Swimming provision Stage Two Year 5

[Ruralidyll]

DD1's state school has announced that in a change from previous years, KS2 Children will only have swimming lessons every other year. Further they are limiting lesson on the child's ability to swim. So if they can swim 25m then they get just 3 half hour lessons this year but if they can't swim 25m then they get a twelve week course of 30 minute lessons.

The head claims they only have to meet the minimum requirements of the National Curriculum and that in any event the kids will get extra swimming when they go on their four day residential later this year.

I am horrified at this method of allocation. I though that every child mattered and everyone had the same right to resources whatever their ability. Imagine if this was applied to other subjects such as Maths or English. I do have sympathy for the school in terms of funding as it involves a coach ride each way and the hire of a swimming pool but we have never been asked to contribute anything or given the opportunity to help out.

I'm also unhappy at the suggestion this part of the National Curriculum will be delivered at a residential. The cost is £160! They are making it available only to those who are able and willing to pay.

What are your thoughts? How can I tackle this? The head and governors have said tough - thats just the way it is.

Thanks

The national curriculum expectation is that all children have swimming lessons at some point during their primary school time. It doesn't have to be in every year group.

You compare selective additional support in swimming with maths or English - actually yes that does happen! If a child is not meeting the NC expectations (i.e. capable of swimming 25m) additional support is provided, just as children that don't meet the expected standard in phonics get extra phonics lessons that their peers don't.

Well - this is not ideal - but I can see why they are doing it. It's pretty impossible to teach children to swim in large groups. They just don't have the resources to do it properly.

My dd is doing swimming currently in year 4. During the 30 minutes she gets to do 4 or 5 laps. She is a really good swimmer already so I almost feel like she would be better off not doing it as she gets nothing out of it.

We run booster groups for year 6's at risk of not being able to swim 25m, just as we rn booster groups for thoe year 6's ar risk of not meeting their targets ( whatever level that might be!!)

@IsItFridayYetPlease I see your point about Phonics, but they wouldn't stop teaching the children who weren't struggling whilst supporting the the ones struggling. Im all for helping the less able but not at the cost of the rest of the cohort. It seems to me that the school are aiming for the lowest possible standard permissible.

At my school KS2 teachers don't teach phonics to the whole class as it is assessed that they have met the expected levels and can use phonics, but the few children who have not yet met the expected "pass" level in the Phonics Check retest do have separate phonics lessons in addition to the English lessons everyone gets.

Your child has the required PE curriculum and has reached the level expected in the swimming strand, after that it is a non-compulsory subject. I see that you are unhappy that some other kids are getting something your child isn't, but unfortunately that is the way school works; not everyone gets the same. "I though that every child mattered and everyone had the same right to resources whatever their ability." - following that train of though everyone would have a one-to-one support TA or none would (i.e. SEND). I am just guessing, but would you complain that your child doesn't get access to a tutor like the children in receipt of pupil premium have? The in house extra PE/physio we give a child and none of the others get ... the list could go on.

In utopia everyone would need and get the same ... but

The HT is absolutely right - the school does only have to meet the minimum requirements of the National Curriculum, no more, though obviously it's great if they do more than that.

Tbh when I worked in KS2 and took groups swimming, the ones who were good swimmers already basically got 30 mins fun in the pool with their friends because the focus was on getting the non swimmers going. It wasn't really a quality learning experience for them.

And a lot of schools only offer swimming in one year group in KS2. Few offer it the whole way through unless they have their own swimming pool due to the cost and logistics.

Agree with others.
Firstly I dont know any school that gives their pupils lessons I every year - even with the reduction, your dc are getting much more than most. My dc only got lessons for 1term.
Secondly, school swimming lessons are a complete waste of time for strong swimmers. I'd have been very happy if my dcs scnool could have staffed it so they didnt have to go and waste their time for that term, and the swimming teachers could have had the chance to make a real difference to the people who couldnt swim.
Thirdly, that is what happens in other subjects. Pupils whove not achieved 'expected levels' in all sorts of things are given extra time at that.
The HT is making a good call IMO

Sorry, I agree with the others too.
Our school only offers swimming in y4, plus catch up in y6.
They do 'interventions' in other subjects as and when needed, catch up swimming is the same.

