swimming lessons letter

[1805]

opinions please -

A general letter went out from dc's (fee paying) school, saying that

"for some children the weekly school swimming lesson is not enough", and we should "sign up for additional out-of-school lessons", or pay for the extra school run swimming club. The letter goes on to say "Drowning is an everyday risk in this country" and "Drowning is the 3rd most common form of accidental death".

Now my dd often moans about her swimming lessons at school because she says she is always the slowest in her class of 20, so I feel that I am one of the parents that this letter is directed at.

It makes me wonder what they are doing in the school swimming lessons???

Do I really need tp pay for two swimming lessons a week???

What do you think about this letter? It's made me quite cross.

OP, my general feeling is that school swimming lessons are rubbish. There's too many children, and the lessons are short - in DD's school it's a half hour, with much of that taken up by faffing about in the changing room. I would never rely on a school's swimming club to actually teach a child to swim or radically improve their skills - it's only there for fun and splashing about.

I agree with the letter that swimming is an important life skill. Personally, I would pay up for extra lessons. Look at it in a positive light - if your DD improves her swimming, she'll no longer be the slowest in her class, and then might actually get some benefit out of them.

I'd say swimming is absolutely essential.

But what year is she? Had she swum before the school lessons? Can she actually swim confidentially and is just slower than the others?

she is Y5 and can swim 25m in all 4 strokes.
She's had lessons since she was about 3 maybe?? Then we stopped lessons when she went to private school in y3 and relied on school lessons.

I just think that if you are going to offer swimming as part of the weekly curriculum, then you should get something out of it. The class of 20 is split into 3 swimming groups, with 5 girls in dc's bottom group.

Indeed - it amazes me how swimming gets neglected. We had to take our two to a local pool for lessons on Saturdays as we felt the private junior school was not doing nearly enough. They were quite happy to make my son spend several hours a week on rugby, but not willing to allocate the resources to something that is actually useful and might save his life. Far better to put him at risk of spinal and head injuries on the rugby field, it seems. We made an onsite pool with the flexibility to use it a lot it a strong priority requirement for senior school choice. Good luck sorting it out.

I would organise my own out of school swimming. DS just splashed around a bit in school but I taught him properly. Swimming is a great skill to learn and good for fitness too. The drowning reference in the letter is just a ploy to get you to part with more money. Basic swimming and keeping afloat skills are enough to keep you out of danger.

She's in the bottom group and can swim 25m in four different strokes? Crikey. She'd be the best swimmer in many classes.

I'd say she's already beyond the category of kids for whom school swimming isn't enough - she can swim competently! Speed doesn't matter.

I think the letter is aimed at kids in other years who can't swim more than a couple of strokes and are unlikely to learn to do so in half an hour a week.

If the letter went to everyone in the school I wouldn't take it too personally.

All the curriculum requires is that a child by end of KS2 is able to stay afloat and "swim" whether that be dog paddle, breaststroke, etc 25m. The speed of a child is nothing to do with anything. Your child CAN swim and therefore is in no danger of drowning as far as I would be concerned. My DS had outside of school lessons from age of 4 till 9. He was never the fastest in his group but by the time we stop lessons I knew that should he fall in some water he could swim to get out.

I went to private school and was convinced I was terrible at sport as I was in bottom groups for swimming etc as I wasn't fast and didn't do perfect strokes. It's only since I've grown up and done sports with work etc that I've realised I'm actually pretty good and better than most at swimming - I still don't look perfect but can beat my super fit dh in terms of stamina when swimming.

Sorry long winded but meant to say some private schools write children off in all sports if they don't fit into their idea. It sounds like your daughter can swim well so I'd take her to local pools and let her enjoy it.

Ok, I'm being too touchy. In my defence I have a lot going on at the moment. Thanks MN people. I shall not get all huffy about it!!

The curriculum has changed, though,..and children should not only be able to cover a distance of 25m, but also be able to "use a range of strokes effectively". Won't matter much for your independent school, though.
It sounds very much like your daughter can do that anyway. I still teach children at the top end of primary school, who can barely stay afloat for 5m. They are the ones where I ask parents to consider out-of-school lessons. They do fine with me and make very good progress when I can teach 1-2-1, but I don't have such a small class, that this would be possible at all times. A class of 20 is already quite small, in my opinion.

But why send out a general letter to every parent?

I think sending out a general letter is their clunky way of trying not to make people feel singled out. It doesn't work, of course.

But school lessons are rubbish, and really being able to swim 25 metres isn't enough. I didn't take my DDs out of lessons until they could do 300m and more at a stretch at 3 strokes (I don't consider butterfly that important, underwater confidence, treading water and good stroke technique at te three major strokes are worth more to me). So it might be worth investing in some more private lessons just to work on technique and endurance.

My eldest was taught privately, and then joined a swimming club which retaught each stroke to remove the bad habits! Our youngest joined that club's learn-to-swim sessions, which meant each stroke was taught by a specialist, she is a fast and graceful swimmer and the lessons were cheaper too.