Is it fair that parents should have to go in to change their child during school swimming lessons???

[trainspotter]

Our primary school insists that we, as parents, have to go in to school each week, during school hours, to change our children for their swimming lesson. It's a nightmare!! I've got a 21 month old who I have to take with me and it's bang in the middle of his sleep time. The changing rooms are tiny and boiling hot. What do I do when i have to return to work? does anyone know whether I have to accept this. But I don't want to be known as 'the troublesome parent!!!'

Yes, I'm sure there are some children who are able to swim before they are able to dress, but in a general sort of way the coordination skills needed to dress/undress are acquired quite significantly sooner than the coordination skills needed to swim.

I really cannot see what the point is of taking children swimming en masse until they are able to dress/undress themselves with some ease.

Madness to have to go in. How do working parents cope?

DD does a term of swimming a year, from Y1 age. No parent helpers are requested. Last year when they went there were about 24-25 girls in all. Two teachers managed quite easily to supervise dressing/undressing. They only required a third if for some reason the coach didn;t arrive and they had to walk to the pool. It worked perfectly fine.

sorry Anna; to put it into context, my disabled 7-yr-old dd will need help with dressing for some time to come, possibly always, but loves swimming

dressing is actually very complicated when you break it down

Am with Capp on this one - my dd1 will be able to swim before she can dress herself. Dressing/undressing skills are hideously complicated if there are any kind of co-ordination problems 9or motor skills problems)

To need parents helpers is pretty understandable for a reception age class (and our school only uses them for the first term of reception), though some extra hands would probably be welcome into Year 1 I guess. But for every parent to be required to go is a nonsense.

What happens to the children if their parent doesn't go in?

No idea on Anna's stats, but by the end of reception there was only 1 non-swimmer in ds2's class. I think that 6 is the limit as to when they can start learning the butterfly stroke, but children can learn front and back crawl and breaststroke earlier.

that's the silliest thing I ever heard. If it were me I'd just say "can't do it, sorry" - there's not a lot the school can do in that case.

We parents have to go in every week to help them get changed until the end of year 3!!

I've been brave and handed in my letter of objection to the headmaster this morning. Thanks for all your useful advice and comments.

I hope he takes some notice and comes up with an alternative solution.

I wonder if the Head would be pleased if any of his teachers asked for time off because their child at another primary school needed help getting changed for swimming. No? I didn't think so somehow...

Whaaaat? This is MAD!