Lessons

Pre-school – 3/4 years

Pre-school classes are made up of 8 children and one instructor in the water.

These classes are held on Mondays  1.30  and Wednesday mornings at 9.30

The aim is for these young children to be happy and confident in water, which will then lead to swimming unaided.

The difference between pre-school and school age is in presentation and delivery of the teaching process. This is why we do not generally mix the age groups.

40 years experience has taught us that the pre-school children have different social and educational skills and we make allowances for that.

A typical lesson would involve approx 20 minutes actual teaching time with the remainder of the 25 minute session for a playtime. The playtime is important to allow the children time to relax and discover water skills for themselves in a less structured way.

Many of the pre-school pupils are swimming without aids before they start school. This would involve swimming either 5 metres or 10 metres, making a start on the ladder of the award scheme we use.

School – 4-11 years

Class size is usually 8 pupils and the duration of the lesson is around 25 minutes . The basic principle is to make sure the children are happy and confident in the water.

Teaching is mainly from the poolside, although we will go in the water with new classes to make sure everyone feels safe on their first lesson. We teach all strokes and water skills, always aiming for good technique.

We run these classes from Monday to Friday starting at 4pm with the last class at 6.30pm and on Saturday morning 9am to 12pm and Sunday morning 10am to 12.30pm. All classes are based on ability, and if we think your child needs to move to a different class we have the flexibility to do that quickly.

We use the STA (Swimming Teachers Association) distance awards which are for swimming a given distance without armbands. The awards start at 5metres.