ASA learn to swim framework in regards to criteria to progress through stages

[bhaile]

Hi,
My daughter who is going to be 4 years old in August has been taking swimming lesson at Edmonton green, Enfield, since she was 6 month old. She is now in ducking 2.
Last week however her teacher told us that she is very good at swimming and therefore should go to level 1 and was awarded her red hat.

As you can imagine, we were all celebrated her success and encouraged/ congratulated her enormously. However, when we took her to her class a week later, we were told by the managers there that until she is 5 years old, she has to remain at ducking 2. Adding to that, they said they are following ASA guidance.

We were very disappointed. Even more so, my daughter left confused. It is very hard to explain to 4 years old why she can't join the other groups. After all, we were advised by her teacher that she is joining the stage 1 groups in front of her.

Thus, I decided to contact ASA directly and hear it from them as there parent's guide booklet doesn't mention age anywhere. Therefore, I rang there office this morning and was advised that it's by ability that children progress though stages and not by age.

However, her swim school are adamant that she should stay in duckling 2 group because of her age.
I'm confused and don't know what to tell my daughter. Can any one advise please?

thanks
beth

Ducklings go up to 5 and I think when they finish ducklings 5 they can do a bit without aids and is pretty much level 2? Can she move further up in Ducklings instead?

Has she got her duckling badges as I think the higher ones sort of run alongside the early ASA stage awards iyswim?

I think our swim school starts at 4 1/2 for stage 1 lessons. Certainly DS did them before starting full time school at 5.

@gym, they have duckling 1&2 and then level 1. She is now at duckling 2. It seems a bit of waste of time to be in duckling 2 for the next year or so just because she is not 5. Especially after the teacher recomanded her to go to the next stage.

As parent, is there anything I can do to help her progress through the stages without the age burden that has been put in place by the Swim school?

ASA has only recently dropped from age 5 down to age 4 here.

Ours are ducklings and then once I reception they can join stage 2 if already progressing well.

The top duckling award (5) has them swimming 5 meters without armbands or anything. Can she do that?

I'm not sure I'd worry too much, the level 1 and ducklings are sort of equivalent really.

thanks all.
she defo not level 2 but can certainly fits in well in level 1.

Is there another swim school near you? Ds1 was in stage 5 at 5 years old and ds2 is in stage 3 at 3. If she is ready to progress then she should, after all you are paying for the lessons they aren't offering a free service!

Wow lunar they are amazing! My just 6 year old is the youngest in her stage 4 class I think. I can't imagine a 5 year old swimming length after length of butterfly! I hope you've got her marked for a swim team and/or other sport!

(Although thinking about it ours add to the requirements before they move them up, so there are the ASA requirements AND additional ones, which I don't think is unusual though.)

That's strange , DD passed level 3 age 4. She didn't do ducklings though just straight into the levels.

Our pool has Ducklings up to 3, then at 3 they can move onto stage 1. If children have already been having lessons, they may then progress fairly quickly. DD2 is 4 and in stage 2.

I agree with lunar it seems very much down to the swim school rather than the ASA, my 2 DDs both completed all 10 ASA stages just before they turned 7. When they started reception at 4 years they joined in around Stage 3/4. I guess if you have to wait until she starts school just make sure that she doesn't get automatically put in Stage 1, she may be ready for a higher stage.

Thanks futureme, my eldest loves to swim, he is in a swim academy now at 6.5 and the regularly do a mile in an hours lesson. He is the youngest in his class and it's done wonders for his confidence as he's such a shy boy.

Sitting on the balcony is a surreal experience though, every parent on there thinks their child will go to the Olympics, they don't like me much because I said we go because it's fun for him. Then they grill me (and any new parent) on exactly which months he was born and am I sure he's 6?

I'm not the brightest but I think I know the age of my children

More likely to be down to to the lesson provider - our swim school and one other locally (both linked to swim clubs) take children from age 4 in formal lessons - we couldn't take them any younger due to insurance requirements, and even then not all 4 year olds are ready for formal lessons. The council take children from age 5 in formal lessons, whilst the 4 and unders get to do the Duckling type things in the leisure pool.

I'd look at a different swim school if you can and make sure she is given a swimming assessment before being assigned to a class.

lunar if you think it's bad now just wait until they start competing. If your DS has a Jan or Feb birthday you'll have that thrown at you all the time as to why he is doing well.

Although having said that, we had a couple of athletes at the Commonwealth Games, and they had the least pushy parents you could ever meet.

I've already had condolences that his birthday is late in the year so he will never amount to anything! That was actually said to me

Makes it harder to qualify for meets at District / National level until he hits about 15, when the age factor becomes less important as they all hit puberty and become similarly huge. My DS has a March birthday but always got some swims at Nationals in April when it was still age on the day - so if he's good he'll still get swims, just maybe not as many as those with a more favourable birthday.

I would look for a different pool where she can go into Duckling 3/4/5. She will probably then jump into Stage 2 or 3.

Wow what talented children :)

I've never seen a 4 year old swimming proper lengths at any of the pools we go to near home, I'm genuinely really impressed! I did hear of one at a class one went to that swam really well before school, 5 badge but hadn't met her.

Think it just depends if they enjoy it or not . DD is 5 and stage 5 , she has been to classes with her nursery friends since she was 2 or 3. It gets more difficult as they learn breathing techniques , butterfly etc but she has piles of energy for the distances .

I suspect the threads are a little self selecting too..., like the brilliant readers on any reading thread etc :)

Thanks all. I'll look at different school.
Just out of interest, is Fusion running any of you swim school pls? around my area, all swim school run by fusion.

Never heard of fusion swimming.

Futureme Where has anybody said that they had a 4 yr old managing to competently swim 25m? Stage 5 outcomes only cover swimming 10m with basic technique, not even a width of a 25m pool.

You won't see young competitive swimmers doing length after length of any one stroke, it will be various drills and sets, and 1000 to 1250m per hour is standard for entry level junior coaching.

bhaile have you tried contacting swimming clubs in your area to see what they recommend? Clubs have a vested interest in getting children at a good standard at an early age so might be able to point you in a different direction.