Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

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:
Strictly1 · 22/09/2021 21:46

The reality with school swimming lessons is they take up loads of time and achieve little. The groups are far too big for quality lessons. So even if your child had gone swimming for a term if they hadn't gone outside of school too they still wouldn't be able to swim. I think it's a parents job really.

Quaggars · 22/09/2021 21:53

It was a couple of terms in year 5 when mine were primary age too (so age approx 9)
I paid for swimming lessons once a week as well though for a few years beforehand ( which I did tend to find expensive and had to stop after a few years) but thought definitely worth it as swimming is a life lesson so worth getting if you can.

littlebilliie · 22/09/2021 21:54

The school did three sessions, I went through the council and wasted money and I paid for private lessons after a few they were competent and confident

Fluffmum · 22/09/2021 21:56

You take him

LincolnshireYellowBelly · 22/09/2021 22:09

The curriculum is rubbish to be honest in regards the expectation that all year 6s can swim so many metres in so many different strokes. Schools do not have that kind of resource. My son went to a school with an outdoor pool. He had 1 session a week in year 3 and 4 and missed it in year 5 and 6 because of Covid. His ability to swim is not due to these sessions (even if he had accessed the pool in years 5 and 6). It’s all to do with the weekly swimming lessons I have paid for since he was 3.
The expectations the government puts on schools to teach children to swim is utterly unreasonable. Schools are unable to put adequate provision in full stop

CrazyAllAroundMe · 22/09/2021 22:09

My dc had school swimming lesson 1 term a year for the last 3 years of primary. We paid £20 or something for travel.

Yabu though lots of schools don't, you're the parent. Mine could both swim OK before then as it was important to me as a poor swimmer and I budgeted lessons in my monthly outgoings even when things were really tight at that time for us. It's not the schools fault you have 3 children who cant swim and 5/6 hrs with school a year for 3 (or 1) yrs wouldn't have done a thing. It's on you. Take them yourself make them water confident as it's good exercise even learning how to tread water in the shallow end, play catch with the swim weights whoever drops it goes under to retrieve etc it all helps.

Ask on local fb pages some groups are small and reasonably priced if in high school pools etc privately run small businesses on a Saturday. You might find you can afford one child at a time

MumofSpud · 22/09/2021 22:34

When I found out my DS was going to have swimming lessons - in Year 3 I think it was - I made sure he could swim before then - I didn't want him in a pool with 30+ children all learning together (yes I know they would have been divided up into levels).
OP - I suppose you are one of those parents who also think schools should teach children other life skills such as using a knife and fork / being toilet trained etc Hmm

MumofSpud · 22/09/2021 22:40

@PheonixGlitterRepublic

Some parents can’t afford to feed their children so surely it’s pretty obvious not all parents can afford swimming lessons. It’s dangerous for children not to be able to swim. In an ideal world parents would be able to pay but we all know that’s not the case so it’s important for there to be some state provision for such an essential skill.
I have 2 DC. I wanted 3. I did the maths and realised we couldn't afford this. So I didn't have a 3rd DC. It's really not rocket science.
SillyOldBucket · 22/09/2021 22:52

I always thought it was part of the national curriculum as it's considered a life skill, although it has probably been difficult to deliver this past year due to Covid. but if you can afford it, lessons are worth paying for. Once they are able to stay afloat and swim a few strokes you could stop the lessons at that point and then just take them swimming to practice - and I think swimming is free for children in most pools

DreamTheMoors · 22/09/2021 22:55

@Jobseeker19

I have 3 children I can't afford swimming lessons for all.

Plus I think the school is doing a disservice.

How so, @Jobseeker19?

I grew up in California and even WE never had school-sponsored swim lessons.
There were 3 of us kids too, and my mum got us private lessons - they weren’t all that expensive.
Of course, with all the pools here it’s vital that children know how to swim - for safety’s sake.
Do one child per year, oldest to youngest, perhaps. Good luck.

Joyjoj · 22/09/2021 23:11

Surely swimming lessons are part of being a parent?

Pinkfluff76 · 22/09/2021 23:14

Our school does one term in year 3 which was missed due to Covid and now they’re busy doing 6 weeks in year 4 and that will be the end of that. No kid will learn to swim that quickly anyway especially when there is a full class of kids of different abilities so I don’t really get the point. And we have to pay for it too. I don’t see why it’s the school’s responsibility to teach your kids to swim. And why is it so important to you anyway? I’m sure you don’t have a pool in your garden so it’s not the safety aspect there and if you can’t afford to get a family pass at your local leisure centre to take them yourself then I’m assuming you’re not going on holiday to a resort hotel with a pool every holidays! So why is it so important they can swim?! No one forced you to have 3 kids and they’re your responsibility! So entitled! Get over yourself.

CorianderAndCream · 22/09/2021 23:19

I never had it every year in the 90s/2000s. Think we went like 6 times?

