The Swim Wales Learn to Swim framework from four to fourteen, six to eight in a class, a badge for every stage
Stages 1 to 7
The heart of the school: the Swim Wales Learn to Swim stages 1 to 7, from a four-year-old who can float with help to a twelve-year-old swimming 400 metres in four strokes. Stages 1 to 4 are thirty minutes in groups of six (£9.50); 5 to 7 are forty-five minutes in groups of eight (£11). The level finder suggests the stage.
Seven stages, each with a set of outcomes from Swim Wales, a badge and a certificate, and a record card your child keeps. Children move up the moment they meet the outcomes, which is why the stage on the record card matters more than the age on the birth certificate.
Stage 1 is independence: entering and leaving the water without help, floating, travelling five metres with an aid, putting the face in. Stage 2 is the first unaided swim, five metres, and the start of kicking on the front and back. Stage 3 is ten metres on front and back, with the first proper arm action and the first safety skills, getting out at the deep end and treading water. Stage 4 is twenty-five metres in one stroke, the first sculling and the start of the other strokes. Stages 1 to 4 are thirty minutes, six children with a teacher in the water until Stage 3 and on the side after.
Stages 5 to 7 are forty-five minutes in the main pool, eight children with a teacher on the side. Stage 5 is twenty-five metres in three strokes and the start of turns; Stage 6 is a hundred metres continuously and the first dives from the side; Stage 7 is four hundred metres, all four strokes to a recognisable standard, tumble turns and the full water-safety award. A child who finishes Stage 7 is a swimmer, and many go on to Llanishen's own club squads, whose coaches watch our Stage 7 groups each summer.
Teachers assess every lesson against the outcomes on the record card and tick them off as they go. When a child has every outcome, they get the badge and the certificate at the end of that lesson, and the office moves them up to a class at the next stage within a fortnight, usually at the same time and day. There is no end-of-term test and no waiting.
Classes run on weekday afternoons from 3:45 and on Saturday mornings, and the class list with the spaces for every stage is on the levels page. Goggles are fine from Stage 2; swim caps are required for long hair. Parents watch from the gallery and the teachers come up to talk at the end of the lesson if there is something to say.
What is included
- Swim Wales Learn to Swim stages 1 to 7, with outcomes, badges and certificates
- Stages 1 to 4: thirty minutes, six at most, teacher in the water to Stage 3
- Stages 5 to 7: forty-five minutes in the main pool, eight at most
- Moving up mid-term the moment the outcomes are met
- A record card your child keeps, ticked every lesson
- Stages 1 to 4 £9.50, 5 to 7 £11, a sibling 10% off
What it costs
Stages 1 to 4 £9.50 for thirty minutes; stages 5 to 7 £11 for forty-five minutes. Charged by the term. A sibling 10% off. 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 stages 1 to 7
How long does each stage take?
Roughly a term per stage at the lower stages and two at the upper ones, but it varies widely. A confident six-year-old can do Stages 1 to 3 in a year; a nervous one may spend a year on Stage 1 and then race through the next three. The record card shows exactly where they are.
My child can swim a bit already. Which stage?
Use the level finder: the age and what they can do now give a suggested stage and its classes. The first ten minutes of the first lesson are an assessment, and if the stage is wrong the teacher moves them that day.
What happens after Stage 7?
A child who completes Stage 7 can swim four hundred metres and is safe in deep water. Most stop there, very sensibly; some go on to the Llanishen swimming club, whose coaches come to see our Stage 7 groups each summer, or to water polo, lifesaving or triathlon.
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.