Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Original poster

School offering zero swimming lessons, son is now in year 6 and cant swim

681 replies

Jobseeker19 · 21/09/2021 13:53

Is it compulsory for a school to do swimming lessons?

My son has never had them and is now in year 6.

When I was a child we did it every year.

I asked them today and was told that they are not doing it because of covid, when I told them my child is in year 6 and never had them they told me they only do it in year 5 for one term thats it and thats how all primary schools do it.

They are chatting shit as I have had an older child through there who also never had lessons.

What can I do about it?

OP posts:
toomuchlaundry · 21/09/2021 17:44

But if swimming lessons weren't available at the local pool during COVID there wasn't much a school could do about that.

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 21/09/2021 17:44

We live in an era where many parents are being asked to purchase text books for their children's education because school funds are so stretched.
To say I'm irked because people expect the school to fund swimming lessons because they can't afford to teach their x number of children how to swim themselves is an understatement.

Barton10 · 21/09/2021 17:44

My DC both had swimming at school which was useless as by the time they got the bus to get to the pool and changed they got 20 mins swimming then time to leave. I paid for lessons and took them every week to practice. Pay for one lot of lessons and take the other two in the pool at the same time to practice. Schools have enough to cover without swimming which should be the parents responsibility.

OnTheBenchOfDoom · 21/09/2021 17:45

Neither of my two learned to swim through weekly lessons. I paid for a 1 week intensive course over a school holiday. It was held at the local fee paying grammar school and costs £45 for the week (I just looked).

Ds1 did 2 lots of these, once at Easter and again in the summer. He was 7 and would be doing school swim lessons in year 3, if you can call them that. I used to accompany the swim run for school, the amount of time each child gets in the water is small due to safety and the teachers both from the leisure centre or staff are on the side of the pool unlike the intensive lessons where they were in the water with the children.

Ds2 had 1 lot of the intensive swim lessons, he spent most of it just arsing around but he was only 4, loved being in the water and was incredibly confident.

The main reason both of my children are strong swimmers is due to us taking them at least once a week as a family from being toddlers. Could you not divide your children between you and your partner? There are so many videos on YouTube about teaching your children to swim. You could just take one at a time, then you are only paying for one child.

What are we defining as swimming? Perfect stroke? Or stamina?

Antsinyourpanta · 21/09/2021 17:46

My children did do (I think) 2 terms of compulsory swimming lessons with school. While they were helpful to have I'm not sure that would have been enough to actually teach them to swim. I dont think there would be enough space in the curriculum (or even pool availability) to have regular swimming lessons across all year groups. A 20-30 min swimming lesson took most of the morning factoring in children dawdling walking there and back and getting changed. Herding cats is easier than persuading 8 year old boys to hurry up and put their clothes on!!

Having said this I think it's a but ridiculous to say it's a legal requirement that all kids must be able to swim 25m by the end of key stage 2. Who is legally responsible? (I would think parents rather than schools) but what exactly can they do if your child cant? ?Confused

RobinPenguins · 21/09/2021 17:47

The swimming lessons offered in schools are generally not adequate to teach them to swim and also take place much too late. I wouldn’t be waiting for it (and I’m not, my 3 year old has lessons now) because I definitely wouldn’t want to leave a 6+ year old unable to swim.

Sunshinegirl82 · 21/09/2021 17:47

My (state) primary school had its own pool somehow! We swam twice a week! That was the 80s though!

My DS is in year 1 at a good state primary, as far as I'm aware there are some limited lessons in year 5. Both my DS have swimming lessons at the local leisure centre on a Saturday morning which we pay for.

If you are concerned the school aren't fulfilling its obligations you need to complain to the school Governors. I suspect however that even if you can get the school to do more it won't be enough on its own and you will probably have to supplement with private lessons/your own teaching if you want them to be good swimmers.

PolytheneRam · 21/09/2021 17:48

I've no idea why people are being ao arsey. Not everyone is in a position to be able to afford private lessons, especially if they jqve multiple children. I do worry about poorer children ending up as adults who are unable to swim.

I was under the impression that swimming formed part of the National Curriculum, but I could be wrong.

For those saying that no one ever learns to swim properly with school lessons: that's bollocks. I'd never been in a pool prior to going with school in Year 6, and I was a strong swimmer by the time I'd finished school swimming.

GetTheGoodLookingGuy · 21/09/2021 17:49

Our school do an 8 week block in Y4. One class of current Y6s missed theirs in Y4 due to the first lockdown, but they were caught up last summer term. This year, both Y4 and Y5 are going to catch up last year's Y4s. So (assuming no more lockdowns!) by the end of this school year everyone will be caught up and back to normal.

