SWIMMING
"The highlight of Year 4!" - MV Pupil
"I could not wait to start Year 4, swimming lessons were the best! - MV Pupil
"As a Year 4 Teacher, swimming is one of the highlights of the year. I feel that I am enhancing the safety education of the children each time we visit the baths by discussing water safety and the importance of doing their best to learn to swim." - Year 4 Teacher
"We all know that swimming is a life skill and the children and staff in Year 4 absolutely love their trips to Morley Leisure Centre. At Morley Victoria we would like all of our children to leave our school with the knowledge and skills to be safe in the water." - School Governor
"It's brilliant that the children get to go swimming in Year 4. My child has really grown in confidence in the water over the course of this year. Thank you." - Morley Victoria Parent
Teaching our children to swim and be confident in the water is an essential life skill that we believe all children should have the opportunity to acquire. It is also a great activity that keeps our bodies physically fit and healthy. At Morley Victoria we take our Year 4 children every week for swimming lessons to Morley Leisure Centre for most of the academic year. Year 6 then go swimming for the last half term to allow us to assess their progress generally and against the end of primary school expectations.
The is a good opportunity to experience what it is like to go swimming without their parents and carers and be more independent at organising themselves and getting changed etc. In the first few weeks the children are assessed and then grouped to enable each child to be taught at the level they require. During their lessons, the children learn all of the different strokes, how to jump and dive in and how to perform a safe water rescue.
It is a requirement that all children should be able to swim at least 25m by the time they leave primary school and be able to carry out a safe water rescue – most of our children leave us being able to do this. Generally around 85% of our children complete their 25m and 96% complete their safe water rescue. For those who don’t – they make significant progress but don’t quite hit the assessment criteria. For these children, we also inform parents and suggest that they continue to take their child to lessons so that they reach the minimum requirement for a child leaving primary school.
Swimming is a huge part of life at Morley Victoria and a definite highlight for all children.
