ASA stage 7

[jamesonx]

3/4 lessons to go for DD to complete stage 7. presuming the best outcome can you then purchase a bronze challenge certificate at the time of passing the stage?

No, it's a completely different set of criteria. Parallel system, not the same thing at all. I have known children to take their bronze at any time from Stage 5 to Stage 10 - my daughter went on a weeklong course to do Bronze, and the following year did Silver, Gold and half of her Honours on another course. They don't teach these badges in our usual lessons.

The wording for stage 7 is eligibility for the bronze challenge, stage 8 eligibility for the silver challenge etc. The point I'd like to focus on in your reply regarding the assessment for the bronze challenge award as DD has distance certificate for 400m and has actually swam 43 lengths in the past is:surely given stage 7 outcomes the swimming pool should only charge for assessment and award? Not another full course; what do you think?

The real issue is that it's a different system, and not all pools offer this. It is not part of the Stages 1-10. Just as not all swim schools bother to do the Water Skills series, Kingfisher (diving) series or distance badges.

The bit saying 'eligibility' means that "they can now take this badge if they want to and your pool offers it". One of our three nearby pools does, as a summer course, and the other two don't do it at all. ASA's recommendations are that children around stage 7/8/9/10 can take Bronze/Silver/Gold/Honours, but like I said, some children on Stage 5 signed up for the 5-day course (it cost about £20) and passed Bronze. It's a separate badge. If your DD is about to pass Stage 7, you could by all means ask for a private lesson so that she can take the Bronze then. The distance she has swum in the past won't count - my DD1 swam her first mile at 6, but still had to do 800m on a pre-arranged date to get the Gold this year (aged 9). For all four of these badges, teachers are quite specific about which strokes have to be used in which order, and most of them have a time limit. Then there is the other section, which uses skills that most swimmers will learn in their normal lessons, but they have to be performed in a specific order for a certain length of time, hence the separate lessons my DD had.

It is good fun, and I hope she gets a chance to do it. It's just not all covered specifically in most lessons.

You can do the stuff for bronze alongside the regular level 7 stuff. Think it involves a swim in pyjamas? Then levels 8-10 focus on improving strokes and often you can also do silver and gold

The stuff in pyjamas was in stage 6. How do you do these awards alongside when there is no information for this. Is this to get one to take whole courses unecessarily?

I think you need to ask your course providers. Mine have a syllabus/tick list for each level eg swim 25 m using correct stroke, perform a turn, scull . . . And each thing is ticked off as they perform it. They might practise 3 of the skills each session and it takes maybe 2+ terms (10 weeks each) to achieve all the 10 objectives

meanwhile at the same time, the instructor has a separate list of what they need to get their bronze/silver/gold and each lesson or every few lessons, they will also do one of the things on that list as well.

So a lesson might be
Practise 3 things towards level 7
A few students might get a tick to show they have achieved one or two skills for level 7
Do one thing on the list for the bronze award

End of term, some will get their level 7 badge, some their bronze, some both, some neither

The actual objectives are all online somewhere as well

This is what i just found for the bronze. Looks like they need to show they can do it all at once rather than the 'tick list' approach of the levels. I'm pretty sure mine practise it quite a bit first though. My club does the rookie lifeguard as a separate course but i think thats because the skills are so different. This list looks like standard swimming class stuff

Bronze Challenge
For the following grades Sections A and B may be completed on two separate occasions, but each section must be completed without pause and in the order listed.
This group of skills test the pupil’s ability:

Section A

1. To jump into water of at least full reach depth.
2. To swim 10 metres, followed by a surface-dive into water of at least full reach depth and under water swim for a distance of five metres.
3. To tread water in a vertical position for three minutes.
4. To scull head-first on the back for 15 metres with the feet at, or near, the surface throughout.

Section B

1. To swim 400 metres using two strokes. Changes of stroke can only occur at the completion of a length of the pool. A minimum of 100 metres is to be swum on each stroke.
2. To climb out at the deep end without assistance.

Thanks waffle nose