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.

@C152 Treading water is introduced in stage 5! Long after butterfly etc
Most of the things you mentioned are not taught at all in swimming lessons- swimming lessons focus on funding good competitive swimmers. The “swimming saves life” is purely there to extend the pool of possible candidates, swimming lessons at swim england level do barely touch the life saving elemet

I’m sorry but you are being very naive. ‘People just don’t tend to fall in’
Yes they do. People who can’t swim underestimate water all the time and take risks where being able to swim confidently 50m would be of huge benifit.
Not only that but kids and adults who can’t swim miss out on so much. So many places you might avoid, be nervous around. Parents who can’t swim often don’t teach their kids either and the cycle continues. Or they make their kids anxious around water, avoid anything that involves water which for my kids growing up has included 100’s of days out, experiences, social events with friends, parties.
I simply can’t fathom going on holiday as a parent and either 1. Not letting my child into water / anywhere near water or 2. Knowing I can’t save them if they got into trouble or 3. Not being able to save or help anyone else who was in trouble in the water.
IMO it’s as important as knowing how to cross a road safely. Or not walk off with a stranger. Just basic and essential parenting.

Yes! This is exactly what's holding him back!!
He simply cannot do butterfly or dolphin strokes, and he does not have a good dive technique because he is afraid of diving his head under water before the rest of his body. Every time he tries to dive, I watch him with the teacher, he gets into the correct position poolside with the teacher talking to him, he goes for it, then right at the last second he can't do it properly and fails the technique.
Because of not mastering butterfly, dolphin or diving, he is stuck in stage 5 at the age of 14 with a load of 9 year olds.
Meanwhile, he's ok at breast stroke but needs to improve, he's good at front crawl but needs to increase distance stamina, and he's really very good at backstroke.
But he never gets to develop style, stamina or distance in these 3 strokes that hes already decent at but could get so much better in if the swim lessons allowed practice. Instead, he's stuck in stage 5 being made to swim butterfly and dolphin, both of which he hates, and diving head first which he is afraid of, and teacher keeps telling me he can't progress to stage 6 until he can do these 3 things better.
He's brilliant at jumping in feet first with head plunging deep under water when we go family swimming; he pushes back up to the surface of the water and breaks in to a huge smile, he loves being in water and has no problem with head under water if he jumps in feet first, but he says he just freaks out when he has to dive in head first upside down.
I'm beyond frustrated by the insistence from his swim teacher (who follows Swim England, you're right) that he can't progress until he masters butterfly, dolphin and diving.
All I want is him to gain strength and stamina in front crawl, breast stroke & back stroke.
I'm a really good swimmer, and as far as I'm concerned, in an emergency situation, the very last stroke I'd choose to do would be butterfly or dolphin. I mean, in a lifesaving situation when you're trying to survive, get to safety and conserve your energy, seriously, who would ever decide to start doing butterfly or dolphin.

Unfortunately, this 'basic and essential' parenting is expensive and simply out of reach for many parents. It also isn't so basic if your child is disabled and needs 1-1 lessons which are even more expensive and again, not affordable for many parents.

I can't swim and my son can't swim. He isn't anxious around water at all, he likes swimming pools.

None of his friends have ever had a pool party, most parties revolve around football and it was often soft play when younger. So he's never missed out socially because he can't swim either.

That is completely crazy and no doubt one of the main reasons so many kids in the UK aren't confident swimmers! The first thing we learnt was how to float, then how to tread water. What's the point in learning butterfly when you can't float?! I just don't understand why anyone would put together a learning programme that jumps up to the experienced level before teaching the basics.

Just to add to my earlier comment. They do learn floating early on, but not a lot. And never with clothes on, or in eater that’s not absolutely calm, or where they can’t stand. Treading water comes at stage 5.

Because they’re trying to get more elite swimmers for future medal prospects??
It’s detrimental for most kids though and really needs to be overhauled.

