1 out of 4 children can’t swim when going into year 7.

[Quiethelper]

As the title says really. I was shocked to read over 1 out 4 children can’t swim 25m when going into year 7.

Secondary schools in our area don’t do lessons. Surly this needs to be addressed for the ones who couldn’t save themselves if they fell into water.

I would fully support and be happy for budget to be allocated for children to have essential swimming skills.

I feel really sad about this statistic.

It doesn't surprise me. Swimming lessons are expensive and often really ineffective so it can take years to become a competent swimmer. Most pools are bloody freezing now (cost cutting?) so horrible for young kids and near us there are a couple of brand new council pools that have only ONE free swim sessions for kids every week. The rest of the time it's lane swimming (no good for kids learning) or lessons. So little opportunity to teach your kids yourself.

My DM and DH are both non swimmers. Their take is that they know they can't swim so they don't put themselves near places you might have to swim.

While I can swim I don't fancy my chances fully clothed in cold water. It's not going to save my life.

Every summer in the first warm week there are deaths of teen boys who have gone in a lake over confident in their swimming.

Getting your 50m badge is not a vital life skill.

My DD had passed every level, including lifeguarding by the time she was 10 but she was lucky enough to have grandparents when paid for and took her to lessons. No way I would have been able to afford it or fitted it around working. None of her friends can swim so she goes alone when she wants to swim which is sad as I remember enjoying swimming with my friends so much as a child.

It's not just swimming lessons that are expensive - you often get posters on these threads saying people should just take their children to the pool and teach them themselves.
Obviously this also relies on the parent being a good swimmer, but one adult and two children often costs more than £15 at a council pool.
That's a lot of money to do regularly.

It's not just a question of budget, it's also about whether there are teachers and pool space available.

Where I live, children are entitled to some free swimming lessons in late primary and secondary school until they have reached the minimum required level. But I suspect that the only reason this is sustainable is because children from middle class families tend to be enrolled in swimming lessons from the age of 4 or 5 and so by the time they're entitled to free lessons they don't really need them any more, which frees up more resources for the children who just haven't learned to swim at all.

Not really a surprise unfortunately. We pay for swimming lessons but they’re a luxury for many families. If you’re struggling to make ends meet, swimming lessons are something that can be jettisoned.

This - I'm surprised that 3 out 4 actually can swim in year 7.

In theory primary schools are supposed to offer at least some lessons to every child.

in practice it didn’t happen during Covid and many primaries have really struggled to start it up again.

even then a term or so isn’t going to turn a non swimmer into a swimmer.

it’s also harder and more expensive to go swimming these days - booking slots and the like.

Yes, we go swimming a lot as a family and have made it a priority, but my son's weekly swimming lesson with a teacher costs less than us going to the pool as a family.

completely agree they are so expensive but if they were free at least to give the children skills like treading water, floating on your back- raise hand for attention, the was to get out a current -

My ds was in swimming lessons when he was six, and then covid hit, and then swimming lessons and school was closed down to save the nhs and the vulnerable.

When they reopened years later, we put him back on the list for swimming lessons. Except by then the list for beginners had expanded to those who had forgotten how to swim, those who were learning how to swim and those who were now of an age to be starting lessons.

My ds is in Y7 now and DH got a phonecall over the summer holidays from the pool about those swimming lessons and he laughed and asked if a place had finally become available and they said, no - they just wanted to know if he still wanted to be on the list?

Fortunately, we've been in a position to pay more money and have ds learn to swim elsewhere. But this is what our country did to our kids in covid and it's just one small bit of the shit-show.

My local leisure centre is £26 a month for lessons, but always fully booked and they don't have a waiting list as there's too many people waiting. The other local pools are £60 a month - this is for 4 half hour lessons. If I still can't get my dd in at the leisure centre by the new year, I've no choice but to pay it, as I do believe it's a vital skill.

I don't believe the stat is this high tbh. In deprived communities it is much, much lower.

