to think school should not ban goggles from swimming lessons?

[DizzyMum]

My dd in Year 3 starts swimming lessons with her school next week. The note from the school states that they are not allowed to use swimming goggles but does not explain why. When my elder daughter was in Year 3 and had these goggle-less lessons her eyes used to water terribly and she was in pain.

AIBU to challenge the school about it this time around? Can anyone think why you wouldn't let them wear goggles?

*wouldnt

You can't do any of the strokes properly if you're afraid of putting your face in the water. I can't do front crawl at all because of this. Ds1 and ds2 are both much better swimmers than me because they learnt wearing goggles.

jamdonut - interesting re hearing and swimming. It is often found deaf students get on better as they don't have the "noise" of being told what they should feel by others but actually just feeling it for themselves.

prairieflower - interesting to say that "we all learnt" in the past without goggles...figure show that 20% of adult in the UK can't swim - that about 12 million. I can assure you the method of chucking people in the deep end is probably not the best way of doing things.....People expect amazing things to be learnt by children in their swim lessons today - with only half an hour each week. If they were learning a musical instrument you would expect them to practice inbetween lessons. How many of us can say honestly that we take our kids swimming regularly outside of swim lessons and the two week summer holiday? Its always great to hear friends marvel at how much swimming and how much progress kids make during their two week break. With so many adults being afraid taking their kids swimming is the last thing on their mind. But having fun in family swim sessions is a fantastic way of kids cementing what they are learning and discovering for themselves how their bodies act in water. As Einstein said "play is the highest form of research". As for your own swimming ability - think its great that you found swimming so easy. Many people I teach are short sighted and its the lack of sight that put them off learning. Googles have moved on a long way - prescription goggles are fantastic and many goggles have wide lense allowing great peripheral vision too.

I learned to swim as an adult - with goggles. In fact the instructor recommended them. It made it much easier for me to learn to put my face in the water, and meant I could swim comfortably without getting sore eyes. It would never occur to me to go to the pool without them tbh.

I can see the logic of getting the kids to do some sessions without goggles on (and wearing PJs/clothes) once they're more confident in the water and have mastered the basics, and moved on to learning lifesaving or practicing emergency situations. But for learning the strokes (except maybe backstroke) and swimming for fun or exercise, it seems very odd to not allow them.

I rarely see an adult swimmer without goggles, because it is simply more comfortable and convenient to wear them.

(and yes, I had to learn as an adult because I'd failed to learn at all in school swimming lessons - so it's certainly not the case that we all learnt without goggles as children!)

Ephiny - well done you for learning as an adult. Fab.

At our school we sign a disclaimer to say any injury incurred from dd wearing goggles will be our responsibility. See if your pool will do the same. We resisted goggles for years. But she enjoys it more now and is progressing faster now she wears them. It will be the pool not the school - too much litigation for them to worry about.

popsypie - most pools I have come across like kids wearing goggles when they are learning. Surprised its the pool that has this policy. Our school is following guidelines from their Local Eductation Authority (LEA). Sometimes frustrating as a teacher having to try and adjust goggles during lessons - you need a degree in "goggle adjustment" sometimes - but a small price to pay! Think it could be easily rectified by simply getting parents to take responsibilty. Job done, confusion over and most importantly choice for the children taking part. Its their swimming experience that is being affected.

DS is 4.9 and started swimming lessons a year ago. The pool strongly recommended goggles. In fact, when I joined the swim club to improve my own swimming, they told me to get them too.

OK, this is Australia - but so what? The important thing is that they learn to swim - they can accommodate having/ not having goggles at a later stage when they've got the basic skills.
DS doesn't wear them when we go in the pools in non-lesson time - but for lessons, they're a must.

I really wish I'd been introduced to goggles at school - I might have learnt to swim a lot earlier if I had (very chlorine-sensitive eyes).

we all managed years ago without goggles

Well I didn't . I nearly drowned in the ocean in 1970 so I guess you could say I was one of those who sank. No excessive reaction to chlorine, no fear of water, i was in water quite often (beach town with many outdoor pools). I've never been afraid of waves.

I don't even like (fresh non-soapy) shower water running down my eyes.

I was a fairly weak swimmer until I got hold of a pair of goggles as an adult. Finally I could do a crawl, dive, breaststroke, go swimming for fitness.

