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!

learning to swim is part of the curriculum they are meant to have 6 sessions and parents don’t pay for them they come from school budgets so not sure why you are talking about paying? My child gave me a form to hand in had to tell them the level they were at with swimming so they were put in the right groups, they swam at the leisure centre. I live in south coast so swimming was part of kids lives from very young age. Both are competent swimmers. P.s not middle class! Most people I know give their kids swim lessons but maybe it’s just more important when you live near the sea. Talk to the governors if you aren’t happy as your child should get 6 sessions but I agree they aren’t going to learn much in that time but even if it’s how to float and not drown that’s the most important thing

You should have organised private lessons years ago- a year 6 child should be able to swim at least a kilometre and do four strokes plus diving confidently. Not the schools fault if you haven’t bothered.

I understand your frustration as swimming is part of the requirements for schools to undertake, but as many have pointed out, the standard is often pretty poor and it's the bare minimum duration.

DDs school only do it for half a term I believe (she hasn't done hers yet).

Of the few parents I speak to in DDs class I don't know of any others that have actually taught their kids to swim / had them in lessons. (Mine has been in lessons since she was a few months old.)

You haven't said you can't afford lessons, (or how many kids you have to make that more challenging) just that they're a pita to sort.

Which, yes, they can be and yes, it's expensive, but by Y6 I can't see that all of the lessons in the pools closest to you would have been full all of the time. You could have put your dc on waiting lists. You also say we in one of your posts, so another option could have been for you or your dh/dp to take one child at a time to learn.

Sounds like you haven't prioritised it. Water safety is absolutely essential, but you're not the only parents not to prioritise it.

Ultimately school should be taking all children for swimming lessons so, in your position, I would be complaining and pointing out their responsibility to ask them to rectify their plan on this.

The whole point of school swimming lessons is so that children like your daughter learn to swim. Surely if they exclude any group it's the ones who CAN swim. Utterly bonkers, write an email to your local MP if you don't get anywhere with the school. This isn't you being entitled, this is basic life saving education for a child that can't access it elsewhere. Swimming is a life skill.

Really can't tell if this is sarcastic or not!

This. Since when was it schools job to teach this?

At least since March 1981, at a rough estimate.

Never knew that, started both mine with lessons way before school age anyway, for safety as much as anything.

Yes schools should teach swimming
Is it effective? No.
All the issues preventing you taking your kids to lessons also apply to schools. Affordability, transport, numbers & ratios, time and covid.

They haven't said they are taking those that CAN swim but the ones that are confident and can ALMOST swim.

I undyoir frustration but I don't think it's as outrageous as you are suggesting.

Some of of what you have said doesn't make much sense but most people live "a drive" from a pool. Half an hour on the bus isn't bad. I also work full time, we got up at 7am every weekend for 4 years to get to the 8.30 swimming lesson as that was only one with spaces.

For anyone struggling with ratios for supervision most pools have family sessions at weekends with extra lifeguards so the ratios are relaxed. And it's usually a combination of age and ability.

You are out of touch with reality and spouting ridiculous nonsense.

I wonder if the reason you are so angry about this is that you feel ashamed/ guilty for having letting your child get to 11 as a non swimmer.

honestly OP sort it out. They don’t have the resources to teach non swimmers. There will be one teacher per class and the best they can do is the get the good swimmers to swim lengths and those you can swim but not very well to improve to get to being able to swim a length.

a non swimmer needs one to one or one to two lessons at this point

You can afford it. Not everyone can. Prices vary enormously but if you don't have the £££ you haven't got it.

And actually it's not really a life skill. Personal survival skills are, but not swimming in itself. It's a skill that sets you up for various hobbies, but that isn't quite the same point.

Ha ha. I could only swim 400m in what is now Y6 and it was get myself down the pool any old how. When I started swimming again as an adult I had to learn the strokes properly.

Swimming is definitely a life skill. Yes you can survive without it but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a life skill.

