A third of UK children can’t swim due to a combination of fewer schools providing swimming lessons, and parents struggling with a lack of time, money and confidence to teach their children.
In an article published by the Swimming Teachers’ Association (STA), the findings of a 2017 survey of parents show that 1 in 3 children between the ages of 10-16 cannot swim. The three main reasons parents gave for this were:
- they don’t have the time to teach them
- they can’t afford to take their children swimming or pay for lessons
- they can’t swim themselves, or are not confident in the water, usually because they received little or no swimming teaching when they were younger.
This lack of confidence is often passed on from parent to child, making these children reluctant to learn (what 9 out of 10 parents agreed is) a key life skill.
In addition, the STA survey showed that the number of children currently learning to swim at school has fallen by 50% compared to their parents at the same age., and this is a national problem. With fewer children being taught to swim by their schools, the responsibility falls back on the parents.
Children can learn to swim at any age but the younger they are, the easier it will be for them. In fact, we recommend starting baby swimming lessons around six weeks; they’ve not long left the comfort of the womb, so being in warm water will feel entirely natural to them.
At Swimkidz, we are proud to say we’ve taught thousands of babies, toddlers and children to swim and become safer around water. All our instructors must achieve their STA or Swim England full teacher status and their training programme includes the STA Baby & Pre-School qualification, plus intensive in-house training both pre- and post-course to ensure they are trained to the highest standard possible.
Using our tried and tested techniques and our progressive structured plans, Swimkidz children go on to swim independently earlier than in other lessons. Contact us today to find your nearest class.
Reference: A Third of UK Children Unable to Swim as Parents Struggle with Time and Money to Teach Them