Thehogfatherstolemycurry · 21/09/2021 17:49

It might be worth asking at your pool if there are any subsidies. Where I live all children under 16 swim free if you register them, and people on certain benefits can get lessons at a reduced price but you have to ask; they're not so forward at just telling you, they'll just let you pay if you go and say 1 child swim but if you fill in a form and say they're on the system its free here.

CatNoBag · 21/09/2021 17:50

Not once did my school take me swimming. I learnt not to drown on holiday, and then when I had lessons paid for by my parents between about 7-10 years old. Not a huge amount, but I'm a very good swimmer still decades later.

JuliaBlackberry · 21/09/2021 17:51

It wouldn't even occur to me to expect the schoool to teach my children to swim. Do what most people do and pay for swimming lessons.

Rosesareyellow · 21/09/2021 17:52

Swimming is compulsory yes. The OP isn’t wrong I don’t know why they’re being jumped on like this Confused school swimming has been going on at our school since last summer term at the local pool.
OP it could be that you’re local pool isn’t allowing it for some reason making things more difficult? Otherwise Covid isn’t really an excuse.

JuliaBlackberry · 21/09/2021 17:54

Oh and if you'd have got on with it when they were younger you'd only have had to pay for one at a time. Now you're facing a situation where you need to pay for all at once. Most entitled attitude ever.

Peanutsandchilli · 21/09/2021 17:58

Our high school has their own pool. The local primaries use it. My daughter went once a week in year 6. She's now year 9 and I bought her a school-regulation swimming costume when she went into year 7. It's never been worn. My younger daughter who's now in year 7 has never been swimming with primary school due to covid.

They've both had lessons that I've paid for independently though.

EatSleepRantRepeat · 21/09/2021 17:58

Not once did my school take me swimming. I learnt not to drown on holiday, and then when I had lessons paid for by my parents between about 7-10 years old

So what about those kids who did drown (which still happens)? Is it their own parents' fault for prioritising eating and heating over something that's already in the school curriculum?

How are we supposed to level up achievement I'm this country if basic life skills aren't being taught - all of those Olympic rowers, canoeists, watersport athletes started off by being able to swim and they needed to start at a young age to make it happen. Are we just accepting that only people whose parents afford lessons get those opportunities?

SailYourShips · 21/09/2021 17:58

I think some posters who are advising that she funds the lessons herself probably have large incomes or don't have three children.

Everything has to be paid for three times over, which is pretty difficult. Free swimming lessons and other activities should be free for every third child in a family, otherwise many children are going to suffer for no other reason than lack of funds.

It could come from the government or from the school budget. The Op isn't asking for a ski trip to be paid for!

Abraxan · 21/09/2021 18:02

Schools get a small amount of funding for swimming lessons, but it is very limited. And if part of a split infant/junior system, the junior school may not get any funding at all - it may well be given to the infant school due to way the funding system works.

Even though it is sort of the National Curriculum the amount of lessons offered through school funding isn't minimal - it's a half term or so in the whole of primary unless school are funding it themselves.

Most schools don't have their own pools therefore the cost of using a pool elsewhere, to have qualified instructors and the transport needed to take the children eats into the funding allowance. If I remember rightly schools can't ask parents to pay/contribute either.

I very much doubt any child will learn to swim via school lessons. It's almost impossible if only accessing the funded sessions.

Lots of children can't afford to access paid for private lessons. I suspect most learn to just get by, without any real stroke or swim knowledge through the odd pool time on holidays or when parents can afford to take them to a public swimming pool occasionally.

toomuchlaundry · 21/09/2021 18:03

@SailYourShips why should schools fund the choices of parents to have 3 children. Schools can barely function on the money they receive already

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 21/09/2021 18:05

Free swimming lessons and other activities funded for every 3rd child
You have got to be shitting me.

RobinPenguins · 21/09/2021 18:07

Free swimming lessons and other activities should be free for every third child in a family, otherwise many children are going to suffer for no other reason than lack of funds.

You can’t make daft distinctions. It’s either important and should be free for all children (subject to means testing) or it’s not so shouldn’t be free for any of them. But contingent on how many siblings they’ve got? That’s ludicrous. One of the downsides of having more children is life costs more. That’s fairly well known I’d have thought…

Simonjt · 21/09/2021 18:08

Do you have a council pool? They’re often much cheaper, some offer discounted or free entry for people who are claiming certain benefits. Some offer cheaper intensive courses, especially in the school holidays.

Only LEA schools have to take children swimming, no schools have to provide lessons that were missed due to covid.

SailYourShips · 21/09/2021 18:08

@toomuchlaundry

Because the children are here and because they can suffer for lack of parental funds. This case is one in point.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting all three children get free lessons/sports but every child in a family after the first two. So in this case it would only be one child receiving funds.

Let's not forget, on day we will be thanking people for having larger families. We are already short of workers. But that's another debate.