School won’t teach non-swimmers!

[Platypuslover]

I don’t think I’m unreasonable just considering how far I may need to take this. Year 6 now lost out on swimming lessons because school is useless head was suspended last year and never returned and this has been a pattern for her from previous school. Not sure why other than incompetence but the grapevine said possibly to do with money. So kids didn’t get swimming lesson as no one thought to arrange them once lock down was relaxed the pools reopened.

They waited until end of year to do 2 session to asses swimming. Told we’d get an email if she can’t swim and will have further session.

No email arrived and I called today. So then was told they don’t take non-swimmers only the children that are confident and can almost swim independently and we have to pay for our own swimming lesson.

So I am expected to pay for someone else’s kids to learn to swim with my very hard earned taxes amidst a cost of living crisis and us barely being able to afford basics and we can not afford the extortionate private lessons.

Bet the letter they said they’d send us to give details to book those lessons are with the same company they use to take them swimming now. This reeks of an extortion ring to me why else would you not take the children that need it most!

This is why, I ultimately think the lessons are good for DS's class. Its a life experience even if it doesn't teach them to swim.

In an ideal world all kids would get lessons funded or in school so they could do 25m. But from where things currently stand in terms of facilities, finances and teachers, I'm grateful that the class get this much - its not purely about learning to swim.

Especially when I see how much some parents almost suffocate their childrens' development of independence in doing things outside school gates. The opportunity to do something outside the school gates, however small, is valuable whatever it is.

There are clearly kids in DS's year who had never been in a swimming pool before. I'm not expecting them to learn to swim, but a few of them I certainly don't expect to otherwise have that experience in water.

Wow. This thread is sooooo wrong. The only take away here is, don't ask this question in AIBU, go for education board instead.

Swimming is part of the school curriculum and the ultimate goal is to help children be safe around water, even children from families that can't swim, are poor, or have issues organising stuff.
Yes, six lessons at school aren't enough to learn proper swimming from scratch, but it still has some value towards the goal of safety (getting out of the pool, even five meters reach can make the difference) and can be used as a base for learning more later.

I can imagine making the lessons elective for more advanced swimmers based on the initial assessment, but not excluding beginners.

I do think it wrong to exclude beginners.

However it's very unlikely they'd get enough experience or teaching to actually learn to swim - so sadly whatever happens they'd likely need more lessons.

I agree with this. When I was at school, my primary school had its own shitty unheated outdoor pool that we were forced in to bi-weekly and then we also went to a local council pool on the other weeks. I was in that primary school from year 3 to year 6 and we had swimming lessons every week during all 4 years.

I had no idea until the last few years that it wasn't provided to this level any more. It was only when my friend said she was getting her DC lessons and I said "when do they get lessons at school?" and she said they don't get so much.

My DH didn't have many lessons at school either, so it was obviously area dependent (we grew up in different parts of the UK), but I can imagine not realising it was something I should arrange for my own children.

I agree.
it is like we put reasons in morally acceptable and morally unacceptable.

whilst loads of things “shouldn’t” be the schools responsibility, I’m thankful we have the school to scoop up things that are important.
swimming, cooking, sex education, time telling, hygiene, finances (which has hopefully just been added).
Not all children have capable, engaged, parents and I want all children to have the basics to get on and thrive in life regardless of the reason parents haven’t been able to do it.

Most schools (who can even afford any lessons) pay for a term. That will not be sufficient to teach most children to swim. I don’t agree with it but that’s the reality.

Also I know several schools where pools haven’t reopened and/or they need to travel by coach. It’s absolutely not economical use of school funds to pay more on buses than the lessons.

I’m not even getting to your my taxes pay for comment.

Swimming should be removed from the national
curriculum and money spent elsewhere on schools

There are two parents in DS's class able to volunteer at all. The other has a younger child so she can't do it all the time. If I don't volunteer the school would be in a position where they would struggle to get the staff to facilitate the trip. That is ANOTHER issue in itself on this subject.

10 years ago, there were loads more stay at home parents locally - most of my friends are a bit older than me and are shocked at how its changed compared to when their kids were the same age.

Now, you'd struggle to get a small 3 bed semi if you didn't have two professional parents. It makes a HUGE difference. (And I suspect its also why there are a number of issues with a couple of children which impacts behaviour across the entire class - the school hasn't seen a class this bad before - and its noted for the lack of volunteers compared with others too).

I don't blame parents for this - its just the way lives have changed - but equally a it impacts on whole classes in a variety of unseen ways too.

I think volunteering, because I can, is the very least I can do. Its for DS's benefit mainly, but also helps everyone else too. I think in some ways, swimming is the last of those things that is protected which might involve needing those volunteers too - everything else gets axed before it.

Ours had to be coached. I sent some money in to contribute (wasn’t asked for), although I couldn’t afford lessons I could afford a small few pounds a week contribution.

after covid the school got a pop up pool and did a sort of boot camp for all the children. It seems to be quite a popular thing for schools now. It is a large outlay though.