Well it’s just you’re saying she’s unable to learn - I wondered if she had some SEN or learning disability issues. That would explain it.

Yes, I think children should be able to swim. No, I don't think it should be the responsibility of the school.

I know it's on the NC in primary, but this is just shoving the cost onto schools. The school near us had a pool but it was felling to bits and they could no longer afford to repair or maintain it so it's been removed. There is no pool within walking distance and so a coach is needed to travel there (plus releasing additional staff). The parents don't want to pay for the lessons, let alone the coach (which are now really expensive) and the whole thing is just an added burden on the school budget.

There are some parents who genuinely can’t afford it but others that would never take their children swimming but think nothing of taking them for expensive days out, latest clothes etc There isn’t enough pride in quietly helping your children anymore with not learning to swim, ride bikes, potty train etc but they’ll have the Xmas/halloween photos up wirh a fortune spent as it’s for social media.

But that still doesn't explain it. Those future medal prospects have to learn to swim before they can complete, and learning to swim should start with having the skills necessary to stay afloat in the water. And if the UK wants to improve their medal score, perhaps they should look at how countries who traditionally do very well in Olympic water sports approach teaching children?

Completely agree.
I wish I had done this.
But I have stuck with Swim England at our leisure centre and now I have a 14 year old, who still isn't a strong swimmer after 10 years of Swim England lessons, that I can't access private lessons for because they're all for little kids and don't cater for his age.
I can't bring myself to do the maths of £30 a month for 10 years (minus the lockdown era) to end up with a child who couldn't get himself out of a dangerous situation in deep water, but I know it'd work out as a hell of a lot more than if I'd paid for private lessons with a teacher who doesn't follow Swim England. 😐
I've been completely stupid in hindsight.

It’s actually swimmers that overestimate their skill and underestimate the water.

People also don’t regularly “fall in the water”. Normally alcohol is involved, or they are pushed (maliciously or not) , or they jump in/mess around or the previously mentioned over confidence.

You’re totally correct. As a child I was pretty much in most of those categories and it’s never had any impact on my life. My children learned how to swim on holiday. Not in a local pool. If their dad didn’t teach them and school didn’t supply the lessons they had in year 4 for 2 months, they wouldn’t be able to swim.

So, it’d be up to me to manage that. For example find a way OR educate them about the dangers of water if there is no way round it. I wouldn’t blame their school for not providing lessons. A lot of schools do not facilitate lessons. It’s just how it is unfortunately. It’s a me problem not a them problem.

When DS 1 had swimming lessons his teacher told me that most children aren't physically developed enough to do butterfly until they're about 10/11 years old, and she didn't teach it until then. By the time DS 2 had lessons at the same place, they were learning butterfly ridiculously early and lots struggled to get the timing and momentum combined.

Pretty appalling the parents of all these kids can’t even get the basics for their kids! What do they do at weekends? Most of us were taught to swim by parents but nowadays parents leave the internet to bring their kids up

Hilarious post 😂

@Nearly50omg what we do in the weekend? cycling, walking, playground, cooking, foodshop, crafts
NOT swimming. for a family of 4, swimming costs £36 for 60minutes. Not something most people can afford every weekend
Forgot, add £4 for parking to that…

It was me as a child and I still can't swim either and neither can my son because it was also DH as a child and he can't swim either.

I don't think schools are to blame either and I actually wonder if providing lessons at all are worth it when it isn't going to be enough for a child to learn how to swim anyway.

"It's the swimmers that drown" has to be the laziest excuse ever for not teaching your children to swim.

I can swim ( self taught so rather crappy , but I come from somewhere that had no swimming pools, much less lessons , private or otherwise) , so can OH, so can DD. The amount of sheer stupidity I see , sometimes ending in accidents or near misses , is absolutely mind boggling. All from so called swimmers. I made sure DD has a healthy respect of all bodies water , no matter how good she is at swimming.

