Opening School Facilities – Wosley House Swimming Provision at Kirby Muxloe

The extra swimming lessons have been successful in helping boost the confidence of the non-swimmers at our school, consequently resulting in an increased number of children being able to swim 25m and ability to float on their backs in emergencies. We have selected children that were struggling with whole class swimming lessons and that do not necessarily have swimming lessons outside of school. We have found that, often, these children have also never been swimming for ‘fun’ with family members.

During each session, we will focus on aspects of water safety and will practise swimming on our fronts/backs. Many children were reluctant at first to lift their feet off of the ground however being in the pool with the children has given them confidence that wasn’t there at their other lessons. I think it has helped having adults they know/trust in the water with them and also, the relaxed environment of Kirby Muxloe has made it much easier to overcome barriers. Once the children have become confident enough, we have delivered sessions where children have practised floating on their backs in clothes. Being near the River Soar, ensuring our children can do these basic lifesaving skills has been a priority.

Last year, many of our children were able to swim 25 metres at the end of our sessions. Some children attended for 8 weeks whereas others attended for 16. One child (A) was very afraid of the water and for the first 8 weeks was not able to swim even with floats. After the next few sessions, A was able to swim independently, eventually swimming without floats. The regular sessions benefitted her.

Lauren Braimbridge, Lead Swim Coach

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Since starting the swimming at Kirby Muxloe we have noticed an improvement in the confidence of the children that are attending. All children that attend Kirby Muxloe get more one to one support due to the group being small and having two members of staff in the pool providing support, there is also more pool space to work with compared to the leisure centre.

We have also noticed an increase in children that would usually avoid going swimming, whilst attending we haven’t had a single child that doesn’t want to participate.

Speaking to the children they have highlighted the following positives with attending swimming at Kirby Muxloe :

• “The pool is warmer so its more welcoming.”
• “Knowing the teachers and having them support in the pool.”
• “It’s nice swimming with children that are similar ability.”
• “We feel that the time we get in the pool is longer and the lesson isn’t rushed.”
• “The floats are better quality than when we used to swim at the leisure centre.”

Jodham Lawrence, Sports Coach

Case study provided courtesy of Active Together