I have spent £1000s on swimming over the years. I am under no illusion that it can be an expensive activity. Baby swimming was £17 a pop and council lessons are reasonable at £35 a month but for many that will be unaffordable.I don’t regret it as it fits with our lifestyle and I want my children to strong swimmers to enjoy holidays and water based activities. The need to swim is much less clear cut if you’re living in central London, don’t go away etc.

if swimming is on the national curriculum then I absolutely think the non-swimmers should be prioritised and the school is failing to deliver the curriculum if it just gives up on the weakest ones. The range in a year 6 class will be massive as likely some competitive swimmers alongside those who can’t swim at all.

Swimming is part of the National curriculum so I would imagine they do absolutely have to teach the non swimmers.

It’s not just schools it’s across the board on everything voluntary. There just isn’t the time which means more is asked of the few who can and do volunteer.
i’ve come to the same conclusion as you about house prices.

lots of schools don’t have PTAs anymore so children miss out on the summer fetes etc and children miss out on being part of a community.

id imagine the school are eternally grateful they have you in the class.

No offence OP but covid aside why did you not take your child swimming or for lessons way before year 6????

Council lessons are not expensive and many councils also run free lessons and sessions in school holidays. Swimming is a life skill and a vitally important one!

oh god. The toilet trips. When one goes they all want to go, just to have a look.

I have just had flashbacks of a zoo trip I helped on and trying to manage the “I want to see this, I want to see that” and “when are we going to the playground”.

A few school lessons aren't going to teach your child to swim though are they?
Your tax payer analogy is ridiculous too BTW

I can’t believe that any child is a non- swimmer by Year 6 . Why have your children been taught to swim before then OP?

oops missed out a NOT in my previous post.

The need to swim is much less clear cut if you’re living in central London, don’t go away etc

I really think this is an important point. WHERE you live and the type of contact kids have with water and where its most likely to pose the biggest danger is relevant here.

Learning to swim won't help if you go on ice and fall in or you go into a reservior in summer or if you go paddleboarding without a buoyancy aid or you are drunk and fall into a canal. That type of water safety really should be the ones that should be higher on radars than they are.

Why can't your child swim, have you not bothered to organise it?

Is this really necessary?

I think this is the sad reality. It's on the National Curriculum, but in my experience of lessons provided solely through school, they aren't enough to actually teach non-swimmer to swim. You would be well within your rights to complain about non-swimmers being excluded, that isn't allowed, they're not proving the full curriculum to all students. But in terms of any actual impact on their ability to swim, the school swimming lessons are likely to be minimal. At best, they save you the cost of 6 weeks or so of lessons a year, which isn't nothing. Your local council may provide subsidised lessons for certain groups, it's worth asking at your local library, as they usually have information about what local help us available. Other than that, write to your MP, the Government pledged to have all school children swimming by the time they left primary school, but they've fallen far short of that target (oh what a surprise!), because they haven't provided adequate funding for it, or time in the school curriculum.

Council lessons are not expensive and many councils also run free lessons and sessions in school holidays. Swimming is a life skill and a vitally important one!

They are expensive these days - and I've not known any council run free lessons in either we've live under with kids or ones our families live under with kids.

We're lucky here there were a few fun session (not lessons)with kids past level 4 swim levels in holiday which were free but they've gone last few years. I was told there used to be free music lesson in school/holidays but they stopped before we moved here.

The council here is very strapped for cash and many once free holiday activities do now charge.

Great points. Water safety is absolutely essential. The schools could teach this stuff without even the need for the pool, and just include some practical swimming sessions at the end.

They're very sold on 'differentiation' (an excuse for not including specialist classes for specific abilities) in other areas; I don't see why that can't apply here.

Like a lot of education policy, this hasn't fully been thought through.

How did you not think that swimming that should be done from earlier than school age?

@Bunnycat101 I agree with you that I don't see being able to swim is a must learn lifeskill. The chance to actually swim is pretty low in a lot of the UK. DH and I grew up overseas and it was very different. DH lived 5 minute walk to the beach and he remembered summers surfing with friends every day. I also learned really young and couldn't remember a time I couldn't swim. I never had lessons and was taught by my parents. We went almost every day to swim during holidays. Both my local pool and the school's pool are outdoor unheated so it was a lot cheaper to run. I remember walking to the pool from my house in swimwear. Neither DH and I swim well. We just can and no more. I think it's because neither of us were taught, other than get into the water and swim.

Whereas here in the UK, it's very easy to avoid any swimming opportunities. I used to take DCs when they were toddlers to the council pools and I remembered it was very expensive. It was also very busy and you need to prebook instead of just turning up. If it's not for us paying for DC swimming lessons, the children don't go swimming at all. Except for when on holidays in a water park. It's really not the same as when DH and I were young.

Shall we insert a reason here so you can judge if it reaches your moral bar?