Baby & Pre-School Swimming Lessons

Our Baby & Pre-school swimming lessons are divided into 2 sections:

• Starfish Classes (6 weeks to 15 months old at enrolment)
• Duckling Classes (15 months - 3 years old at enrolment)

Wetsuits

Parents may chose to purchase wetsuits, or they are available to borrow from Swim Masters (we ask for a £20 deposit for all wet suits).  Please let us know at enrollment if you already have a suitable wetsuit for your child to wear.

What age can my baby start swimming?

Babies can start swimming lessons younger than you might think.  The current NHS advice is that babies do not need to wait to complete their immunisations before swimming, but please speak to your health visitor or GP if in doubt.

We feel that 6 weeks old is a good age to begin lessons, to maximise the benefit achieved by both baby and parent.

If babies are going to use submersion technqiues successfully then they need to begin these classes before they are 15 months old.

Submersion

The aim of our Starfish classes is to introduce young children to the pool environment, to increase water confidence in both the babies and their parents and to introduce the basic water skills such as floating, jumping in and submerging.

Although we do not rely purely upon teaching baby submersion techniques, we do encourage some submersion as part of the development of water confidence.

What are we working towards?

Starfish are working towards:

• Encourage baby to enter the water freely from a sitting position on the poolside.
• Encourage baby to move freely through the water, either with minimal support or with the use of a buoyancy aid.
• Cue baby to submerge vertically and rotate 360 degrees in the pool.
• Support baby by the hands and encourage movement in a figure of eight or snaking pattern through the water.
• Take baby for a front or back ride through the water, with or without support.
• Cue baby to submerge in a Duckling Dive towards the poolside and encourage baby to hold onto the poolside and climb out (if baby has the physical ability).

Ducklings are working towards:

• Jump unaided, but supervised, into the water
• Submerge completely
• Rotate through 360° either horizontally or vertically
• Show a mushroom or a star float
• Travel without assistance 10 metres on the front OR back
• Climb out of the water with assistance if required