PANIC!..My 5 yr old DD just brought home a letter from school..she's starting to go swimming NEXT WEEK!

[PinkChick]

Panic!!..i obv have PFB syndrome as ive not had any help with dd from birth (dad and i together but im a do things myself and my way kind of person and although he does do normal dad stuff, im the one who takes her to school etc as i work from home)

We try to take her swimming every weekend as she did have some lessons and teacher was old dragon who half terified her when she was worried about swimming on her back..reult-dd now gets upset if she has to swim on back!

DD can swim really well with arm bands on, but being a worrier (and a childminder who has to work towards ratio's) i'm stressing about her being ok, being helped to get changed (as i always get her dry/changed and they i do myself) and being safe poolside as they cant take their own armbands as they use pools own.

School have strangley become very lax with communication this term so no idea what they do or dont do to help them but there will be approx 20 children there, 5 and 6 yr olds..can any one help me stop worrying and reassure me it will be fine??

[snorkle]

[PinkChick]

well she went...and she came home in one peice]smile]...she LOVED it, teachers DIDNT help themg et changed but according to dd there was no problems, only one little one got upset, dd DID say she was worried for a bit as she thought they were going to have to go in the big pool..but was fine when she realised they werent..didnt do ANY swimming as a lot of the children couldnt, so was just getting a feel for the water, walking through it, gaining their confidense..really pleased with how they did it..AND dd came home with all items of clothing right way round!..wow!

[PinkChick]

yeah well dd swims at min using breast stroke as she finds it ahrd to front crawl 'because' of the arm bands so she may benefit from this?

[deegward]

ds2 (5) has been swimming at school every week for the past year.

It's fine, they learn to dry themselves, and dress back in uniform after. Honestly she will be fine!

[PoorOldEnid]

woggles in the baby pool

she'll be fine

[snorkle]

They learn better without armbands to be honest. The armbands are great to gain confidence and keep them safe when they're playing around in the water, but not so brilliant for actually learning to swim. Suspect floats and woggles will be used instead at least for some of the time.

[PinkChick]

oh lord, jsut spoke to secretary and she said i dont need to send arm bands as they prob WONT use them!!!!

They ARE going to our local pool, so i know learning pool is way shallow enough for dd to stand up in and there are LOADS of teachers and teaching assistants going and she laughed when i said what pandemonium it will be at changing time and she laughed an d said she was glad she wasnt going!

i imagine they WILL be able to use the pools own arm bands TBH, but dd does have a go without them when we go, so know she wont find thata big deal, esp if she can chose a lovely bright coloured flaot or woggle

[PinkChick]

thanks snorkle, tbh if it is our local pool, i know they ARE great and DO watch the children even when we take dd ourselves on weekend, so i am feeling a little more reassured now..thanks

[snorkle]

It will probably be pandemonium in the change rooms the first few times, but they'll get used to it quickly. No way will the bus go without anyone and no way will they all be fully competent at changing fast at that age and it won't really be the end of the world if some of them are slighly damp or buttoned up wrong at the end. I reckon in 3 or 4 weeks time they will all have improved hugely - and you may even find she's noticably better at getting dressed herself at home too as a result.

Safety will be fine, pools are used to school parties and lifeguards will be on the alert for unruly behaviour & squash it before it starts.

Although you may think it's too young 5 is actually an excellent age to learn to swim. I think more schools should start this young not fewer.

She'll be fine

[PinkChick]

aw bless..ive told dd not to worry about getting evrything right or tucked it or folded etc, just get dry, dressed and ill sort it out later

[kerryk]

my dd1 is 6 and still needs help getting dressed after lessons, everyweek she manages to drop her clothes in the wet puddles or drag them about the floor in a day dream.

[PinkChick]

oh and thanks..its good to hear about everyone else and how they 'coped'

[PinkChick]

Hi..no i wasnt surprised by the Get a grip comments i was surprised by one* poster not being the first to say it

it seems from playground this morning that most of the mums think it IS too young, esp as they only started back last week!

from what i can gather, as there are two year 1'a (year 1 and year 1-2, dd being in the latter), year 1-2 are going NOW as the older children in their class (6 and 7 yr olds) went last year late on and they want to keep them at it..so are taking the newbys along too!

DD is TOTALLY unfazed by it and i was trying to jokingly say ooh if your old swim teacher is there (the battleaxe who terrified her) you can say hello and show her what i big girl you are now and how much better you are at swimming..just incase it IS HER who is teaching them so dd doesnt think OH NO!

All mums at school this morn were worried about sme thing, their LO's having to get out/dry and ready themselves intime to get on bus and get back, dd is very time aware, sbut she may worry about taking too long causing her to flap..so seems im not the only one who helps my dd get dry and dresseed
a concern though, is when they send out authorisation forms ("i agree x can do y and z"), i signed last one when they first started reception and specifically wrote on it "NOTE: x cannot swim therefor i do not agree to outings to swimming pool"..next to the area showing swimming..however they neevr actually went in reception, it muct have been a generic form, so as far as thier concerned i STILL dont allow dd to go!?..are they going to make sure i sign another form to agree?, if not then they HAVENT properly carried out risk assemsment as i havent given consent!?

think i may have to speak to secretary..they know what im like and we can speak jovially and friendly, so will just ask about arm bands, ratios so on.i know dd is one of the more sensible ones, so i know she wont be messing around, its just ive been out as aprent helper with them before and it didnt seem all that organised to me

[Jux]

She will be fine.

