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!

Plenty of adults can't swim or have little water confidence so it's. it unsurprising that some dc done learn. That's before you look at cost, logistics & time.

not

This is still really cheap for council lessons.
I wish ours cost that little!

I found the school swimming lessons not great. They only went for half a term. All of mine had private lessons apart from DD2 who my husband taught to swim. DC3,4,5 currently have swim lessons once a week. It is extortion at £10 a child for 30 mins, so once they can swim we won’t be paying for the lessons. I appreciate not everyone can afford private lessons and our council lessons are crap with too many kids crammed into a lesson. Due to the limit on child to adult ratio I can’t teach them myself.
Im sure when I was at school we went swimming loads but I suppose times have changed along with affordability and budget the schools have.

Lucky you that it’s part of curriculum- isn’t in Scotland so either teach yourself or pay for lessons which I’ve been doing at now £12 per week for five years 👍

I’m in Scotland. The schools in our con cop area all do swimming lessons, only 6 weeks during P6 and that’s it. My school also did it when I was that age too.

I paid £26 a month per kid for several years as well, to get them through all the stages. Pain in the ass!

My DD is 14 and can’t swim. I spent a fortune on lessons (including 1 on 1 private lessons for 6 months) and she was made to go every Saturday morning for 3 years before we finally gave up. She hates the pool and although did pass the beginner stage at first she decided she didn’t want to do level 2 so refused to even try. Now she’s at the point she had forgotten everything. She cries now on school swimming days and doesn’t want to go in but equally doesn’t want lessons. Not sure what else we are supposed to do.

Where I live there’s a massive shortage of swimming teachers so with that and covid, most year 2 kids we know are nowhere near able to swim 2 lengths.

Here are four things you didn't know about swimming in schools.
All children should be able to swim 25m by the end of primary schoolBy the end of primary school, all children should be able to swim 25 metres unaided and use a range of strokes effectively.
They should also be taught about water safetyWater safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the curriculum for PE at primary school.
The curriculum says pupils should be taught to perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.
We work closely with a range of organisations including, Swim England, The Royal Life Saving Society UK, Canal and River Trust and the Association for Physical Education to support pupils being taught how to swim and to be taught water safety.
There is funding available to support schoolsIn February 2021, we announced £10.1m to iopen up access to school sport facilities including swimming pools. We’ve already provided funding from phase one and two of the initiative to schools. Is this relevant?

I’m a 40 something year old adult and can’t actually swim. I tried school lessons as a child and was so petrified I never got anywhere. I’ve photos of me on holidays with rubber rings and arm bands still crying. But as a parent I’ve made sure mine had lessons. My eldest managed to get her 200m badge before lessons stopped when Covid hit. When she did school lessons she was a non swimmer before and after going 2 years in a row, but we paid for private 1:1 in a smaller pool before putting them into larger group lessons at the leisure centre. We never went back after Covid though. Youngest had got to 25m - further on her back probably more like 50m but on her guiding forms I still declare her a non swimmer as she’s not confident. She’s fancying surfing though at some point.

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/13/did-you-know-swimming-and-water-safety-are-part-of-the-school-curriculum/ I am not very good at adding links.

Sorry I think it is a life skill that parents or grandparents should be teaching, my dc all could swim before starting school and also grandchildren could all swim before starting school, it would put it in the same category as learning to rid a bike. Not really what I expect them to teach at school.

My son is 8 and can swim a good few lengths, he can swim under water for half a length. He’s never had a single lesson, we just go swimming at weekends. They only go swimming a few times with school these days anyway.

Your children learning to swim is your responsibility, I pay £25 a month for my youngest lessons, and whilst it may not be affordable to everyone it is certainly not extortionate.

In my experience school swimming lessons are not good enough to teach your child to swim anyway, at my children’s school they go every other term for 3 years, its not enough to make them competent swimmers.

Schools are obliged to teach children to be able to swim 25m front and back and understand water safety. Check out the curriculum and quote it if needed in discussions with the school. If they are still refusing ring the local education authority and put in a complaint. If your child is in y6 though there is not much time left. My son is in year 4. They are just starting to do it now. He goes to private lessons as well but school have to assess everyone. My son’s class only take 6 kids at a time twice a week. They start with the weakest kids and then gradually move up to the others. My son can swim but not 25m. Fingers crossed he will be able to soon.

Ds had lessons from reception age. We aren't middle class, I'm a lone parent on a low wage. It was a YMCA pool that the lessons were held but they were a similar price for a similar time/ratio at private pools. I'd expect a child to be able to swim by year 3 to be honest.

No one could possibly argue butterfly is a life skill 🤣

It's actually on the curriculum to teach children to swim , therefore they have to do it by law. Take that the governors and the LEA

Sorry to hear that, sounds very tough. Not your fault, you’ve done your best.Sadly it’s a life skill and she should buck her ideas up. She will soon be crying if she ends up in water and starts to drown!

Children don’t learn to swim in school lessons. Too many kids, not enough time. It is however statutory under the English National Curriculum that a block of lessons is provided, so worth taking this up with governors. If you want your kids to learn how to swim, I’m afraid it’s private lessons organised by you that’ll do it.

https://www.swimming.org/schools/swimming-national-curriculum/

It’s a statutory part of the curriculum. Perhaps remind the school of that and then sweetly ask when her lessons will be?

Then complain using process on the school website / to governors etc.

How thick are they? It’s the kids that CAN’T swim that need it the most.

If there’s nowhere for your kids to swim then why do they need to learn? Just don’t do the lessons

School should be teaching swimming as part of the school curriculum. Complain to the governors. My kids never did swimming at school as they only did it in stage 2 and mine could swim 25m.

I haven't read the entire thread but I would be fuming in your situation. To those saying child should swim by that age - there are different circumstances in life and the whole point of swimming lessons at school is to give ALL children some basic skills. My DD1 had horrible experience at private swimming lessons with highly thought off swim school and refused structured lessons ever since. We took her every so.often on family swimming sessions and she got some water confidence but couldn't swim. When she started lessons with school in Y4 she was in non swimmers group and by the end she could swim. She then asked to go to swimming classes and we had to wait for a year for opening in her age group.

I LOVE that people post their questions on here asking for opinions and are surprised when they get opinions!!! They actually want agreement.