AIBU to question school swimming progress when DD still can’t swim a width?

[Nenanena]

Dd is 9. We go swimming as a family every few months and spend longer in the pool on holidays. She did a year of swimming lessons when she was 7 at the local leisure centre. Moved from Stage 1 to just beginning stage 3 but didn’t like the teacher and felt intimidated in the deeper water. Persisted for a bit despite not enjoying it and then got upset so we stopped lessons. About 6 months later started swimming in Y3 at school (at same leisure centre). Did 12 weeks. Initially got put in complete beginning group, when we flagged up she had been in stage 3 they moved her up. Currently halfway through another term of swimming in Y4. I got to see the lesson the other day as helped walk the kids to the centre.

Dd was in the ‘bottom’ group. They didn’t even have a width to swim in because of way pool was arranged. Some of the kids were mucking about so the teacher had to do quite a lot of behaviour management. They seemed to do loads on technique and isolating arms, legs etc and less focus on stamina and distance. She still can’t swim more than 6m unaided without putting feet down. Face always expected to be in water so think she isn’t breathing well. I’m shocked. We get no feedback about progress (was the same with private lessons). When I was at school we worked towards badges. You aimed for a width then a length etc and progress was fairly rapid. What’s the point on working on butterfly arms if you can’t even do a width of an easier stroke? Makes no sense to me.

Maybe you should take her to the pool more often yourself to help her progress or get her some private 1 to 1 lessons which would be very beneficial at her stage.

I remember sewing my kids' swimming badges on their towels. Happy days 😀I'm also pretty sure they were getting through the first few distances quite quickly. Can you ask the teacher if they're happy with her progress?

Shes not going to have learned to swim if you go once every few months. I'd never expect school lessons to sort it. You've delegated this and its not working, can you afford a different swim school and ideally 121 lesson to catch up?

Take her yourself.

When my DD was making zero progress I was in the water with her for a few sessions, to work out what the problem was. Once we worked on that, she flew in her swimming lessons.

Some things you cannot outsource!

Imagine all schools are different, but mine was rather rough. We did swimming lessons one term a year, once every two weeks, had a 20min walk to get there, 25 minute session. Different ability groups, but lots of behavioural issues that made them virtually impossible to get much out of.
I had private lessons so was a good swimmer, but had friends whose only experience learning was from these, they can still barely manage a width!
I’d say go for separate swimming lessons if you can. Much more focused as smaller groups at similar levels with less messing about getting in the way.

Agree with comments made. Regarding feedback, have you asked for feedback or are you expecting it. Probably best to ask for it tbh

My ds is a club level swimmer in at u11. He had school swimming lessons in year 3 and 4 but never showed much progress. Honestly I don’t think they expect any more than basic water safety. If you’re concerned about progress then I think you’re going to need to set the private lessons back up. Maybe try going regularly as a family until your dd feels more confident in the water? Practice jumping in, floating, breathing technique over short distances etc

Honestly, invest in some private 1:1 to get her strokes sorted out, probably need a teacher in the water to take her to deep end so she can't put feet down. 6 m is only a few strokes. When she gets breathing sorted out she will be able to go further. I definitely think paying for 1:1 is better at the start. Saves wasting two years of council ones.

School lessons in local council leisure centre will not teach your daughter to swim if she couldn't before. They are only for around 30 mins for 2 weeks. As a teacher I've never seen a non swimmer learn to swim from these sessions. They are more of a taster session if anything.

The bigger issue is that she can't swim after having a year of private lessons. You need to teach her or pay for more private lessons.

She needs to be swimming on a regular basis to make any noticeable improvement. Take her yourself. Swimming is a life skill and non negotiable in our house.

The sad fact is that many swim schools are terrible. There are some good ones but good swimming teachers are hard to find and they're so crammed in they often don't have enough space. It's not aided by the fact that, as you've noticed, the Swim England curriculum that most schools follow is based on getting them competent at all four strokes in tandem. Which means that they spend years going to lessons whilst not actually learning to swim. Obviously if you go for long enough, they end up being able to swim every stroke but many people give up before this point.