DD started swimming lessons with the school at this age, and was at about the same level as yours. She had always used armbands but couldn't at these lessons and once she'd had the first lesson, never used them again.

She had always been helped with drying herself etc afterwards, but managed fine by herself with the school.

By the end of the first set of lessons with the school she could actually swim, not just doggy paddle, and loved floating on her back, soon moving on to actually propelling herself about a bit on her back too.

You'd be amazed what peer pressure does!

[arfishy]

DD is 5 and will start lessons during school hours next term (4th term of first year at school). The school deliberately does this as by the final term they are much more able to handle themselves/the uniforms (ties, piniafores, blazers etc) and are settled into school.

The first 3 terms swimming was extra-curricular after school and I came along, helped her change, then watched and helped her shower and dress afterwards.

[PoorOldEnid]

you are worrying for no reason

however i am sure the teachers will be used to this so discuss with them

glad you are hiding pfb stress madness from your dd

[Morloth]

Well my DS is a PFB and an only at this stage so it can't be that we all have so many children or only babies.

I will play the Aussie card and say that I feel a little guilty that he doesn't ALREADY know how to swim at 4. Most Aussie kids can swim before they can walk (at the very least be able to get to the edge of a pool should they fall in etc).

We cho\ose the school based on the sporty stuff they do as part of the curriculum cause at 4 years old I don't think kids should be tied down for too long.

PE on Mondays, Swimming on Wednesdays and Karate on Thursdays - I WISH my parents could have afforded this for us!

[CostaRicanCod]

i agree
grip
get

a

[Buda]

I was a bit surprised at the get a grip comments too - or was I - after all this is Mumsnet! DS started going swimming at nursery! He was 3 but there were some 2 yr olds! Twas a nightmare - I went as a parent helper. But in the main the children loved it. They were in a pool at a spa hotel here in Budapest and they could all stand up. It was mainly about water confidence and fun.

Even as a non-swimmer DS was fine.

I panicked more when he went in Yr 1 as it was a different pool. We had a nightmare with him and I threatened to pull him from swimming. Partly my own issues - pushed in at swimming lessons when I was six. He is now fine (Yr 3) but not a swimmmer - still uses a float.

[bobsyouruncle]

get a grip comments surprised me too, I think it definitely depends on how confident your 5 year old is in the water. My 5 year old has only been swimming a few times and would not feel confident without me in the pool or changing rooms. This thread has inspired me to take her swimming in preparation for when she does go with the school though - and to find out when that happens at her school! Not panicking honestly Please let us know how she gets on pinkchick!

[pudding25]

I teach yr 1 and would hate to have to take them swimming and help get them all dressed after. it is bad enough after a PE lesson! They go in yr 3 and 4 at my school. I don't blame you for stressing but don't worry. As someone else mentioned, risk assessments will have been done, there will be staff and parents around to help them get dressed and they will be well looked after. I feel sorry for the teacher!

[SmugColditz]

My 5 year old starts in November

I think the get a grip comments are comming from either people with so many children they can't recall who's doing what, or teenagers, or a 15 month old baby.

5 is VERY young to be in the changing room without mum.

So I'm going! HA!

[OrmIrian]

Oh I agree that 5 is quite young to start. Ours were in Yr 3 when they had their first lessosn.

[mummyflood]

This thread has surprised me. I think age 4/5 is early to be going swimming with school, was yr 4 when my DS had their lessons , especially at the very beginning of the year, when they have the whole school routine to get used to, and I am equally surprised at all the 'get a grip' comments. I am with the OP on this one, I would have several questions, especially in view of what the OP says about the school changing its communication methods this year. Not saying that taking them swimming is necessarily a bad thing, after all kids seem to get less and less physical exercise at school these days due to testing, standards, etc. but I would definitely want a clear and detailed letter of what is involved re;supervision ratios, time of lesson, expectations, transport, etc. if this has not already been provided, and I would certainly expect more than a couple of days notice of an out-of-school event such as this for several reasons. No PFB here either, my DS are 14 and 12 and I still expect (in vain mostly) to be kept fully informed about what they are going to be involved in, especially out of school.

Considering the amount of activities that are no longer done in schools on (often barmy) H&S grounds, and the amount of trips/excursions that no longer take place, I would have thought that swimming lessons at this age, especially if there are several classes in the year, is quite an undertaking. Would I be correct in thinking however that swimming is now part of the curriculum, whereas other trips, visits, etc. are seen as enrichment/enhancement of the mandatory lessons??

[OrmIrian]

Glad you are feeling better pinkchick.

As I'm sure has been pointed out to you there will be many many regulations in place to ensure everything is safe. And she may well be less scared if she is there with her friends and without mum - sometimes different circumstances make children raise their game iyswim.