Some schools use their school sport premium on additional swimming, some schools would but swimming pool availability and swim teacher availability make it impossible as there just isnt enough to go round. Private swimming lessons are really expensive.

You need to swim regularly- which happens for well off families who holiday somewhere with a pool. It doesn’t happen for others. Knowing water safety is more important than swimming, imo.

They all learn at different rates- DS1 was really late, and we were advised to leave off lessons for a couple of years after some one to ones. They need to practice regularly. DS2 was great aged about 7, then family circumstances meant he didn’t swim for a few years and at 11/12 he couldn’t swim!

Teach them to float, about the sudden cold shock thing, about the dangers of water in various places kids hang out- lakes, quarries etc.
You can teach that much more easily than getting children to be competent swimmers.

School swimming lessons (even at private school sadly) are very low-fibre nowadays - lots of standing in a queue by the pool while 22 other people swim a length at a time individually. Your actual time in the water is limited compared to private sessions of a handful. I imagine it's a safety issue, in the 80s they chucked us all in, but now there seems much higher teacher-pupil ratio.

And as for doing it at school- it takes up one of a primary schools ten weekly sessions. That’s one tenth of the timetable for that class unavailable because of swimming lessons.

If you can't swim why would you be in a current?

DH helpfully informed me he couldn't swim when we were in the sea 🤔 and he didn't want to go any further.

I had wondered why we had never been near a beach before.

Surely all children should have the opportunity in this country for free swim lessons to a basic standard. I think it is so important just to keep them safe. I know all tragedies arnt unavoidable but if there was education for children about the dangers and what to do it might help? Free for all children in the school day just to a minimum level

I feel really surprised sbout this as pretty much everyone does swimming lessons where we are. The council lessons are cheap and good. It’s just over twenty quid a month for weekly lessons which also includes free entry to council pools.

They also run crash courses in the holidays so daily lessons for a week which is about £6 a day. Even in boring pools without flumes and lazy rivers they do floats / family fun sessions. All the dc swim like fish.

It's not really a surprise- if anything the surprise is that 3 out of 4 children CAN swim. People are poor. Family finances are stretched. Some people don't live anywhere near a pool.

We live near the sea and are financially solvent. I used to swim competitively in my far off youth. I still found it really difficult to get swimming lessons for mine. Long waiting lists and huge expense. Family fun play sessions were £7 per person- so £21 for me and the Dcs. That every week? That's a chunk of money. Added to that my oldest has dyspraxia and at 15 he still can't tie his shoelaces or ride a bike. He can now swim- sort of. We ended up going to a subsidised class for disabled children and it still took 3 years of weekly classes before he could swim 25 metres on his own. (I cried when they gave him his certificate).

I can swim but wouldn’t fancy my chances clothed in open water without a life jacket. Whilst it’s sad not all children get the opportunity to learn to swim, I’m not sure it’s a safety issue particularly, the older kids who die in water alas typically are technically swimmers, they just chose water bodies that are dangerous.

The only way to improve this is with an actual effective swimming programme delivered through schools. Good luck with funding that just now unless you can find a magic money tree. Look at all the threads with wealthy people crying about Rachel Reeves and having to pay tax and leaving the country and she hasn't even done anything about personal taxation yet.

They could teach more kids to swim, more effectively and make classes cheaper if the pools offered a “core skills” swimming class.

Dc6 can do a good breast stroke and crawl and back stroke; he can float and tread water and bob. But his stage 5 class is preoccupied with learning perfect butterfly - WHY?! it’s ludicrous. I do lane-swimming several times a week and I have never seen an adult thrashing out butterfly!

Most kids pick up swimming easily but almost everyone snags on butterfly. Think how much more throughput there would be if they just ignored it.

Sounds like you're in a privileged area if all families can afford £20 a month for multiple children and there's capacity in the lessons for everyone.

Well.quite ,I'm.nearly52 and did life bronze and silver life saving badges as a child involving swimming in pajamas and diving for rubber bricks but alt this was in relatively warm indoor council run swimming pool, as you said fully clothed in icey waters would be a different matter.