Learning to swim is a life changing experience, it opens up an opportunity to take part in numerous leisure activities, it allows you to move safely around water, and increases self-confidence. Thank you for taking the positive decision to enrol your child in swimming lessons, we are sure that you will have hours of fun with your child in and around water, experiencing the many health benefits that are associated with it.

In the early stages of learning, developing ‘water confidence’ is important and time spent feeling happy in the water will be of more benefit than learning strokes. Talk to your child’s teacher if you have any concerns about your child’s progress.

 

What Can I do to help?

A bit like learning to drive, it will take a long time to improve with just one session a week.

Happy swim times with the family; building confidence and practicing things that have been introduced by the teacher will greatly help. Better still ask your learner's teacher what you could work on.

If you can’t visit the pool between teaching sessions, there are things you can do at home. For example, ‘pointing’ and ‘unpointing’ toes, or washing your learner's hair with their head forward rather than backwards to get used to water running across the face.

A few minutes each day will make a real difference, remember back to when you learnt a new activity!

They will need to fit well and your child is happy wearing them and they are adjusted before the lesson starts. 

 

Goggles are a bit of a ‘fashion’ item, because of the way most children wear them they do very little if poorly fitted, some children spend the whole lesson taking them on and off.

Teachers do not have the time to adjust or repair googles during the session, however they will happily give advice before and after the session.

Some children never wear goggles, its just a frame of mind and personal preference. There will be some occasions (like diving) when all children will be expected not to wear googles.

We’re not saying go out and buy lycra but next time you need to purchase swimwear, remember that all those big shorts are in fact a good way of resistance training!

Girls swim faster than boys in part because they don’t turn up in ‘Spiderman bags’.

Again ask your learners teacher for their views on ‘smooth and speedy’.

However they often hear ‘my parent says I don’t have to put my face in the water’.

Try to give your learner a clean sheet, they should not come to the lesson with your dislikes or phobias.

There are other mile stones that need to be achieved during their swimming journey. And remember each learner will reach those mile stones at their own pace.