Swimming

As well as being good for your child’s health, swimming is a skill that could ultimately save their life.  Drowning is the third most common cause of accidental death in children, and therefore it is absolutely vital that every child has the opportunity to learn to swim and gain core knowledge regarding water safety.  Even if your child can swim, they may still be exposed to danger in water in the wrong circumstances. Your child should be encouraged to practice their swimming regularly to improve their basic skills and become a more competent swimmer. 

Swimming and water safety is a statutory element of the P.E. National Curriculum. This means:

All schools must provide swimming instruction either in Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2.  In particular, pupils should be taught to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively such as front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

School Swimming Lessons at Yardley Primary School

Every child who attends Yardley Primary School and goes through Year 4 will receive school swimming lessons.

As swimming is part of the National Curriculum, all pupils must participate in lessons.

We always take every child, regardless of their ability, to complete a block of swimming lessons in Year 4.

Our swimming lessons take place at Stechford Leisure Centre.

Parents/guardians are not able to accompany their children to swimming or attend as a spectator.

School Swimming Lessons - What You Need

The following information is adapted from Swim England and is followed by Stechford Leisure Centre.

Swimming is one of the most accessible and inclusive activities and everyone should feel confident and comfortable while in the water.

Over the years swimwear has come on leaps and bounds.  So have policies relating to guidance about what can be worn in pools.  It’s important that children feel confident and comfortable – but that they are also safe.

What to wear in the pool

On the day of their swimming lesson, pupils should come to school in P.E./sports clothing to enable them to change for swimming quickly and independently – this will give them more time in the swimming pool.

There are different styles of swimwear.  These include:

ALL SWIMMING KIT MUST BE LABELLED WITH YOUR CHILD'S NAME AND CLASS

**EARRINGS**   If your child wears earrings there are two options on swimming days:

What not to wear in the pool

The important thing to note is that clothing shouldn’t be overly baggy or made of heavy materials such as denim or wool.  These can become water logged and heavy, making it difficult to swim or float.  It is also important to make sure pieces of clothing can not get stuck in filters or other parts of a pool, which makes lycra a good material to wear.

Clothing which shouldn’t be worn includes:

What else to bring

Other things that children MUST bring on swimming days include:

What else may be needed

Children may bring the following if needed:

 Visit our Uniform & Equipment page for details of where to purchase swimming kit.

Parents Role In Swimming - What You Can Do To Help

As a parent, guardian or carer you play an absolutely vital role in encouraging your child to swim and learn about water safety, survival and lifesaving. 

Here are several ways you can help your child.

Swimming lessons at school

Swimming lessons at a local pool

Swimming as a family

It’s never too late to learn

Celebrate swimming successes

Just keep swimming

Our School Swimming Data

Our school swimming data for pupils in Year 6 is based upon our assessments carried out when the pupils were in Year 4, the year group in which school swimming takes place.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not all pupils were able to attend swimming whilst in Year 4.  Below are the numbers and percentages of our Year 6 pupils, who went swimming in Year 4, who can: