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!

It’s £45 a month at the council one near me. When I say near it’s a 9 mile drive on no bus routes.

This bit of your post op makes you a bit of a dick as that is how our society works. But it does seem at odds with the curriculum to take the swimmers swimming.

I work with families who I imagine don’t or can’t take their kids to swimming lessons. Either due to deprivation, parental mental illness or educational/learning limitations.

The competitive ‘my kids could do lengths when they were two and all four strokes by 10’ is typical MN cringe.

All the ‘we live on an island’ 🙄Some inner city kids may never see the coast during their childhood.

It feels counter-intuitive for me to exclude the ones who can’t swim. Giving them even a taster lesson might springboard them into wanting to learn, parents to seek resources out etc.

Swimming is a basic and essential life skill, if you can't take your kids yourself pay for lessons after school. It never crossed my mind that school are meant to teach my kids to swim, I think they do one term in my kids school in Y5. Imagine being 9 years old and not being able to swim, it's bad parenting. My parents taught me to swim around aged 4, my dad took us every sunday without fail. My primary school also took the entire school swimming from reception age, I was already swimming confidently. Do parent's just think that it's school's job to raise their kids these days?

Are you a teacher? Do you mean ‘progeny’ or is every child a genius…?

Yes, I'm totally aware of that. I accept that a significant part of my tax funds services that I do not use, I also agree that education is vital.
I was just parroting back the OP's comment that "my taxes pay for other children" while she ignored who pays for HER children

As I said upthread, its not just about the schools not having the funding its also about a lack of pools and a lack of swimming teachers.

From September 2021:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/swimming/58641741
Almost 2,000 swimming pools in England could be closed by 2030 without urgent government action, a Swim England report has suggested.
The number of quality facilities could drop by 40%, limiting access for competitive and recreational swimmers.
It adds that pools built in the 1960s and 70s have not been refurbished at a sufficient rate.
Without investment of £1bn, it says there will be a "huge decline" in the availability of pools.
Latest figures from Swim England show that 4.7 million people swim at least twice a month, making it one of the most popular physical activities in the country - their predictions suggest that 3.86 million people could be pushed out of swimming.
Swim England suggests that the issue has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with 206 swimming pools already having closed.

AND

From March 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/12/england-has-lost-almost-400-swimming-pools-since-2010
England has lost almost 400 swimming pools since 2010, with parts of the country that have the greatest health needs losing out the most.
The national body for swimming said there was “an urgent need to invest” in England’s pools, after new figures revealed that the pandemic had accelerated a decade of decline in aquatic facilities.
Guardian analysis of data collected by Sport England found a net decline of 382 swimming pools across the country since 2010. These figures include local authority- and community-owned pools, privately run health facilities, schools and sports clubs. The loss of pools has led to an estimated £1bn loss of associated social value through health and community benefits.
The number of pools in council areas with the highest levels of health-related deprivation fell by 14% over the last 12 years, while those in the least health-deprived areas fell by 6%, the analysis shows.

AND

Hartlepool, one of the most health-deprived areas in the country, has seen six of its 12 pools close over the last 12 years. Three were at schools and the other three were at gyms or community centres.

AND

Brighton and Hove lost four pools since 2019, more than any other local authority in the same period. Three were lost during the closure of Virgin Active in 2021 and one when Sports Direct Fitness in Hove closed in 2022.

Where I live there is a massive waiting list for lessons outside school. It took over a year for me to get DS a space - we signed up for three separate places. The centre used to do swimming lessons on a Friday but they stopped this post pandemic. It reduced the number of available lessons by 16%. This was at a time that kids needs more lessons as they've not swum for so long / were older and there was more kids who'd never swum wanting lessons. They've now closed the waiting list for lessons because there are so many kids wanting to learn. They can't open on Friday evenings anymore because of lack of teachers / lifeguards.

The centre serves 5 primary schools in walking distance. As well as being located at a High School. It can't put on more lessons during school time. Its full. All the other swimming pools locally are some distance away and aren't really viable. The High school actually has 8 feeder primaries, so I don't know what they do.

All it means is there are loads more kids who won't learn to swim.

Swim England have been saying all this for some time.

The problem really doesn't lie solely at schools. Its also about local and national government strategy, covid and the cost of living crisis.

There SHOULD be free classes available for low income families outside school hours. But pools can't afford this and councils can't afford this. And its not a priority for national government to fund.

Knowing this, anyone who can afford to fund their kids to swim really should try...

You should not be relying on school to teach children to swim. They should be doing lessons before they start school. Swimming is a life skill.

