Going swimming in Year 2

[FallenAngel22]

Had a letter home before half term to say DD's year are starting swimming this week at the local Uni pool. Now although DD has been in the pool many times and is confident, she can't swim. I'm planning on speaking to her teacher tomorrow about how it's going to work but wondered if anyone here had any experience either as a parent or teacher. How many adults go with them? Do they usually have instructors in the pool? What if the water is deeper than DD can stand up in? She's small for 6!

Probably worrying needlessly but am sure I was around 9 or 10 before we went swimming with school!

Why is it such an important life skill?

If you never go swimming, then it's not an important life skill.

Unless you happen somehow, to fall into water. What are the odds of that happening? It does happen - but hardly, hardly, hardly ever. Probably far more likely to be run over crossing the road.

Totally overrated swimming IMO. It's no big deal not being able to swim.

DD has done swimming via school since Y1.

At the first place the school used the instructors stood at the side and shouted instructions out The teachers accompanying supervised from the edge of the pool also, but did not teach. The children were grouped by ability.

They changed venue two years in after some parents complained about one or two of the instuctors. They moved to the university pool. Far far better imo. Again they are grouped by ability and in the lower groups the instuctors are in the pool with them - far better and more effective. Again the two accompanying members of staff are pool side as additional supervisors.

The instructors are all qualified - infact until very recently the same place did children's lessons using the same instructors, DD went there. Sadly they have stopped lessons for now so DD's only lessons are via school at the moment.

It's not so much about fun although they do find it fun. It's more that I see it as something which could save their life at some point.
My kids also do lots of other sport each week including rugby and tennis but swimming is probably one I would insist on even if they weren't sporty.

Plus, having four kids means that if they couldn't swim then holidays with a pool would be a nightmare. I'd never not be poolside or know where they are but knowing the older two are very competent swimmers and that DD2 is getting there certainly helps me relax a little.

Well, Indigobell, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. As Ive just posted, it's also about the enjoyment factor. Being invited to swimming parties and not being able to swim, going on holiday where there's a pool, school trips to residential activity centres. All this on top of the life saving thing.

It is horses for courses I suppose, we always go beach side holidays and to a water park last year but DS cannot swim well.

We had a blast though.

You can have great fun just splashing around.

A question for anyone interested in answering.

''A few friends children have been going to swimming lessons since reception they are now in year five and can swim so why would they keep the lessons going?''

Also one still cannot swim would you consider that a waste of money, a fiver a week for five years and still no success?

Re your questions; DS1 is in Y3 and as well as his weekly school lesson also still has a Sat morning lesson at our gym. He can swim well but for the last two years or so his sat am lesson has concentrated on stoke technique and strengthening his core. His swimming instructor said this was needed if he ever wanted to swim 100s of metres for pleasure. However, he will be 8yrs at Christmas and we will stop the w/e lesson then. He will continue at school though as it's part of their PE curriculum.

2nd question: I think if a child has been having a regular weekly lesson for 5yrs and still cannot swim then the instruction they are getting isn't up to much and you should stop or change to a different instructor. Perhaps the group is too large or too diverse. Mine had 1:1 but 1:4 or 1:5 is fine for littlies and it can go up to 1:10 when they are more competent. The only other factor could be that the child has some form of additional needs such as dyspraxia which is affecting their ability to pick up the skills.

Thank you for your replies.

I do not believe you have to have great technique to swim 100 metres I can swim and swim and swim but have never even been really taught.

I also believe some instructors quote this to keep mum paying for the lessons.

LovingTheCoast - if you don't like swimming you don't go on holidays with pools.

Swimming parties are not something that happen round here.

For cub camp I tick the 'can't swim' box. It's never been a problem.

Swimming is not a life skill.

I think they meant 800m rather than 100m. DS1 did his 100m badge just after he was 6yrs old and a skinny little thing so I don't think he needed to build up strength for that. But I agree that being able to swim 800m is not a necessary life skill in the way I consider 100m to be.

And yes, maybe there is a bit of holding onto the students in some cases but considering the waiting lists around here, I doubt that came into play.

As I said, IB, I think we will have to agree to disagree!

Incidently, swim parties have been one of the most popular birthday parties since my eldest started school. DD1 is in Y1 and has also been to 3.

We have swim parties here as well, never been a prob for non swimmers just the ones that are not confident.

We had a rock climbing party with abseiling and a few declined the invite but I would not expect someone to have rock climbing lessons just to come to a party.

But a couple did and had never been near a rock and had a blast and completed the course.

I am struggling to believe that a child of 9 or 10 has never been swimming.I mean there must be one somewhere, but i can't believe it is anything other than very very rare.
Most children of my aquaintance can swim, certainly be the end or reception.

there are loads of kids who have never been swimming - I personally know 12 - it is a very "middle England" thing to have swimming lessons at an early age.

Folks with no money don't go swimming, folks with some religious and cultural differences don't go swimming, folks with no transport often find it too troublesome. Some folks have to make hard choices - swimming or school shoes, swimming or birthday present - let alone a party.....