Either just take her swimming yourself (only you know if she will be up for learning or will just want to muck about in the water) or find a better swim school. 1:1 lessons are expensive, but they progress so much faster that it's probably the same cost overall. If you go down this route make sure you tell the teacher you're not interested in them learning butterfly!

I spoke to my DD swim club coach about this as he was also hired to teach the primary school lessons as per Nat curriculum

he said no-one can teach children to swim in such a short space of time, with such irregular lessons and parents not taking them to practise in between. It shouldn’t be an expectation, it won’t happen.

ours has lessons from 6months until 8 years old weekly. I didn’t feel they were good enough to stop until then.

School swimming is supplementary at best, otherwise useless. Very few children learn anything new in them, too few lessons, too many kids, too infrequent.

You need to take her at least biweekly to see any real progress, mire likely 1-2 times per week.

School lessons are too infrequent to be of any use really except for children who can already swim and goes regularly with parents but would benefit from some technique top up. If you want her to swim she needs to go back to weekly lessons- you shouldn’t have stopped after stage 2. I get she wasn’t enjoying but a different pool or changing your slot to get a different teacher would have been better than quitting altogether to rely on infrequent school lessons. I would make restarting a priority. Also, take herself regularly too to practice outside of lessons and to have fun. And yes swim England does have a lot to answer for with teaching butterfly before doing lengths or treading water, but I think that’s unlikely to be your main issue if she’s only done stage 2 + a few school lessons: that tends to be more of a stage 4/5 issue where they’re being held back from gaining stamina because they’re busy practicing butterfly.

We started going swimming every week in January and my 7yo has made huge strides. She is more confident in the water and can float on her back for a short period, put her face under and swim a few meters. She doesn't have swimming lessons, just time with me in the pool, although I'd like her to have proper lessons at some point.

Is there a chance you could take her more frequently? It made a massive difference going from once a month to weekly and we have fun in the pool. Getting used to goggles made a big difference too.

1:1 lessons will achieve the step change you want to see. It’s worth paying the extra for a bit, then she can go back to group lessons and probably enjoy them a lot more. I did all the summing lessons and all the clubs and that’s what made a difference to me. She improve her stroke until a professional identifies and addresses the issues and this is hard to do in a group but they are still very worthwhile classes to go to.

I’m in my 50s and still can’t swim. Absolutely no co-ordination. Mind you I can’t ride a bike either.
Maybe it’s something that she finds particularly difficult like I did. It could help her to increase the frequency though.

Does your DD want to swim? It doesn't sound like she enjoys it much.

Don't expect school swimming lessons to help. If she can't already swim, that is most unlikely.

Find her a different swimming school where she likes her tutor, and organise a few private lessons to build her confidence, followed by a regular weekly swimming lesson.

However, at 9 she may find she is in a class with much younger children, and so may not enjoy that much. Private lessons and then swimming weekly with you, having fun rather than formal classes may be a better bet.

Book her in for 1-1 lessons.
My Daughters were attending group swimming lessons for years. Realised after 2 years that neither of them could swim properly.

We now pay for 1-1 lessons and 8 year old could swim 400m within 2 months of these lessons. It’s so much better and well worth the money.

I don’t think group swimming lessons work well.

School swimming lessons aren’t great.

YABU to be blaming the school given the background of her failing to learn when you’ve taken her…!

If you want her to swim she has to attend proper lessons, regularly, and commit to learning. School lessons are pretty pointless tbh. FWIW DS is 7 and can confidently swim 50m , he has regular lessons

You need to take her yourself much more frequently. It’s the only way to build confidence in the water.
Personally I’d have never let her quit swimming leasing because she doesn’t like it. Swimming isn’t just a hobby, it’s an important life skill. A dip every few months achieves nothing.

As a former teacher, school swimming lessons will not teach a non swimmer or beginner to swim. They need to learn out of school and you need to be determined. Some kids are just naturally really lousy swimmers but they still need to learn.

School swimming lessons aren’t enough. I had 1:1 lessons at 3 and so did my DC. I remember it wasn’t easy for DC but wasn’t a problem by Y2.