At Big Blue, we believe that good foundations are vital in the learn to swim process. Therefore, we have been working hard to develop our preschool programme and ensure every child is in the most suitable class for their ability. Moving forward in to the new year we are officially introducing preschool 1 and preschool 2 classes.
Why the change?
We have been gradually introducing this change over the past two terms by allocating children to specific classes. It has worked well allowing the children to receive a lesson that is even more suitable for their ability.
For example, in our preschool 1 classes children who may be new to the water or only in their first few terms of swimming are able to take things at a slower pace. The teacher is able to structure the class appropriately and reassure and engage new swimmers. The focus of preschool 1 is learning through play, with lots of songs, games and other fun activities to introduce children to the core aquatic skills.
Classes allocated as preschool 2 with more confident pre-schoolers have been able to focus on fully independent swimming with minimal use of fins and progress towards more complex skills. We have found in the past that some of our pre-schoolers who have had the ability to move to beginners 1 haven't been ready to focus on learning technique without the use of games during the main part of the lesson. Preschool 2 will hopefully allow for a smoother transition to beginners 1.
Due to the number of awards associated with preschool it can sometimes feel like children are in the class for a while. This can occasionally result in children working towards duckling 1 in the same class as children working towards stage 1. We feel this gap is too large and therefore not beneficial to either child. Our hope is that with the introduction of preschool 2 we can eradicate this problem.
How will this affect you?
As with any class move we will always contact you ahead of rebooking to let you know your child is ready to move up to the next class. However, the move may involve a change of time as we are unable to run all classes at the same time due to pool space. We understand you may have other children in the pool at the same time and we will always do our upmost to accommodate this.