Pre School Swimming Program
Our Pre-school program caters for children who are just beginning their water education as well as those who have experienced our Infant and Toddler classes.
Classes are arranged with children of a similar age and ability. Our Pre-school teachers will gently nurture and encourage your child to help them quickly feel at ease and confident in the water.
With only 4 children per class, each child will be encouraged to work at their own level of confidence and skill and will receive an equal amount of attention from the teacher.
Children will learn to master elementary skills of movement in water, and learn breath control through exploration, fun games and other activities.
3-4 Year Old Swiming Lessons
Aust-swim guidelines recommend children swim with a parent until at least 3 years of age. At 3 to 3 ½ years, this could be a child’s first experience in the pool alone. An overly anxious or nervous child (especially if new to our swim school) may find it reassuring to have a parent in the pool for the first few lessons. To swim with or without a parent will be discussed on enrolment and the decision will be based on the experience, confidence and emotional readiness of each individual child.
Young preschool children sometimes have difficulty following instructions and learn more through play and fun activities to develop water familiarization, confidence and aquatic skills. All our activities and play are skill-based.
We teach the elementary stroke of dog paddle as it encourages confidence and enables independent movement before breath control is mastered. We use appropriate swim-aids (back bubble and/or wings) to help children develop this skill quickly and provide maximum opportunity for independent practice during their class.
New skill progressions are introduced based on the aquatic and developmental readiness of each individual child. Safe behaviour in and around the water is emphasized in every class.
4 to 5 Year Old Swimming Lessons
At this age children are beginning to have the necessary emotional maturity, coordination and motivation to start stroke development.
The aim of the beginner at this age is to achieve confidence and independence, to master elementary skills of movement in the water, and to learn breath control. The elementary survival stroke of Dog Paddle is taught as it is a stroke that can be mastered quickly. As each new skill is mastered, teachers will introduce new skill progressions based on the aquatic and developmental readiness of each individual child.
Children who have had aquatic experience from an early age will be ready to be introduced to the elementary stroke techniques for Freestyle and Backstroke. Strong emphasis is placed on good technique and correct body position.
Acquiring the art of breath control, propulsion, correct head position and correct and effective arm and leg movement together with keeping afloat can be quite difficult for some children. We advocate the use of the back-bubble as a teaching aid as it does not inhibit body position or head, arm or leg movement.
Without the assistance of the bubble, the child is focused on not sinking, instead of focusing on the development of the skills needed to perform the stroke correctly and efficiently. The bubble is removed for turns with the teacher and discarded once the stroke can be performed competently.
All classes include water safety and survival skills relevant and appropriate to the age and ability of each individual child.
