All our teachers work to the same lesson structure, this means that if your child ever needs to move around or attend another lesson, for whatever reason, they will easily be able to slot into another class and pick up at exactly the same place they were at with their previous teacher. It also means that you know exactly what your child is working on and what they need to achieve for their next award.
Our Lessons
Why do we teach
breaststroke first?
Breaststroke is taught as our primary stroke for a number of reasons; firstly it is an unnatural movement so teaching this as the primary leg kick gives children the longest possible time to master the movement. So often when breaststroke is taught later children find it extremely difficult to master the kick without technical problems.
It also means that if your child is perhaps a little nervous about swimming there is no pressure for them to have to swim with their faces in the water. They can get used to putting their faces in in their own time without it affecting their stroke progression.
What can I expect my child to be doing in each lesson?
- Our beginners will typically spend around 15 minutes of each lesson on their breaststroke legs, we teach these through ‘tuck, star, pencil’ legs. As they start to master the leg kicks ‘pizza’ arms are introduced. As children timing improves they will move to swimming without their woggles and just with their disc armbands. We aim to keep children’s discs on until their technique is really good so when they are taken off children are still swimming without their technique faltering.
- The remaining time will be spent practicing splashy toes on their backs.
- Once your child has reached a 5-10m standard backstroke arms will be introduced.
- At 15-25m front crawl will be introduced, starting off with the breathing, once this has been mastered float work will be done to learn the arms leading to the whole stroke being put together
- Once children have a good grasp of their front crawl, around the 50-100m standard, breaststroke breathing will be introduced.
- The last 5 minutes of every lesson is spent doing a fun, contrasting activity for example; jumping in, retrieving a sinker from the bottom, diving, swimming through underwater hoops etc.
How do I keep up to date with my child’s progress?
We offer a termly opportunity to talk with your child’s teacher. This will give you a clear idea of what your child has improved on in the previous term and what they need to continue to work on for their next badge.
In the mean time, we are always more than happy to give you a progress update, please just drop us an email.
How are children assessed?
Children are assessed for badges on the second to last week of every half term, throughout the course they will have been working on the various elements needed for their next badge. If your child has met the criteria, awards are available for collection the following week. All awards are included in the price.