I couldn’t afford the lessons. As I said it’s £45 a month now, I can’t remember what it was then. But I couldn’t afford it and can’t swim myself.
I was thankful it’s on the curriculum and the school taught them.

as i cannot swim myself I rarely took them as children even to the shallow pool as I couldn’t keep them safe if I couldn’t keep me safe.

It's your responsibility to teach your children to swim. They won't learn much through school lessons.

I get it OP, it does sound nuts. I have a daughter in Yr 1 and hear the year 6 mums talking about how bad the lessons are. Or the lack of them. When I was at the same state primary in the late 80s we were taken weekly to the same council pool from year 3 right up to year 8. A whole afternoon was spent there. We were taught by 2 professional swim instructors, employed by the council. I couldn't swim in yr 3, my parents took me to pools to splash about and get used to the water but didn't teach me swimming themselves. a few of us couldn't, a few were terrified but we were given time and encouragement, and a few of us were winning galas by middle school. We were taught to dive, life saving skills, the lot. This was 30 years ago mind! Things have obviously changed for the worse during the last 20 years and this doesn't even touch the sides. Many of us don't realise the destruction until its our turn to use a service that we presumed still functions. Anyone remember Thatchers famous nursery milk raid? Look at the care sector. Many dont need it, and get a shock when they do and realise its pretty much gone. You are right, it's crap and absolutely you should complain. It's not entitlement to ask for something the government has promised you in the curriculum, it's really dumb to say that it is! Hope you get something sorted anyway, your kids deserve better from the school.

If the school hadn’t taught them they’d have just been non swimming adults like me.

its unfortunately a privilege to be able to afford swimming lessons.

But if there are so many parents who can't take their dc swimming or to lessons and the dc get a taste for it from a handful of sessions with school what happens?
If the parents can then find the time or money to take them then there wasn't a barrier in the first place. And if they genuinely can't for whatever reason then nothing will change and the dc won't go any further.

Absolutely it's unfair for a group to be excluded but not all needs can be met in everything. If you have 30 kids in a class and 6 can't swim they couldn't keep up with the other 24, and if the lesson is aimed at non swimmers you've got 24 bored, rowdy kids.

i completely agree. But there’s no getting away from it being cost prohibitive in some areas.

My comment was in relation to the staggering number of PPs who have aggressively questioned why OP couldn't be bothered to teach her own child to swim already.

I don't think she comes across as entitled in the way that people are claiming. We are all of course entitled to have an opinion on the education provision that we contribute towards with our taxes. Actually every UK resident, regardless of tax status, is entitled to expect certain things from the government. That's the whole point of the government; to benefit all of us. And I can see why OP would be annoyed that her children, who really need the lessons, won't benefit as other children do.

It's great that your child can access cheaper lessons; lots can't! One PP has just commented that their local pool charges more than mine at £45/month. £20, £35, £45 per month per child is a lot of money. It's all very well blithely saying "it's affordable for most" but what is your evidence for that? It is out of reach for many, many families.

School swimming lessons are basically a box-ticking exercise to meet the requirements of the national curriculum. Thry are never going to teach a non-swimmer to swim, but might be of some marginal benefit to swimmers simply as they are bit of extra pool time during the week.

In this case, I’m pretty sure that the school is breaking its duties to provide swimming lessons to all children, regardless of pre-existing ability.

Look up lessons at your local council pool, many do lessons for ‘late learners’ so an 11 year old won’t have to be in the same class as a bunch of 4 year olds.

It’s part of the national curriculum. That’s all you need to know.

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.

If you you go don that route than childless people are the most hard done by, paying for other people's kids.

Before she turned 1? Sure. I suppose she was also reciting Latin in the womb.

I think it should be scrapped too. Schools cannot actually make meaningful inroads with non swimmers at that age in 6 sessions. It is a waste of money.

Mine all learnt in school lessons.

Of course you get to complain if the school is meant to do it as they are. See the post above about the national curriculum.

It's not like op is complaining about the school not doing potty training or something that isn't in their curriculum.

In reality, I don't think the swimming lessons are enough to teach a child how to swim but this means that either the lessons or the curriculum has to be changed. People are not wrong to expect something they have been told would happen.

Box ticking yep.

Late learner lessons? You are having a laugh. The local pools can't cope with the demand for standard lessons at present.

If you missed the boat, you are screwed.

As for lessons at school. My y3 son is currently doing them. Behaviour walking to the pool is so bad they aren't even getting there on time (no fault of the teacher on that I might add). They are getting 20 minutes. In groups of 10. For eight weeks. The most they will get out of it is the excitement / opportunity to leave school / some confidence in water. Its nice and all, but won't chance much.

Yours are unusually cheap. They are around 35 a month here too.

You’ve a pool walking distance