Swimming lessons... is this "normal" now?

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

Trying to gauge if the local 'Council' lessons are just a bit crap, or this is standard post-Covid

Long waiting lists
Lessons frequently cancelled as no teacher
Inconsistent grading
Not being able to move up due to lack of space despite completing a level (and a good chunk of the level above by my reckoning...)

I am cancelling. These lessons aren't cheap, but cheaper than Private swim schools(£6 for 30 mins. Private is £12) (group lessons).

It's the usual in my area for council pools. Different instructors all the time, lessons cancelled and not rearranged (so always missing at least one lesson per block).

Also, instructors didn't go in the pool after kids moved to big pool and just shouted instructions from the side so kids couldn't hear what was going on with 3 groups on the big pool and one in the small pool at the same time.

Private lessons are more expensive but they learn better, it's worth it.

Sounds like our local authority swimming lessons.
absolutely horrific booking system, waiting lists closed, impossible to contact the swimming managers direct. If you’re lucky enough to get a place on the lessons it’s then like a race to book the appropriate time and level and if you miss out then back off the list for you and you have to wait for the hallowed waiting list space to open up… except that isn’t advertised you are expected to check the god awful website twice a day just in case

Yes this is usual now - due to backlog of demand due to COVID, young teachers not having got trained due to COVID/staff shoortages generally, business costs rising due to Brexit and COVID and general inflation, and lack of investment from government in local government provision.

How depressing. A life saving skill.

This is my experience of council lessons. Completely fed up of these problems. We're continuing for now as the teachers are great. In our area some private lessons have a similar waiting list.

Have you considered joining g a Swimming Club? Our SC teaches 6 children to swim in 1 hour lessons and after 12 weeks they all seem to be able to swim a width on back and front and move up to next group. Then another 12 start.

Yep same here , lots of inconsistencies and failures here . A child nearly drowned in a swimming lesson a few weeks ago and neither the lifeguard or the teacher noticed 😫

Similar here, waiting list to start lessons are long but once you are in and moving up levels it isn’t so bad ( although son has been waiting 2 months for the next level to have a space at a time we can do) lots of lessons in same pool, teachers fairly stable and lessons not cancelled.

Pretty standard in both the council and nearby private pools unfortunately. Covid has really increased the demand. I’m taking my 2 swimming twice a week and doing my best as they’ve been on waiting lists for ages and I can at least teach them how to float and basically be safe.

We paid £36pm for 4 x 30min group lessons. The kids would only swim across the pool 3-4 times a session. Instructors would frequently change and were often disinterested in the kids. Some would just tow the kids across the pool. There was no assessment, skills development, no certificates, no progress. We ended up cancelling.

I've had the opposite experience. DS was with a private company and after 18 months I saw very little improvement, it was almost as though they were keeping the kids in place to continue making money. Plus they stopped for all school holidays, it was about £60 a month.
I've swapped DS to local authority lessons, I can log in and see progress weekly, he's really coming along. Sometimes you have to swap times or locations apparently when they move up, but they are generally accommodated.

We have lessons in a pool attached to a secondary school. They've been great and we rarely have a lesson cancelled maybe once a term due to staff sickness. Moving up is tricky at our pool if you have limited availability so each time one of my DC has moved up a group we've had to change our swimming days to fit them both on the same day although very rarely at the same time!

We got on a wait list early and it was fine but post covid there is a huge waiting list.

Same here which is why I booked both in with an individual swim school. Only the one teacher, so very consistent, classes never cancelled (unless issues with the pool) and they know every child by name.

My experience of local council (BetterUK) has been quite positive. The lessons are consistent and I like the teacher - especially as she put up with my excitable five year old.

I was certain I wanted to go that pool because, despite being underfunded and a bit shabby, truth be told, they have excellent family changing room, with lots of very large cubicles so that male and female parents and children can get changed privately. I did baby swimming at a little private pool with just two tiny communal changing rooms and I always thought it would be a nightmare with a mobile child.

Yep. We're lucky, DD has a reliable, good teacher, she was swimming before covid so didn't have to tackle a waiting list. The class that swim at the same time as her lesson though; different teacher every week, 8 year olds with armbands on. DD is 5 and despite being in the class with less ability they've overtaken the older ones. Because there isn't room to move them to the next class it has meant her current class has automatically become the next class. Which is great for us but it does mean there is now one less beginner class for those that are on the waiting list.

None of that. We have the same teacher every week (unless sickness or holiday), it’s never been cancelled, DD is making really good progress. The classes are pretty full but we haven’t had to wait when moving up a class. The pool we use is a community interest company (ex council, operates as a charity now) so I guess feels half way between council and private, and I pay £25 a month for weekly group lessons.

It's difficult to find swimming teachers. It's not that well paid and has non-standard hours.

One has just finished Stage 5, the other nearly finished stage 5 (in a matter of weeks) so its a reasonable time to stop really. (Especially since the problem is getting Stage 6 lessons...)

They ate definitely short staffed. (Both teachers and lifeguards)

Eldest is Yr6 and had no school lessons either (or bike ability, or a residential trip) Younger DD is yet to have any school lessons.

I work at a leisure centre run by the council. We have an absolutely massive backlog of children waiting to start our beginner classes due to the pandemic restrictions. There’s around a 12 month waiting list at the moment and there is absolutely nothing we can do to make it move faster as we can only accommodate the current amount of lessons in the pool. We know it’s a nuisance but there really is nothing we can do.

We have had a few
more uncoverable staff absences than usual because Covid gets passed around the lifeguards and swimming teachers constantly because there is no ventilation in an indoor swimming pool. We refund for lessons that have to be cancelled due to this.

Re: not being able to move up to the next stage until there is space made by children from that stage moving up - this has always been a problem well before Covid. We juggle where we can, replacing poorly attended lessons in one stage with a stage that people desperately need to move to, but that’s not always possible.

I don’t really know what else to say - I’m assuming that all other facilities like ours are having the same problems. There really isn’t anything more we can do.

I work at a local authority leisure centre. Our swimming instructors are mostly fantastic. However, lessons are often cancelled (1) because of the shortage of lifeguards (2) because of the shortage of swimming teachers and (3) because of problems with the pool eg temp too low, child has pooed in pool etc. All 3 of these happen frequently.

Lifeguards earn £9.50/hr, which is probably all you need to know why they are in short supply. Swimming teachers have to put a lot of time into training before they can work and then earn about £15-17/hour.

Not my experience of Council lessons at all.
Small classes of 6 max, never been cancelled, consistent teacher and they put on A LOAD of additional classes to deal with the COVID backlog.
DD is moving up a level after the summer break.
£21/month.

I don't get all the anger here, can't you just teach your own children to swim?

I'm not angry. Just fed up.

As for teaching them myself..... the only family swim times not in school time is a 90 minute session on a Sunday lunchtime. Not as easy as it sounds...

Yes sadly 12 month wait list around here