to not want to pay for other kids to learn to swim?

[tomdayleymum]

DS about to go into Year 3. Got a letter from school saying that from now til next July Year 3 will be going swimming and please can we have a voluntary contribution of £3.25 per week?

He can swim very well thanks to me paying for him to have private lessons. If other parents haven't bothered (or can't afford) to teach their kids to swim outside of school hours then fine, let the school teach 'em. But I don't want to pay for him to go in school hours when he could do with catching up on his reading instead.

AIBU?

"ReallyTired - could the two boys swim? I'm not quite getting the connection you're trying to make. "

Both boys can swim, infact ds' cousin swims at county level. The problem was that they were caught on a sandbank that was surrounded by mud flats. Even the most confident swimmers can drown. The mud was the problem rather than the sea. They stayed in their Kayaks until help came.

Being able to swim does not guarentee safety, however it does lessen the chances of drowning until help can come. I think that the fact that both ds and his cousin are competant swimmers meant that they didn't panic. Although their kayaks were stuck in the mud, the boys knew they would not drown if the tide came in before help arrived.

My point is that 11K to teach 90 children to swim is not that large a sum of money. The RNLI spent 2K rescuing two boys who had been silly.

Uhm... why would the TA stand on the side and bellow ineffectively?
What a mean-spirited opinion you have of the TA.
Perhaps your issue runs deeper than just the cost and time?

But surely if the good swimmers don't go it will be a bit shit for the struggling ones? I would happily pay this type of thing, it means everyone gets to go and do something, some who already know how and for some, an exciting new experience.

Don't be daft, BehindLock. The TA does not have a swimming qualification. Great at phonics and maths, though, so it would be a much better use of his time and skills if he remained at school working with the kids rather than bellowing by the poolside.

And DS couldn't give a monkeys about not going swimming with the class but, like I said, he can go if he wants to but without my voluntary contribution. We've just had a further email from school saying the cost is towards transport, and I'm not lining the pockets of the local coach company.

OP you sound utterly self obsessed and selfish.

" and I'm not lining the pockets of the local coach company. "

No, the coach company will still be paid. You are just sponging off the other parents who do pay their contribution.

At my son's school the TA assisted with getting the children changed and discipline problem. TAs can't teach swimming, but they can manage large groups of children who may not want to be there.

I'm coming in after only reading part of the thread, so apologies if I get it wrong as I haven't time to read it all.

How do you know the TA bellows ineffectively? Anyone who goes swimming with a class is poolside trained. They are there to help in the changing rooms, with discipline and also to alert the pool staff if they notice a child in difficulty.

I'm also a TA, who also has a basic swimming qualification. I got it so that I could help more nervous children in the water when taking the class swimming. A lot of support staff in schools get these sorts of qualifications independently, in order to be of more use within school.

TAs who have had the relevant ASA swimming training and hold their qualifications CAN teach swimming - and many do.

Tomdayleymum, how do you know that this TA does not hold an ASA qualification in swimming teaching? It would be relatively unusual - certainly in the county I work in - for a TA or teacher not to have done this training before teaching swimming.

It would be more worth your while asking whether the TA has had swimming training - which I believe is a requirement, for obvious health and safety reasons - and pushing your school to get them trained if not, than to just withhold money.

Perfectstorm- thank you for your kindness. Unfortunately ds has skin and asthma worse than his big sis and whilst he doesn't need to be wet wrapped so much now- his skin still flares by the hour depending on our location!
I am dreading the swimming lessons- if his skin /chest flares i will withdraw hi and if I hear the same reports of the instructors that I had with the girls- I will also withdraw him. All very sad really but his health has to come first- he is constantly itchy and on two different anti histamines plus inhalers everyday. Plod on.......

"TAs can't teach swimming"

My point exactly! However, DS's TA is expected to improve the swimming of those who are already competent.

DS is out swimming with his dad at the moment, having fun, getting exercise and improving his technique. That's the best use of any spare cash I have.

Thanks for all responses, you've helped me make up my mind and change it again!