Sorry, I agree with the others too.
Our school only offers swimming in y4, plus catch up in y6.
They do 'interventions' in other subjects as and when needed, catch up swimming is the same.

They are only aiming for the minimum. Swimming doesn't appear in league tables or Ofsted. It is expensive, especially if you need a coach to get there. They want to spend the money where it has best most visible impact.

YABU.

Going for a half-hour swimming lesson =
10 mins making sure everyone has everything
5 mins getting onto coach and going back for a forgotten swim bag
15 mins coach journey
10 mins getting off coach, making sure everyone has everything, getting into leisure centre, signing in.
10 mins getting changed
30 minute lesson
15 mins getting dried and changed back
5 mins checking changing rooms for forgotten items and reuniting with owners
5 mins getting back onto coach
15 min coach journey
10 mins getting off coach, making sure everyone has everything, back into school and sit down

Over 2 hours for a half hour lesson which doesn't benefit the better swimmers at all. Wouldn't you rather they have time to do something worthwhile at school?

I wish our school took this approach. Sensible imo. My Ds can swim and I would rather he spent the morning learning something in school.

My DCs primary stopped doing swimming lessons at all 5 years ago. I don't know how they claim to meet the NC minimum. They claimed it was too expensive when the LA withdraw the travel subsidy. The parents weren't consulted at all.

DC's school doesn't offer swimming either, so I would consider what your school does to be great!

DD's school offers swimming lessons to all KS2 pupils and they do a half term of swimming lessons per school year (6 weeks).

DD is Year 3; she can already swim the required 25m (she's ASA stage 8 and can swim 1000m) and her first school swimming lesson was spent "messing around in the shallow end and not swimming" much to her disappointment.

To be honest, apart from the fact she wants to do it because her friends are, I actually don't see the point of her doing these lessons. Especially when she appears to be getting so little out of them.

And a lot of schools only offer swimming in one year group in KS2.

My DC school only does this - for half a year then the rest of that year have a turn - 2 classes each year group. Most parents do private lessons - but we can't at the minute so what the school offers is better than nothing.

Our school does one term of lessons in every year of ks2 but we have to pay £30 for each term.

Op I can see why you are annoyed - I was coming on to say YANBU. I think I would be annoyed too but all the other posters make very good points which I had not considered. So now I think YABU.

DD2 is just having her swimming assessment at the moment. the two Y4 classes are having 3 weeks each of assessment lessons.
The first lesson, they asked each child to swim 2 widths of the pool and then separated them into three groups depending on ability. The ones that can already swim will only attend the three lessons and then some extra lessons in the summer term to learn basic water skills (some kind of lifesaving stuff) whilst the ones that can't swim will have lessons all year.

DD2 is in the advanced group because I've been paying for swimming lessons since she was three. I'm happy with this arrangement because they can focus on teaching the children who need to learn to swim.

We are in Scotland and dont get offered swimming lessons. For my DC both of them were very competent swimmers by the age of 7. It would be a complete waste of time.
In our area those who can't swim by the age of 10 get given vouchers for lessons during the holidays. This is far less humiliating for them, than struggling in the shallow end with arm bands on, while their friends treat the lessons as fun.
We are lucky that we live in an area with excellent council run swimming lessons which are not too expensive with discounts for siblings.

It sounds to me like you are already getting way more than the standard. We get 12 weeks of lessons in year 5 but that is it. Maybe you could sound out school/other parents about the opportunity to contribute financially so that they can offer all kids lessons.

School budgets I being cut all the time so I imagine this is a decision they have taken to balance the books.

Forgot to mention that we are asked to contribute voluntarily to transport costs for these lessons.

School swimming lessons are crap, especially for strong capable swimmers. There is, after all the faff of changing and corralling the children, about 10 minutes of teaching - divided by 30. I would much rather the school focus on the kids who otherwise would never get to a pool, and who cannot swim.

My DC (a strong confident swimmer made actually worse by the school's classes) doesn't do swimming anymore, but reads for the half hour which I consider a better use of her time.