What to expect in your child’s first Independent Beginners swimming lesson with Ready Steady Splash.

Starting your child into swimming lessons is an exciting and rewarding time but we also know how daunting it can be on both parent and child the first time they walk through the door.

Its difficult knowing what to expect especially when spectators are not allowed on poolside so here’s a breakdown of what we do and what you need to know and bring.

As you walk into the changing rooms, please have your child ready for the start of their lesson time in swimwear and a pair of goggles is recommended.

We will call your child through once the last class has finished and they will be greeted by their new swimming teacher and shown to their swimming lane where they will also be greeted but our assistants in the pool.

If your child is comfortable and happy they will be helped into the pool and assisted on how to hold onto the bar.

If your child is nervous or unsure then we will fully support and comfort them in the pool and distract them with toys, games or songs so they feel relaxed and happy. Once they become happy and settled, we take them back to the rest of the class so they can join in. Our Moto is always having fun while learning to swim.

Once the class has finished your child will be guided back to the changing room where you will be waiting for them.

What we cover in our Beginner classes

1. Water Familiarity

• Getting Comfortable: The most important step is getting comfortable in water, we help every child feel safe and secure while they start to gain confidence, by helping them stand, float and splash.

• Breathing Techniques: Blowing bubbles is one of the first steps we encourage and teach, this helps them later when we introduce technical challenges and it teaches them to not hold their breath.

2. Floating

• Star floats on back: in a swimmers early stages of learning to swim they will be fully supported by one of our assistants, as a child starts to feel comfortable we will progress this with the use of a swimming aid (Noodle or float) and then to progress to helping them carry this task out completely independently.

• Star Floats on front. The same as above but we also encourage eyes in and bubbles as your child becomes confident they will be able to do this independently in time.

3. Kicking

We Introduce kicking straight away and we notice that some children may be nervous and stiff or the opposite and want to speed off at 100 miles an hour they are all different so we have plans to help everyone individually, many come with the classic bicycle kick so we help them start to kick correctly by playing games such as, kicking off your wellies, having magical colouring socks to kick off to make a rainbow or my favourite is the big toe fight when we encourage swimmers just to fight their big toes together which keeps their legs straight and encourages a fast small kick.

4. Arm Movements

We introduce arms very early on in a fun way, our teachers use many games and techniques from telling swimming they are scary tigers and they need stretch their arms one at a time whilst roaring and blowing bubbles in the water, or another favourite is that the pool is a big pot of ice cream and swimmers are encouraged to scoop their favourite flavour icecream then bring it back to their teacher.

5. Practice Strokes

We do cover all strokes in accordance with the Swim England learn to swim programme, these include breaststroke, back stroke, front crawl and butterfly again we always start these stroke techniques in a fun way.

Tips for Success:

• Patience: Progress may take time, and that’s totally okay! No child is the same and should never be compared to others, sometimes a child may take a long time just improving their confidence but be patient it always comes with time.

• Consistent Practice: Regular practice with the family at the local pool will always help your child progress and improve confidence, it is always a great way for children to show off their new skills taught in lessons.