 3 swimming teachers (2 men and 1 lady). There was only one changing room so all children were together. Most of the time we were making sure their clothes were put away tidily to avoid losing anything and putting on swimming hats before the class then making sure they didn't slip over, drying their hair and finding lost shoes afterwards. The children could dry and dress themselves so really we were just supervising, not needing to touch them.
In the last lesson of each term there was always an open lesson after which all parents, dads and mums (and some grandparents and nannies and mannies) would all come in the changing room, help their child dress then take them home directly.
To my knowledge no parents complained about or questioned the arrangement.
The swimming teachers also got un the pool with the kids.

Tattiepants I agree with you, any parent should be able to help.

When my school did this the help was provided exclusively by teachers and PSAs. Overlapping classes and splitting the session for the youngest class made this possible.

I wouldn't want parents helping in this situation, the privacy of children with learning disabilities or chaotic home circumstances is at stake. You don't want gossip like 'You know x can't even..' or 'XX wasn't wearing/had filthy...' Most parents are lovely but not all.

Wow, surprised to see this pop up 2.5 years after I posed the question! Just to answer a few of the more recent posts:

• parent helpers / Mums were never in sole charge of the the children as all children used one communal changing area which had a class teacher / TA present at all times. There would never be an opportunity for inappropriate behaviour by any adult and if a child did disclose information to a parent, the teacher would be right there to hear it too.

• this only happens in YR & Y1, by yr 2 children were perfectly capable of dressing themselves. At that point, boys go in one changing room with the head teacher (male) and the girls in another with the class teacher (female)

• Some posters have very high expectations of what a whole class of young children can manage on their own. My DS had only just turned 4 when he started school (as had quite a few of his classmates) and whilst he could assist in getting himself dry and dressed, there is no way he could do it completely unaided and without direction

• With regard to posters who would prefer swimming lessons to wait until the children are older, thankfully the school disagrees. The children actually start swimming in nursery and the school places a big emphasis on water safety and being able to swim

• Some children aged 4-6 may be uncomfortable being undressed in front of a stranger but in the 2 years I helped out, I saw no evidence of this. Generally I found the boys in particular were more than happy to run around naked and actually needed encouragement to put their clothes on!

• As far as I am aware, the school operates the same policy now and has had no issues in the last few years.

They should be CRB checked if they do this

TattiePants I hate to disagree with you, but even in a room full of people, there is opportunity to indulge in inappropriate behaviour by the really determined ones. I've come across some sad cases where people have been abused in a room of people.

When ds went swimming there weren't any parent volunteers but a few did go in for medical reasons related to their child. Since they didn't help any other children they didn't need crb checks.

Fry unfortunately you are probably correct that it is possible if the mum is very determined but I guess the school weigh up the risks. On one hand there is the very unlikely risk of a mum behaving inappropriately in the changing rooms whilst surrounded by 15 children, a teacher and 3 or 4 other mums versus a child having a serious accident in water as they cannot swim.

It is also a small class and most of the parents know each other well and happily let their child go to another child's house to play which would create more of an opportunity for a parent to abuse another child.

I know nothing about CRB checks but lots of pp stated they were not necessary as a parent would never have sole responsibility for the class. As the school have numerous policies and procedures, I can't imagine that they haven't checked this out.

I am surprised by this whole scenario, at DSs school they swim from Reception, his class change together, but only teachers are there, no parents there or watching.