It does seem bad that so many are non-swimmers, back when I was at school I was not aware of ANY non-swimmers (I guess there probably were but I have no idea who they were).

I still remember to this day the first time I swam properly without a float, one of those fond memories that is lodged in my mind. I also remember completing my 10yd & 25yd, all done in the outside, unheated pool at my primary school (with equally cold, changing "rooms").

I remember being in the Brownies and going on a coach to the nearest town which had a "proper" pool, the cubs also went (although that was usually a different night).
The Scout & Guide groups in Oxford also did a sponsored swim along the Thames from Folly Bridge to Iffley Lock, dozens of us spread out along a long section of the river (a logistical nightmare that I guess would never happen today), still have my award.

When we went on school residential trips, swimming was almost always included in one shape or form (usually in a river).

When a "proper" pool was eventually built that our comp could use, I remember swimming down to get the rubber brick, swimming in (light) clothing, underwater widths and life saving skills.

Different times.☹️

It‘s been interesting reading about the Swim England levels.

In Germany, level 1 is known as the seahorse award and involves jumping in from the side, swimming 25 metres breaststroke or backstroke in deep water and dive to the bottom of the pool with shoulder deep water to retrieve a ring.

The next level involves a proper dive with a somersault and 7 metres underwater swimming, then 25 metres swimming a time for 2 different strokes (but not butterfly!)

The third level includes 15 minutes swimming without a break, plus more.

You‘re not considered a strong swimmer until completing level 5.

DS got his seahorse award after 4 private sessions. Others managed it in two private sessions. It was an excellent teacher, but she impressed upon us the importance of regular practice. All lifeguards are also trained swimming teachers and can so the swimming exams, so I practised with DS until his strength and coordination improved and asked a lifeguard to do his award. Which he did for €5, which was to cover the cost of the badge and certificate.

He‘s had a further private lesson since to learn backstroke and crawl. I‘ll probably pay for another private session in the Summer to prepare him for level 2.

I agree. I’m not saying it’s ideal not to be able to swim but the life-saving advantages of it are vastly exaggerated. If you found yourself in the sea or a flooded river…it’s a million miles from doing lengths in the municipal pool.

As a pp said, most people who haven’t learned or who dislike swimming just avoid watery situations in adult life. I can swim lengths but wouldn’t want to try sailing, for example.

I guess depending on the nature of the disability that makes things a lot more tricky and may not affect him in the same way as able bodied kids.
However I’m not really just talking about ‘pool parties’ as a kid. Not being able to swim , aside from the obvious safety reasons just precludes you from some of the greatest pleasures in life.
You may not miss anything because you haven’t experienced swimming.
I have found my kids as teens get invited to a lot of pool things- aqua challenges in both inside and inside outside pools- we have had many of these in parties or just social stuff with school friends between my 3 kids.
water parks, slides etc- just would look very embarrassing for my teens if they couldn’t do slides because they couldn’t go into the water at the bottom. Center parcs, holidays in the UK and abroad.
in the sea or a lovely lake by us where you jump or slide in to the water on a boiling day. Paddle boarding- just amazing when you have teens at a beautiful uk or foreign beach. Kayaking. Snorkelling in beautiful clear blue waters, jumping into a deep pool or lake abroad when it’s boiling.

Swimming in an outdoor pool in the UK on those really muggy hot days we get here in the summer (we get loads where we live)
Going down to the local pool with mates on a Saturday when older.
many many more experiences both my kids and I have had in water. Not being able to swim for me would be awful. So many of life’s pleasures I get from it.
Just find it so hard to understand why an adult wouldn’t learn or why anyone wouldn’t give it all they could to help their child learn.
To me it’s like saying - I’m not going to teach my child to read. Too much time and expense. They can figure things out from photos and videos and speech anyway- why go near a book, just don’t need to. Any anyway, it’s the ones who can read who are in harms way with the dangerous words and ideas. If you never learn, you won’t go anywhere near writing.
Absolutely bonkers.