What parents most want to know about children swimming

1:00pm Saturday 10th February 2007

This week we take a pause and look at some of the questions asked by parents.

What is the best ratio for teacher to children for running lessons?

At Splish Splosh we look to have a maximum ratio of eight children to one teacher in most of our lessons.

For children aged four-plus we only recommend eight children in the lessons, as we feel that, at this age, they can take instructions quite easily and are able to understand what is asked of them.

For pupils beneath this age we feel that more time is needed to be spent with the child and so we limit the class size to six. This is purely as confidence is normally not present with a child under four. Also, in terms of asking the child to follow instructions, sometimes the child will not fully understand what is being asked and an explaination is then needed to be given.

The recommended ASA child to teacher ratio is 12 to one.

When can I start my children swimming?

From recent findings and research it has been proven that teaching your child from an early age is definitely an advantage.

Starting babies from as early as six-months-old can heighten their reflexes and make them sharper in their actions. I once taught a six-month-old baby until he was two-years-old. He could splash in the water, take a breath and go under, stretch his arms, blow bubbles etc...

By starting children off in swimming at an early age you are giving them a head start in learning a life-saving skill. If the baby mentioned above had fallen into water, he wouldn't have just lain there, he would know from practicing that splashing, blowing bubbles and trying to move his arms would attract attention.

Meanwhile if you have any questions you would like answering in the column, whether it be for adults, babies or children, send your questions to splishsploshswimmingschoool@yahoo.co.uk and we will answer your questions in the next column or by return email.