Five days in a row in the Easter, summer and October holidays, thirty minutes a day, £60
The holiday crash course
Five lessons on five consecutive days in the school holidays, thirty minutes a day in groups of six, for children at every stage from pre-school to Stage 6. Daily practice moves a child faster than a weekly lesson: most move up a stage, or most of one, in the week. £60 for the five days.
Five days in a row does something a weekly lesson cannot: nothing is forgotten between lessons. A child who is stuck at the edge of a stage, or nervous after a summer away, or about to go on holiday somewhere with a pool, will usually make a term's progress in a week.
Crash courses run in the Easter, summer and October half-term holidays, Monday to Friday, with sessions every half hour from 9am to 12:30pm. Each group is six children at the same stage, with the same teacher all week, and the stages run from pre-school to Stage 6. The dates and the spaces for the next courses are on the term dates page.
The week is planned around the outcomes the group is closest to. By Friday most children have new outcomes ticked on their record card, and a good number have completed a stage and get the badge and certificate on the Friday. Children who are in our term lessons keep the same record card, so the progress carries straight into the next term.
Crash courses are open to children who are not in our weekly lessons, which makes them a good way to try us, or a good way to catch up for children whose term lessons are elsewhere. The first lesson starts with a quick assessment so that every child is in the right group by Tuesday.
The summer course is the most popular and books out by June. Pre-schoolers need to be at least three and a half and happy to go in without a parent; the teacher is in the water with the pre-school and Stage 1 groups all week.
What is included
- Five consecutive days, thirty minutes a day, Easter, summer and October
- Six children at the same stage with the same teacher all week
- Pre-school to Stage 6, assessed on the Monday
- Outcomes ticked on the record card, badges on the Friday
- Open to children not in our term lessons
- £60 for the five days, a sibling 10% off
What it costs
£60 for five days, thirty minutes a day. Sibling 10% off. Open to children not in our term lessons. The level finder suggests the stage and lists its classes with spaces; the term dates page shows the lessons left this term and what joining now costs.
Questions about holiday crash course
Is five days in a row too tiring for a four-year-old?
Thirty minutes is short enough that it rarely is, and the warm teaching pool helps. If a pre-schooler is flagging by Thursday the teacher keeps it gentle. Most are desperate to go back on Saturday.
Will my child really move up a stage?
Many do, especially those already close to the end of a stage. Some make a lot of progress without finishing the stage, which still shows on the record card. We do not promise a badge, because the outcomes are the outcomes.
Can we do it if we are on holiday for one of the days?
The course is planned for five days in a row; if your child misses one we cannot make it up in the same week, but the lesson can be taken as a single crash-course session in the next holiday.
Find the stage, then book a place. Pay only for the lessons left.
Tell us the swimmer's age and what they can do now, and we offer a class at the right stage with a space, usually within the week. The first ten minutes are an assessment and the teacher moves them that day if the stage is wrong. Or ring Carys in the office.