The children of Ash Grange have the amazing provision of a swimming pool in which they have weekly swimming lessons in the Autumn and Summer terms. These lessons take place with our specialist PE and swimming teacher who is trained to officially award STA (Swimming Teachers Association) swimming certificates and badges at the end of each term of swimming. Children will work through nine progressive levels across the 'Octopus', 'Goldfish' and 'Angelfish' series, and can achieve a certificate and badge at the end of each level.   Please follow this link for further information Awards – STA.co.uk.

Reception Swimming 

In Year R, children swim in a small groups of 5. A sunken platform is lowered into the water so that all children are able to stand (the water is 1m deep across the entire pool). Learners use a pool noodle for buoyancy and are assisted by an adult in the water and an adult on poolside. Year R swimming lessons are designed to provide a safe, positive, and enjoyable introduction to swimming so that children quickly to build their water confidence. They learn fundamental skills through games such as 'Ring a Roses', 'Simon Says', and 'What's the time Mr. Shark'. We recommend that children wear goggles for their swimming lessons to encourage them to submerge their faces. The target is for children to complete the 'Ash Grange First Steps Swimming Award' by the end of Reception: 

Key Stage 1 Swimming

From Year 1 upwards, children swim as an entire class of 30. We use lane ropes to divide the pool into 2 sections, and children are split into 2 equal groups of 15. In Key Stage 1, our qualified swimming teacher will predominantly work in the water with children who are less confident and/or are yet to complete their 'First Steps' swimming award. The class Learning Assistant will predominantly teach 'Octopus' Award techniques and challenges to our more confident swimmers (with regular support from the swimming teacher). In addition to pool noodles, children will increasingly use a variety of learning toys and floating aids such as 'kick boards', 'pull buoys', and 'sinkers' as their confidence and skills develop. The vast majority of children in Key Stage 1 will be able to stand up in the water, however we still use the sunken platform for any children who are out of their depth. By the end of Key Stage 1, the target is for children to have completed the 'Octopus 2' Award:

Key Stage 2 Swimming

The National Curriculum in England states that children in Key Stage 2 should be taught to:

• Swim competently, confidently, and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 meters
• Use a range of strokes effectively (e.g. front crawl, back crawl, and breaststroke)
• Perform safe self-rescue in different water based situations

At Ash Grange, we strive to achieve this target for all of our pupils. From Year 3 upwards, the pool is divided lengthways so that children can build the stamina required to swim longer distances. We introduce and develop the correct technique for each stroke by following the BLABT framework (breathing, legs, arms, body position, and timing). Children will also learn more advanced skills such as treading water, sculling, handstands, a variety of floats, somersaults, and performing safe self and peer rescue in the water. The pool will be divided into 3 and sometimes 4 sections as children work in smaller groups on specific skills. We also create 4 lanes so that children can compete in inter-house swimming races using a variety of strokes. The swimming specialist will work closely with the Learning Assistant in each class to accurately monitor and assess the progress of each child against the STA criteria: Awards – STA.co.uk