School swimming

[MrsEms]

DD starts swimming this year and today their class teacher informed them that the swimming instructors say you are not allowed goggles.
DD is a fairly good swimmer and in old lessons started wearing goggles about a year ago as advised by the swim school now that she was learning techniques and correct breathing.
We've moved to a new school and the class DD been put into is the first level in which they are allowed goggles because they are working on stroke work and therefore DD wears goggles.
I understand that if you fall in you wont have goggles on but DD's not a beginner. Or is it a case that in keystage 1 you don't learn stroke work or submersions etc and so don't need them for just travelling up and down the pool?

It would be individual choice down to the instructors, there is no national rules on what. KS1 swimming is not required in the curriculum.

In DD's school, the YR1 swimming allows goggles, and they do stroke work - although mostly only front crawl, but I don't know if that's due to the general group ability or policy.

Hi Sirfredfredgeorge,

Thanks for the reply. I'm just curious why the swim teachers have banned goggles even more curious now your school allows them.

I imagine it's to stop endless faffing around with them?

RoganJosh,

In DD's out of school swimming lessons all in ASA 5 and above wear goggles and when watching lessons I've never seen them faff about.
I can understand beginners not wearing them but improvers/advanced??

Doesn't the chlorine sting their eyes without googles?

I couldn't manage very long in the water without them for that reason.

DS was allowed goggles in school lessons but not in out of school lessons (or maybe it was the other way round?) - so guess it is down to the individual instructor. He managed fine either way despite being a total wimp about water in his eyes!

IME, most kids wear goggles & refuse to swim without them! I learned without, and I do think it's a useful skill, but my DC and all others I know are very attached to their goggles.

School will have banned them because of faffing about, however.

If they're swimming at KS1, I imagine that at least half the time at the swimming pool will be spent getting changed and lining up. So there might not actually be that much swimming time especially if they're swimming in turn. It going to depend on where you live, but where we are, most children in KS1 would either be non swimmers or in the early stages ( levels 1-3) so they probably wouldn't be wearing goggles. Our school doesn't take them until year 5 and 6 and even so, there are always some non swimmers in the group. They split the class into 2 groups - swimmers ( which comprises a big range from about level 3 to level 7 or more) and non swimmers. School swimming lessons are a bit of a waste of time imo if your child is already a confident swimmer.

Pombal when she goes with us she is constantly under the water for dive sticks or doing tumble turns or handstands so imagine her eyes would hurt a little. Although perhaps being KS1 they wont be doing this and so have banned goggles.
ElizabethShaw because she now wears them for lessons she probably s a bit wimpy about water in her eyes but will have to learn. I might try and catch the teacher on Friday and ask why the ban for good swimmers.
Mycarsmellsoflavender I will let you know how much swimming they do after the first lesson. If it's swimmers and non swimmers then the range will be big like yours, DD's friend is ASA 6 and one of her other friends is ASA 4 then couple are stage 2 so will be interesting .
I did consider cancelling her out of school lessons but perhaps it was best not to if it's as you say swimmers and non swimmers.

Mycarsmelloflavender DD's YR1 class had three groups, one of about 3, who were total non swimmers nervous of the water, a group of about six who were all reasonably competent swimmers and as I said before were doing swimming drills, whilst perhaps not as useful as a group in an ASA pathway, DD was ASA 4 or 5 at the point they started, comfortably swimming lengths of multiple strokes and found it useful.

The remainder were not nervous but equally not competent. They all went in the water together with many instructors and there wasn't that much waiting around, they got more than 30minutes in the pool.

All the private lessons we've used wanted goggles from beginner level on as they do lots of face in the water practice.
School did ask for no goggles, and claimed it was at the swim teachers' request - but seems unlikely given the same swim teachers run the out of school classes and goggles are required there from stage 1. Actually most kids who did private lessons took their goggles and noone minded them using them as long as they could put them on themselves.

Mycarsmellsoflavender well week one was similar to you. DD tells me that they did some kind of swim test then based on that the swim teacher gave some armband rings and they got divided into two groups. The swim teacher was watching the non swimmers and telling them what to do and the “swimmers” were told what to do by the school teacher. Obviously this is relying on a six year olds memory of events. She said she enjoyed it because she was with her friends but didn’t like no goggles so only paddled instead of doing proper front crawl and said she got told off by Miss( don’t know which miss she means ie swim teacher or school teacher) for not kicking her legs enough when swimming on her back. She said she was doing exactly what she is told to do in her lessons which is gentle kicking of the legs but was told she needed to splash more.

I definitely wouldn't cancel your out of school lessons because of the school ones. Especially now you know your DDs group will be taught by the class teacher.

Week two was pretty similiar.
Non swimmers in the deep end with swim teacher learning to kick their legs and "swimmers" in the shallow end doing widths of front swimming with floats and back swimming with floats and then school teacher showing them how to do front crawl.
DD had fun again because she was with friends but said it was boring because when they got to the other side of the pool where the other school teacher was they had to get out and walk back to the other teacher then get back in and when there turn another width and so on. I've spoken to a friend who I realised her daughter went to the same pool last year but at different school to DD and there set up was the same non swimmers with the swimming teacher, beginners with a teacher and improvers with another teacher. So currently it doesn't look like the "swimmers" will learn much.
Lowdoor definitely keeping out of school lesson and and so are a couple of others who were thinking of cancelling.

It's to avoid them faffing around with them and parents getting irate when they get lost.

It's different if parents are on site.

Definitely don't stop out-of-school lessons. School swimming lessons aren't a substitute for small group lessons.