Queueing for swimming lessons?

bestpud

conradmum wrote: »

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.

One option is to go and watch a few lessons and pick up the technique!

DD had a few one to one lessons last year and got nowhere but it was enough for me to learn how they are taught and adapt it in our swimming sessions.

maemaesmummy

We are paying for private with DD she starts next week... couldnt get a place at a council pool in a 25 mile radius...

The private lessons she has had her name on the list for 6 months...

They only start lessons at age 3 so DS 2 is on the waiting list now

amandada

We bit the bullet with ds and paid for him to have 1 to 1 lessons privately. At £15 per half hour it's not exactly cheap, but we reckon he came on further in 4 lessons than he would have if we'd spent the same money on group lessons.

Js_Other_Half

conradmum wrote: »

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.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Child-Usborne-Parents-Guide/dp/0794512836

You may find that private lessons aren't as expensive as you'd think? The public ones here are around £50 or so for 12 lessons, but then you pay car parking etc
My private lessons are £90 for 10 lessons, but the car parking is free and there are only ever 6 kids in the class.

conradmum

Thanks to all who suggested private lessons - maesmummy, the site won't let me thank you for some reason, but thanks anyway!

Can I ask where everyone goes for their private lessons? Do you have a private gym with a pool nearby?

Js_Other_Half

conradmum wrote: »

Can I ask where everyone goes for their private lessons? Do you have a private gym with a pool nearby?

We use this firm - they hire out private pools from hotels and country houses.
http://www.swimbabes.co.uk/

sunnth

swim schools run at weekends in the private school pools here. I pay almost exactly the same (if not cheaper) for a half hour lesson with a private swim school than I would do for the council run ones. The lessons are max 8 to a group and are approx £3 for half hour. It might be worth checking if you have any private schools with a pool near you.l

nomoneytoday

As a qualified life guard I taught my daughter the basics as well as sent her for private lessons from 4 months old.

She is now 7 months old and can swim a width unassisted and is top in her Waterbabies classes. The faces on the mothers with 7-8 years old was a picture as they struggle with armbands

Surfbabe

Conradsmum - where in the country are you? I teach swimming and the pool I work at runs lessons for 50 weeks a year. Once you are in the system then you automaticaly stay there until you cancel. We run a waiting list and I do assessments every week for children wanting to start. Sometimes there is a wait depending on what level they are at, sometimes they can start straight away. There is usually a longer list for Adult and Child lessons and for pre-school as obviously the time allocated and the teachers available dictates to some extent what lessons can run at any given time.

conradmum

Surfbabe wrote: »

Conradsmum - where in the country are you? I teach swimming and the pool I work at runs lessons for 50 weeks a year. Once you are in the system then you automaticaly stay there until you cancel. We run a waiting list and I do assessments every week for children wanting to start. Sometimes there is a wait depending on what level they are at, sometimes they can start straight away. There is usually a longer list for Adult and Child lessons and for pre-school as obviously the time allocated and the teachers available dictates to some extent what lessons can run at any given time.

I live near Kettering in Northamptonshire.

I've just been talking with my older son and neither of us can think of a local school with a swimming pool. So it looks as though we're either stuck with a gym, which don't tend to have very big pools, or queueing for hours and hoping to get a place.

Thanks to others for the suggestions of how to teach him myself. I'll certainly try this, but I'm not a great swimmer myself and don't feel confident I'd be teaching him the right things. For example, I can't do breaststroke to save my life, so I wouldn't be able to demonstrate this to him. But I'll give it a go if I can't get him a place in a class.