I think some people here need to hop over to cost of living threads where people are struggling to pay mortgages and put food on the table for their families. Ask on there if these people, desperate for help, are putting aside £50 a month so their kids can learn to swim.
It seems from this thread that even low income families should be able to manage this.

I never learnt to swim in school, when we went for school lessons the non swimmers were left in the shallow end with some floats to ‘practice’ with and never had any tuition. As an adult I took a few very embarrassing lessons and can now swim a little bit I’m not confident in deep water.

I agree that swimming is a life skill and swimming lessons have been non negotiable for my kids. In my area we have council run swimming pools that provide affordable lessons, which are even cheaper (I think around 50p!) to low income families so almost every child has lessons from age 3. They still get lessons through school but most of them already swim by that stage.

@Behindthelines i agree 100% I never learnt ti swim as a child and feel like I really missed out because of it. had to sit at the side for pool parties, couldn’t join in with my friends around to the pool at weekends. As an adult I don’t think I’ll ever be confident in deep water because I didn’t learn to swim until much later in life and it restricts me in a lot of ways especially on holidays. It also means my kids are restricted because I can’t do activities with them in water when they need adult supervision.

swimming lessons have been non negotiable for my kids and they are all really amazing confident swimmers and they are astounded by my lack of swimming skills, they get so much enjoyment from swimming.

The government can put swimming on the NC and say they have to ensure than pupils can swim however many metres and be able to do safe rescues but most schools don’t have swimming pools, so have to get coaches and pay for lessons. These are expensive (coaches are now eye-watering it expensive) and many parents aren’t keen to pay.

In the same way that the government say nurseries need to offer ‘free’ (I know, it’s not free and should be named ‘partially funded’) but then don’t pay for it, then it doesn’t happen. The government say KS1 meals are free, but then don’t pay adequately for it, so it really shafts the budget of infant schools.

Yea, these things are supposed to happen. No, it’s not simple and whereas schools used to have a bit of wriggle room with funding to make up the extra, they haven’t any more.

Being proficient at four strokes, swimming 1 km and being able to execute a neat dive is not a life skill though. Being (you hope - sea/cold water rather different from a pool) able to save yourself/not panicking is what you need, ideally as a life skill. It's confident swimmers/watersports enthusiasts and reckless parents (Oh, Johnny has been swimming since he was a baby therefore I don't need to watch him in the pool!) who are often the issue when it comes to getting into difficulty. People who can't swim (well) wouldn't be in the water in the first place or stay within their depth.

That poster is talking nonsense but equally so are you. Being able to swim properly is a life skill. What are you describe isn’t being able to swim properly and is potentially dangerous.

Swim England define what is required really well, it is a mixture of swimming and survival skills. It’s something like being able to swim 100 metres in one stroke in terms of swimming.

No one is agreeing with the nutter poster who thinks all year 6’s should be club level swimmers.

It is on the curriculum because it would be lovely if it could be taught, in an ideal world it would be. But we are not dealing with ideal. In the ideal world, they would all be cooking, doing languages, doing cycling proficiency, doing allsorts. It cannot all happen. The curriculum is loaded with untenable objectives.

I've unfortunately had to rescue quite a few young teens over the years surfing and river kayaking. It's not been as a result of watersports enthusiasts who know what they are doing properly, have the correct kit (and rescue kit). It's ones who think a rip current is a calm spot to enter the water, ignore the signs on a beach about strong undercurrents and getting knocked off their feet then panicking. Or think a buoyancy aid and taking proper lessons isn't required and go get a paddleboard!
On rivers its been those jumping in after their mates when they are poor swimmers or non swimmers as they didn't want to admit they couldn't swim or thought it was easy enough or thought an inflatable unicorn would help them.....

I have lived in the SW of England so probably my bigger share of numpties with this but honestly the concept that non swimmers don't go near water is completely untrue!