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!

Why is it someone else’s responsibility to do anything for children?

because it’s good for society to ensure all children do the best they can regardless of backgrounds and how effective their parents are.

take cooking, not every parent can cook. Therefore not all parents can teach their children to cook nutritional meals from scratch. Mine couldn’t swim, but they could smash making dinner from about 7.

it’s better (and cheaper) to support all children in basics. The cost to society of not doing that is huge, especially when those children go on to be parents.

The thing is, just because your circumstances don't allow for these activities right now - who's to say what is in the future?

shall We post the multitude of reasons so you can dissect and judge them on your moral bar and see if they meet approval or disproval?

does it matter why? It’s deemed important enough for ALL children to have swimming lessons on the national curriculum. So all children should have that opportunity regardless of the parental situation

Have you read my message?

The underlying point is that swimming is not essential to these activities. Helpful yes. But not essential.

And the life saving thing is the water safety knowledge not the swimming.

DH wouldn't use swimming to save a life if he could help it.

The apparently well-educated MN demographic once again struggles to understand that not everyone is like them. That some families struggle and it’s the kids that end up losing out.

All kids should be able to swim because their toddler was doing lengths at 18m and they got the best-parent gold medal.

Of course I read your message! I wouldn't have quoted it otherwise?

As a non-swimmer, I would be far too afraid to do any of those activities, so I never have. I would say it's more than helpful to be able to swim, and to have the confidence to know that, should something go tits up, you have the ability to save yourself!

I would live off toast if I had to to ensure my child had swim lessons. I had to be dragged from the water and given mouth to mouth as a child, as my parents didn't teach me and the school lessons weren't focused on a small group. I NEVER want my child to be in that situation. I've been scared of pools and open water since. Never set foot in it until my child was born and I decided to start taking her to a swim class at 4 months to get her used to water. As a single parent and unemployed at the time, it cost far more than I could really afford, but it is a life skill. I'd far rather know I'd done my best to ensure she has a good chance in that situation and cut back elsewhere. I'll now be starting lessons myself shortly because I still can't swim. If I could have changed anything about my childhood, it would be not being taught how to swim.

School swimming is important as an access point for children who haven't had the opportunity for financial or cultural reasons (or sheer indifference) and the school shouldn't be depriving non-swimmers of that opportunity.

That said in our y3/ y4 lessons (one staggered school year of 30 mins; although DS2's year had half coz Covid and had to donate half their time to the year above who lost most of their window), the children who benefited most were the ones on the cusp of 25m, who had an idea of the basics but needed more stamina or efficiency of technique. Because most learn privately, there's no point in waiting until y5/6. There is always a handful of non-swimmers who vary from can thrash their way several metres across a pool to need most of the allowence to confidently float.

I had a lot more school swimming time in the 80s/ 90s and couldn't pick it up from the group format. I learnt in public adult lessons in my late teens with a 1:1 in the water, and quickly picked it up.

I've taken my DCs to lessons from babies. The baby/ toddler years is just about fun and water confidence and there were a lot of non-swimmer parents trying to stop history repeating itself. The real learning of swimming was really 6+ and I'm glad I've spent the ££££ and the thousands of miles to do it as it's taken dyspraxic DS1 many slow years to learn. I have been able to afford the time, lesson costs and the journey to the next county though.

Few children will become competent swimmers purely out of school lessons.

There are no council pools within reasonable distance they actually go to a private one that is part of some gym or something they have an arrangement with the school for this. And as we have more than 1 child and you are expected to have 1 adult to 1 non-swimmer ratio that has not been doable. Living land locked and all. But maybe I should just chuck them in the canal to learn to swim. Nevermind the pollution. All private pools do not have a shallow part and are well expensive as the nearest is still a drive or half hour on bus away and is part of a hotel spa! And as someone else said not just are those lessons expensive they are also booked out wherever you go.

It’s a standard state school. Not an academy not independent.

Thats water confidence not swimming ability though. There is a massive difference.

You are MORE LIKELY to be water confident if you can swim, but you don't have to be able to swim to be water confident.

There is no local pool so no I could not organise swimming lessons there and as I work full time can’t them to stuff during the week and you can forget finding anything on weekends. I could buy a small car with what those lesson would add up to.

That argument works with cooking, but not so much swimming. In an ideal world, we could make every child do their best in all aspectsof life. However, the world is not ideal by a long stretch. We can aspire to make it better, but in the short term we need to direct resources appropriately and I just think 6 weeks of swimming lessons is a nonsense. We do not have the resources to fritter money, it should either be properly funded formally children from toddler hood via leisure centres (cannot happen) or we use the money where we can make an appropriate effect. Then we teach water safety theory, not swimming.

Parents have to shoulder the burden of teaching their children, because the state cannot parent.

I can't swim! See previous posts.

Is there not some obligation under the National Curriculum about swimming lessons in key stage 2? Or has that been removed?

Half an hour journey for swimming lessons whilst inconvenient should not stop finding the time for such an important life skill though.

Mine was taught by school to swim. So the funding did help them, as I’m sure it has helped others.

i personally can’t swim so couldn’t teach them
I couldn’t afford the £45 a month and 9 mile (each way) trip to my local council pool. So I was grateful for the school lessons.

I did however smash teaching them to cook and finances, hygiene and sex education is on going!

It's a case of priorities. It was important to me too, as I'm a real water baby, could never get enough of going to the pool, but my parents would rarely take me. I eventually learned to swim in fits and starts, and via school. This wasn't ideal, but back in those days our school received a lot more time over a more protracted period to learn to swim in a local council pool.

I started taking mine from 3 months old; always been a lovely activity we've done together. There are other skills and after school activities DC is simply not interested, though, and I see no point in pushing this if it's going to end up turning them off it.

I'm sorry you had such awful experiences as a child, and judging by that it must take real courage to learn to swim. Best of luck with that! I built up from 10 lengths and now swim at least 64 (a mile) every week. I get huge pleasure from mine - helps my mental as much as my physical wellbeing - and I always feel I've really earned my time in the hydropool and steam room afterwards.

Hope your new skill brings you just as much joy!