I hope they don't say that to us. Mine literally can't see what the teacher's doing without her prescription goggles.

I'm the same as you, lljkk - couldn't do the front crawl at all until last year when I joined this club and got the goggles. And swam like a duck most of the rest of the time.
Actually, I nearly drowned myself in the sea at Bognor as well - watched a boy do a perfect surface dive when I was about 7, tried to copy him, sank like a stone and swallowed an awful lot of English Channel! Hated going underwater from then on, although still loved waves and being in the water. Just not going under.

I now live in Australia. The kids start school swimming in pre primary which in western Australia is reception equivalent. They must wear goggles, it is compulsory. I also take the DCs swimming lessons every week and goggles are compulsory at these lessons too.

It is not until they get to a much higher swimming level when they are proficient in all swimming strokes- half of which I had never even been taught in the uk- that they practice swimming with no goggles. My Dd has just completed her school swimming for this year and she had to swim 200m wearing trainers, socks, trousers, a top and a zip up cardigan and NO goggles to simulate falling in the water by accident.

They have to learn a number of survival stokes and then they simulate with clothes and no goggles.

So YANBU, and I do not think there is any logical reason for saying no goggles!

It took me several months to get dd off the side of the pool and into the water, then many more months to get her to let go of the side and then to let go of me. She was swimming by about six but still very anxious and we achieved it by lots of holidays with pools and villas, etc., and one to one swimming lessons. She achieved her 100m badge about a year later. Not a natural swimmer and had to overcome her fears - not sure why she had them.

In year 3 a swimming teacher told all the children to take off their goggles and put their heads under and open their eyes. DD said she wouldn't, dd ended up in tears with one other girl who were shouted at to put their heads under and open their eyes and told not to be babies. DD has blephritis. It took about six months for her to feel happy again and to participate fully in swimming lessons. Not sure how that helped dd in any way. A formal complaint followed and the absolute bitch of a swimming teacher was replaced. The school was told that dd would not be attending any more lessons with that teacher and would not be sent to school until after the swimming lesson on swimming days. There was a new teacher by the next week.

Our school has sent out a similar note for the start of Y3 and as it's a private school that has lessons at another private school's pool I doubt their note has anything to do with LEA H&S...

DD has been going to swimming lessons since 4 and never worn goggles so I'm a wee bit at all those saying how can anyone learn to swim if they don't wear them. However I hate putting my face in the water (even with my prescription goggles) so I can see that for a nervous child they would be a comfort - and if your eyes are in any way sensitive it is horrible to put your head in the water, so YANBU in that respect.

However, at our 'meet the teacher' session last week the no-goggles rule was explained that the children spend too much time faffing with them/putting them on and off and they are a distraction when the teacher is trying to teach. Having witnessed DD's swimming lessons I can testify the truth of that one! So I can understand the school's POV and YABU (a bit).

Can you speak to the teacher (not 'challenge'!) and explain about the eye sensitivity? (although it's not clear from your OP if you take your DD swimming at the moment and know this for certain as it reads like you are basing the eye thing on your DD1's experiences - your other DD may not be as sensitive to the pool).

Sparrow, they're very hot on swimmers being able to do all 4 main strokes here, aren't they?! An expat friend of mine who lives up near Cairns, her DS was an excellent swimmer in everything but butterfly, which he'd never really taken to - he was school team standard in the others but put into a remedial class for butterfly, which he was a bit shocked about!

One of our local public pools used to ban goggles for swimming lessons on the grounds that children thought that without their "magic goggles" they couldn't swim. DS used to suffer a great deal from sore eyes so we took him to a private teacher who taught in her own pool and did allow goggles. Unfortunately it was true- he refused to swim anywhere without his goggles (he has AS so maybe that explains it!)

So lovecat, the needs of teacher put before that of the child. I teach, and yes, adjusting goggles can be time consuming but if over a third of pupils not learning to swim anything that can give them that first experience is surely worth it? Lots don't like putting faces in and spending time on this is very important. We do an awful lot with adults afraid and putting faces in with and without goggles is key. It may seem slow at first but speeds things up later. What is swimming after all? Is it being safe and calm in water or getting 5m anyway they can? If wearing goggles helps at the start surely outweighs any other reason.

I am biased as she is my amazing rl friend whose passion for what she does is inspiring