I’d like to start taking my 4 year old twins to actual swimming lessons – they both love splashing around and both desperate to learn how to swim.

All of the suitable classes I can find are during the working day – I assume the assumption is that one parent doesn’t work, which sucks when we both do.

Any advice on how to go about finding one that suits ?

Twins? may not be that expensive getting private lessons. Our local local authority pool swim teachers do private lessons, pretty reasonable prices too.

Same with when the kids need their flue jab or immunisations and you can only book an appointment during the day so worst case one of you have to take half a day off work and I have to pull more daughter out of school for half a day, even though we are constantly being told that kids must not miss any school. So by my reckoning ever reception aged child must be taken out of school each year for their flue jab.

Definitely worth looking around for private lessons: ours go to a local tutor who hires a private pool and the per-lesson price is a bit (but not excessively) more than the sports centre, but it’s two teachers for five kids so they get a lot more teaching-per-pound if you see what I mean.

Can’t help you there our local centre runs various classes through out the day. Same as GP appoitments for Flu jabs we just rang up and said what time we wanted an appointment.

Ours went to a council pool on a Saturday morning at that age.

Leeds BTW.

As above, private lessons.

Our two (4 and 7) had been going to private lessons in a local school’s pool from 5pm on a Wednesday. Really small group so lots of 1-2-1 time and they went from being pretty poor swimmers to basically being fish in no time.

That stopped unfortunately as the school couldn’t afford to fix the swimming pool when it needed some work doing but we found another teacher doing the same thing at another local school 5 minutes away so theres certainly no shortage of lessons like that about.

We did take the eldest to an open swimming lesson type thing at the local public pool and it was useless. Group of about 30 kids with parents in the pool as well and a teacher stood on the side trying to teach kids how to swim. Utterly rubbish.

I’m a swimming teacher and Saturday morning 8am until 12 is the busiest time for me. Also do lessons from 4pm until 7pm every day of the week and this is a run of the mill leisure centre pool so I’m pretty sure these times must be standard across the country.

As a guide, 1 to 1 lessons are £18 where I teach but when I do private lessons I charge £25 plus cake.

Local swimming club should have a learn to swim program, kids will genuinely progress quicker at a proper club.
Local authority lessons are pants in my experience!

Ours are/were private it only cost £2 per month more than the local authority.

However KJ01 – now 8 – has just been “identified as a future athlete and therefore invite the the Sports Academy for British Sport” 8O. Monthly costs have doubled for Sports Acasdemy but who am I to deny him glory!

Thanks for your vote of confidence giant_scum!

That stopped unfortunately as the school couldn’t afford to fix the swimming pool when it needed some work doing but we found another teacher doing the same thing at another local school 5 minutes away so theres certainly no shortage of lessons like that about.

2 schools with pools, i d say you overestimate what is available to most folks.

We did take the eldest to an open swimming lesson type thing at the local public pool and it was useless. Group of about 30 kids with parents in the pool as well and a teacher stood on the side trying to teach kids how to swim. Utterly rubbish.

How ghastly, poor Tarquin 😆

Saturday mornings here. Yes, it sucks giving up a morning of the weekend (3 of them, at one point it was 08:30 till 12 ish by the time it was all done), but one of the activities I willing sacrifice time for – swim a decent distance, run a mile or two, ride a bike and they are off to a good start I reckon.

queues at our local pool form from 6 am on the day lessons are made available for registration!

sadly things like exercise and fitness for kids are a low priority in the modern world of Tory austerity

Can’t you just take them to the pool and teach them yourself? Go when you like that way, don’t think swimming lessons existed when I was a kid, dad just took us.

Local authority lessons are pants in my experience!

Glad My kids don’t go where yours go then. Ours are fantastic. Fearnville Leisure centre in Leeds. Small council swimming pool in a ‘not great’ part of Leeds, but the teachers are great.

That stopped unfortunately as the school couldn’t afford to fix the swimming pool when it needed some work doing but we found another teacher doing the same thing at another local school 5 minutes away so theres certainly no shortage of lessons like that about.
2 schools with pools, i d say you overestimate what is available to most folks.

We did take the eldest to an open swimming lesson type thing at the local public pool and it was useless. Group of about 30 kids with parents in the pool as well and a teacher stood on the side trying to teach kids how to swim. Utterly rubbish.
How ghastly, poor Tarquin

Of course, I didn’t realise everyone doesn’t live in Mayfair like me. Peasants. Oh, hang on, I live in a village on the outskirts of Halifax. If its any help my youngest son goes to nursery and they go for lessons once a week at yet another school with a pool at the top end of Brighouse.

With regard to the public sessions, they were oversubscribed and 1 person stood on the edge of the pool simply cannot teach a group of 30 kids of mixed abilities anything at all in 45 minutes. Sorry for contributing real life experiences to the discussion.

Can’t you just take them to the pool and teach them yourself? Go when you like that way, don’t think swimming lessons existed when I was a kid, dad just took us.

I’m with this guy.
I taught both mine to swim. I mean, they’re not going to trouble the olympic selectors, but whatever.

I figure, if they’re into it when they’re older, they can join a swim club or something.

Too much is outsourced these days.

I did both.

I spent loads of time in the pool with my little one getting her confident going under water…I always think that’s key…if they can happily submerge their face the fear goes away.

However she wouldn’t accept me as an instructor so got lessons.

We started with 1:1 as it brought her on quickly them progressed to group lessons once she could swim 5 meters. Now she can do a couple of lengths I’m back on training/improving her!

Thanks all.
I’ve been taking them most weekends and they love it – they have lots of fun and are reasonably confident going under water (my son more so than my daughter). Based the feedback above I looked up some “how to teach your kid to swim” links, and will give that a go. Some exercises here looks good, and good fun too. http://www.todaysparent.com/kids/teach-kids-swimming-with-five-fun-and-easy-games/

My boy goes to lessons at the local pool he’s six. About 5 or 6 kids per instructor, he goes on a friday after school they do saturdays too but I expect thats harder to get a place.

Ours went to the council pool on a Saturday morning.