Everyone I know has had private lessons.

Kipperandarthur · 22/09/2021 23:32

My late father taught us both his children to swim individually in the local pool by supporting us with his hands whilst we did doggy paddle. Then floating on our backs kicking our legs again supported. We got used to the water this way. Then armbands and us floating and him gradually reducing the support.

Buy a book for guidance and then take them individually. Once the eldest is more comfortable in the water you can all go together.

Redwinestillfine · 22/09/2021 23:38

I don't think school swimming lessons teach people to swim. They're for exercise like PE but they can't properly teach such a range of abilities at the same time and only tend to last a term in our school. Private lessons are not expensive and they can go swimming for free at the pool they learn in.

ellyeth · 23/09/2021 00:03

My granddaughter is 10 and this term they are going swimming from school. It was my understanding that it is compulsory for schools to offer swimming to children although I'm not sure of the actual age by which this should happen.

She has already learned to swim because her parents took her each Saturday. But not all parents can afford it and some parents can't swim themselves so they are unlikely to take their children to the swimming baths. Neither of my parents could swim and I never learned at school. I only learned to swim when I was 38, through the local leisure centre beginners classes. I'm still a terrible swimmer though.

I think learning to swim should be part of the education system, as PE is. It is not just about exercise but also about safety.

ellyeth · 23/09/2021 00:09

Just because, as one poster said, some people have the money to spend on fancy coffees and takeaways doesn't mean that everybody does. There is a significant proportion of people in this country who are living on the breadline and even a relatively small expense like going to the local pool is out of the question for them.

ShoshanaBlue101 · 23/09/2021 00:21

It seems rather odd to discover that your children can't swim now! Most parents enrol their kids at swimming lessons when they're about 3 or 4 - I know some do Water Babies, but that's not actually swimming lessons - it's just singing nursery rhymes in water!!! (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

The same goes for dancing, football (or any sport), music.... Schools will just provide the bare minimum of what they have to - and for most things that aren't examined by Ofsted, that doesn't have to be anything, especially if they've been converted to academies.

Swimming lessons aren't really very expensive, but sitting poolside can be a bit of a bore.

You can get free/really cheap admission to your LA leisure centre if you're poor. I suspect that swimming isn't really very high on the list of your priorities - which is fine. Lots of children will be in similar positions due to the adverse effects of covid.

Mamanyt · 23/09/2021 00:31

Here in the US, very few schools offer swimming, and those are mostly expensive, private schools. Parents teach kids to swim, or find instructors to do so. Either of those is always possible.

simiisme · 23/09/2021 00:35

My husband took our two to the local pool every Sunday until they could swim. They started off with floats and arm bands, then gradually got more confident.
Just normal admission costs, not lessons.

WTF475878237NC · 23/09/2021 02:32

This thread shows how out of touch some people are with the poverty facing some families. If someone says they cannot afford it, how about we believe them. For many families in the UK, the choice is literally food or fuel and money for swimming truly isn't available.

Plumtree391 · 23/09/2021 03:05

I have no difficulty at all in believing how poor some people are. Swimming lessons are expensive which is why schools should provide them routinely, at least for one term. Even I had swimming lessons with my school for a short while though I didn't learn to swim during them, I just started swimming in the sea on holiday and never looked back.

Covid has messed up that sort of thing for a lot of children but it must get back to normal sooner or later. In the meantime maybe a parent can take their child to the swimming baths and teach them a little bit. I don't know how much it costs just to go swimming though, it's years since I went.

Jossse · 23/09/2021 06:55

I can't believe you've waited this long. I took mine to the pool at 1 year onwards and taught them myself! They loved it it's part of growing up. My dm taught us ... I taught mine... so sad 😭

Kind2Bkind · 23/09/2021 07:04

I have been a school teacher for 19 years and swimming does not necessarily have to be delivered as part of the curriculum. As teachers we also expect that most children will have had lessons before as this is a life skill and is usually addressee by parents.

I know swimming lessons are expensive, so could you not ask the father to chip in to the costs? If not, perhaps ask at the pool for support in funding the courses for your 3 children. There are usually some kinds of schemes that support single parent families.

Please, do what you can to support your chid in this. It’s not like learning to play football or tennis, it’s a life skill that is needed for safety.

Spidersinmyhair · 23/09/2021 07:23

Can't believe the responses on this thread. Everyone saying it's the parents responsibility to teach and that parents should pay for lessons without recognising that it's a massive privilege to
A) be able to afford lessons
B) to have parents that can swim
Many children from ethnic minority backgrounds have parents that don't swim
My parents couldn't swim and my school swimming lessons were shit so I've grown up not knowing how to swim. At 36 I'm now paying for my own swimming lessons. Please don't assume that everyone has the means to teach their own children or pay for lessons FFS.