Tomdaley's mum, again:

• A TA with the appropriate ASA qualification can teach swimming. The TA who works with me has the same level of qualification for teaching swimming as the professional instructor we hire from the pool.

• Do you know that the TA in question is not qualified? This is something you should raise with the school as everyone teaching swimming should have an ASA qualification or equivalent to the relevant level - Level 1 to work under the direction of a fully-qualified teacher (e.g. to work with a small group within that teacher's group), Level 2 to design and teach a series of lessons. The training is cheap...

DD1 is going into Y3 and they are starting swimming lessons soon at school. Quite looking forward to her doing it at school and NOT paying for private lessons any more! I presume they have groups with different levels of ability - I started swimming in Y4 at school and was a beginner but there were kids who could already swim and were in a different group.

"Line the pockets of the local coach company?"

Do you have personal issues with this particular company?

Thanks, teacher, I will check with school. I accompanied Yr 3 last term when a parent-helper dropped out. Afterwards I said "oooh, Mr TA, I didn't know you could teach swimming" to which he replied "I can't, I'm here for crowd control".

Of course, he could have been being droll but I asked one of the regular parent-helpers if swimming was always this chaotic and she replied "no - it's usually worse than this".

Right bunch of comedians they are at DS's school but the kids deserve better than what I saw during that one swimming "lesson".

Link to relevant ASA qualification here:
www.swimming.org/assets/uploads/library/ASA_NATIONAL_CURRICULUM_TRAINING_PROGRAMME_July_2011.pdf

In particular
"Who can attend?
The Certificate for Teaching School Swimming (Key stages 1 and 2) is open to any person working within a primary school swimming programme e.g. school teacher, classroom assistant, learning support staff, nursery nurse, qualified swimming teachers, parent, other helpers etc. In addition students involved in initial teacher training may also attend."

So I hold this qualification as a teacher (my TA actually holds a different 'swimming teacher' qualification), but a TA, even a parent, could equally well hold it and be qualified to teach swimming, whatever their other role in the school might be.

Whether he or she can or can not teach swimming is another issue, one you have to take up with the school. However, using the words 'bellowing ineffectively' shows your disregard for the TA. That is what I have a problem with.

Just say NO op if you dont want to pay the clue is in the vol contribution.

OP try home edding I suspect it would suit your family so much better.

I think you might have issues, Behind. Far from showing my disregard for the TA, who I have said is fab at helping the kids in the classroom, it is a very accurate description of his conduct at the poolside.

Are you a TA?

And thanks again, teacher, will take a look at your link.

No, no issues, just find the words bellowing ineffectively a bit negative. I certainly would not like to be described as 'bellowing ineffectively' because it would imply that I was shouting and not being listened to. Which is surely a bit useless at the best of times.

Anyway, am bowing out now, I hope you resolve your issues regarding swimming amicably with your school.

His swimming would only get even better with the school, why not let him go and pay for it?

I haven't read all this thread but as someone who hasnt paid for private lessons here are my reasons why I pay the school to teach them!

1. I'm a single mum and can't manage all three kids in the pool by myself.
2. Swimming lessons around here are very expensive and I simply can't afford it
3. The TA doesn't teach them a swimming instructor does!

I would love my children to have private lessons however I can't afford them. I can afford the £16 a term though that the school provides them at. Oh and yes I work and no I don't claim benefit/get shit for free

£3.25 is a bargain. YABU and completely wierd.

toptramp - if you're going to insult someone, make sure you can spell properly

I actually live near the area mentioned in the BBC article as having 91% of children able to swim and I would have really liked to have known how many of those children had private lessons....

Reason being is that I have picked up on this thread that swimming lessons in this area are far cheaper than other parts of the country - £3-£4 per lesson - plus there are a large number of swimming pools and in that particular area at least two schools have there OWN pool.

The other thing that jumped out was that 39% of those who could not swim had not been offered swimming lessons...

So the VAST MAJORITY had school swimming lessons which FAILED to teach them to swim

So school swimming lesson are expensive, remove large blocks of time from the timetable and potentially are not fit for purpose.

Yet, as parents, we have no formal way to question our schools and LA about how things can be changed or improved?