Queueing for swimming lessons?

conradmum

I've just found out that if I want to book my son in for swimming lessons at the local pool, I have to go on a particular day and queue up with all the other parents, and that places are given on a first come first served basis.

Is this the usual way of doing it? When I booked him in for a summer intensive course, I just went in during June, put his name down and paid the money up front. I don't understand why they can't do it this way for term time classes too. It seems a bit mad to have hoards of parents waiting at the swimming pool on one particular day of the year (which happens to be a work day, so God help those parents who can't easily get time off work).

Js_Other_Half

I know that is how at works at my local authority swimming lessons.:(

Hence me paying almost twice the price for private ones - less children, and I can choose the day, etc

Andfolate

I suspect different pools have different ways of managing their booking system. Where I am, we queue - and boy, do we queue!! You see, priority is given to children already in the classes so newcomers have to scrape in wherever there is a space. Parents are told to call up the day before "open booking" to find out how many spaces there are for the classes they want and depending on how many spaces there are, parents can strategise! One mother I know started queueing at 3am (for 9am registration start). Myself, I started queueing at 5am - when I got to the pool, there were about 8 parents in front of me; they'd packed flasks and picnic baskets and brought blankets!

bestpud

They have just changed to this system in my area and it is supposed to be better than what they had before!

They used to have waiting lists but they had one for members (people who pay around £20 a month and then get the lessons and any swimming sessions 'free') and one for everyone else.

But, there are no other options (no other pools or private options etc) and so the waiting lists are huge and those who aren't members are waiting well over a year! :eek: Same with other leisure classes as there is only one leisure centre too - dd has been on the gymnastics waiting list for 18 months now!

Now they are changing it so the first week is for member bookings and the second week non-member bookings, on a first come first served basis.

I'm not convinced that is any better, as I said, given there is one pool for a population of 180,000 people!!

There did used to be council run lessons in the LEA pool (which eased it a little) but they've let that go so run down now that they've closed it indefinitely! :mad: Plus, the schools now use the public pool so it is closed to the general public for half the blimming day!! :mad:

Sorry, you rattled my cage there! :rotfl:

We've actually been talking dd every weekend, with her float and she is coming on leaps and bounds compared to how she did in the lessons anyway!

redmel1621

That's how it is at my local pool too. It's bl00dy ridiculous!!!!!

Mel x

bestpud

redmel1621 wrote: »

That's how it is at my local pool too. It's bl00dy ridiculous!!!!!

Mel x

Especially when the govt is prattling on about getting children active and doing sport to prevent an obesity crisis dah dah dah!

scruffy96uk

Same here it is a C**p system. I had to q at my local pool for over an hour to get her a place and I was there in the q early but i still had to wait in line for ages. It was like being back at school!!!

MoaningMyrtle

this is how they do it at my local pool too.

sarymclary

Our's is a little better, but only just. On the penultimate lesson of a term, the children get their reports, and then parents can register for the new term during the next week. I tend to have my son booked on an early lesson straight after school, so I go straight away to rebook him in. We have to give 3 options of times/days suitable, and then we collect their lesson card the following week that gives us the day/date/time of their new lessons. Last year they even insisted that you had to take them weekly during the summer hols, otherwise you lost your place! It meant many families paid for lessons their child didn't go to due to holiday commitments.

They have regraded all the lessons this new term coming, so none of us have a clue whether they're going up/down/staying the same now. I've decided that my son will continue for the next term or so, until his stamina is improved, then we'll stop. He's a competent swimmer, so I hope it won't be much longer, but the facilities are poor, and I know that the swim school is the 2nd biggest earner for the leisure centre next to gym membership (where they bank on 50% of members not turning up).

Spendless

We put our name down at the leisure centre and wait for a place if none spare. You then pay on a 10 week basis upfront. eg if you were contacted with a place and it was already on wk 6 you'd pay for weeks 6 - 10. If the child is young they let you do the first couple of lessons on a week by week basis in case they don't want to continue. On week 10 you are asked if you want to enrol on the next 10 week course and so on.

conradmum

Thanks for all your replies. It seems this silly system is common. I'm not sure if children who are already having lessons can book for the next course at the end of their current one in our area. I hope so, and that the queueing is just for new learners. I can't get there at 5 am!

It's a crying shame when learning to swim is so important. I've been taking my son myself for a while now but I've no idea how to teach him strokes, or swim with his head in the water. I can't even do that myself.