I'm glad you posted, Spiderpig as I was beginning to think I was living in some sort of family swim bubble!

Pipkins, I agree they don't need to be able to swim to come to a swim party but I think it definitely aids their enjoyment of it. Certainly at the very least they must be water confident and if theyve never been swimming in their lives that confidence is probably lacking. Rock climbing has been popular here too this year. DS1 went to one in Sept and has an invitation to another later this month. He loved it even though he'd only ever done it once before!

I wasn't suggesting you take your child swimming rather than feed or cloth them! I was saying that it is usually something that can be accessed fairly easily and cheaply though I have conceeded this is perhaps not the case if you are rural.

I think 'middle England' is a bizarre, generic term that means absolutely nothing. Like saying 'middle class'. I have been told on here that it's a very MC thing to take your preschooler to the library and to read to them daily which is of course, ridiculous. They mean nothing.

I think it is a thing that is important to you or not as the case may be.

Just like going to the library which I did on a weekly basis when DS was young [1 yr and upwards] soon as he started school he used the school library and amazon is king for book buying.

Also wildlife and nature are important in our house but in others it will be scoffed at.

I was an English teacher so books are probably more our thing than swimming!

Walks and nature trails etc are just part of parenting IMVHO. They cost nothing and the DCs learn something new every single time. But I guess people do their own thing. I always find it strange that some children only have wellies in the winter. I always wonder how they go walking in the woods on wet April days without wellies and a kagool but I know that others disagree.

Lovingthecoast,

I take two years from my school swimming. None of the children from a particular ethnic group within the school (about 1 in 5 of our intake) have ever been swimming, or ever been near the swimming pool. None of the adults within that ethnic community swim. IME none of them have birthday parties - a few mention a cake or a trip to McDonalds or the Wacky Warehouse with immediate family, but none have parties that other children are invited to. No families go 'to houses with pools' on holiday. A day trip to the beach every couple of years, maybe.

About another 1 in 5 have been to the pool extremely seldom (perhaps once in their lives) due to the cost.

We do have a proportion of more affluent families who do go on holiday, who do have swimming lessons, who go swimming regularly. But we run at 40% total non-swimmers / been to a swimming pool once or twice in their lives at the age of 7 - and I would say that we are not very unusual, in that although our intake is quite 'interesting' we are a very standard school for our part of the country.

Lots of things that we [you and me] do are probably just normal things to us.

From your name I presume you live by the beach as I do.

Going to the beach happens every other day in our house wind, rain or shine for fun and for walking the dog.

Some children do not have that luck, the luck of either living next to the beach or having parents willing to take them.

I know a little girl near me that never goes anywhere except the pub she is 8, and if we are leaving to go for a dog walk she on occasion has come with us, you would think we are taking her to Disneyland.

Some parents do nothing some do what it important to them and some try and do everything...................I am in the everything camp but the everything only lasts a few weeks at times but at least we gave it a shot.

Yes, we're by the coast. We've lived here nearly 2years and haven't tired of it yet! Before that we were in Cheshire and before that, Surrey so I guess day to day, most children we have encountered go swimming, walking etc. Walking by the sea has an amazing calming affect on me especially at this time of year. The kids love it too but perhaps we take stuff like that for granted too much. It makes me sad to think there are children like the girl you know who see such a simple and free activity as such a rare treat.

Teacherwith2kids, that's interesting and your post certainly backs up what some other people have said about large numbers of children who never go swimming. I am a teacher myself (well, ex teacher really) and I've taught in both primary and secondary. Strangely, I've never had a class swim where Ive had to participate. It's always been very hands off and leaving it to the instructors bu then maybe its changed as I havent taught primary for quite a few years.

Ltc,

It depends a lot on where you teach - if I taught in my own children's school I'd probably believe that the vast majority had swimming lessons, that all school swimming teaching is done by specialised instructors etc. Working in a school that is much smaller (2 classes = less than 40 kids), much more rural (have to spend 'swimming' part of budget on weekly coach hire as well as pool hire and 1 instructor - trained teacher + trained TA take the other two groups), in a very different type of catchment area with a specific ethnic mix gives me a somewhat different perspective!

I now live by the coast .My 19 year old son can just about swim,but is not interested in swimming, my 14 year old daughter can swim very well,and had some lessons, my 11 year old loves to go swimming but can't/won't believe that he can float, and still can't swim. Lessons are not an option, can't afford them now. I don't know of anyone having pool parties,although there is the oppurtunity at our local pool.

DD went with school in Reception and Yr 1. Their form teachers helped them get dressed and they had an instructor per 6 children and were in the water with them. They were always at the end of the day and we picked them up afterwards from the pool.

They could have gone on to end of Yr 3 but we didn't think they were getting on well enough so took her to private lessons after school instead (4 per class) and she thrived.

'I always find it strange that some children only have wellies in the winter. I always wonder how they go walking in the woods on wet April days without wellies '
lol April is still winter round these parts!!