Lessons & Classes
Duckling: 3mth – 18th
Duckling class: Our aim in the Duckling level is to give both you and your babies an introduction to our foundation level and to give you both the confidence in our programme and the ability to enjoy the many benefits of teaching your baby to swim.
We will follow the cues given by the babies as we want you both to be happy every step of the way.
Amongst many other skills we will pass onto you is; teaching your babies to breath hold, parents also perfect the ability to take their babies under the water and release them so they can watch them doing their first free swim. We will also teach you many other techniques; ‘holds’ and life-saving skills to practise with your baby. We will help you as parents become more confident so that you can take baby swimming by yourself and put into practise all that you have learnt.
You will learn 28 new exercises just in your first 10 week term!
Cygnet
Moving into Cygnet level compounds the skills learnt in Ducking, encouraging independence to ‘hold on’ by themselves, and ensuring parents are confident to release baby both from a ‘Ready Splash’ position and also during a short swim. Reaching out for a ball becomes much easier and is a valuable skill to achieve. The concept of turning is introduced in this level as an essential life-saving skill. Two consecutive submersions are encouraged as a progression on from Duckling and babies need to be happy and confident doing this before moving into Dolphins. We also start to teach parents how to do an extended swim, which can be a challenge when it comes to multitasking.
Dolphin
In this level encouraging independent movement around the pool whilst holding on to the side. The concept of ‘turning’ is brought on with the introduction of ‘free turns’. Turning from the poolside when asked (introduced in cygnet) is mastered and progressed on to a more independent level. In this level we also bring in dive sticks, rings, and the ever popular ‘Zoggies’ giving the babies their first opportunity of picking up an item held under the water. This is great fun and done best when sat with your baby on the steps. You can also practise in the bath! Around this level babies can go through various development stages, such as ‘separation anxiety’, learning to walk, and the ever-present problem of teething! These can be exceptionally challenging times for parents, no matter how committed, and they can sometimes see their previously happy and confident Eaubaby morph into a very unhappy individual. This is a perfectly normal stage of development and all our teachers have been trained to advise and help you as well as offering fact sheets to help you through this difficult time and move you both into the next phase of swimming which will see you and your child enjoying their swimming once again.
Seahorse
Independence is the key to progressing through the Seahorse level. Woggles continue to be used in our lessons, but at this level they are open, and we would be encouraging children to start to master these on their own. This can take some time, and practising in your own time will make a huge difference.
Children’s confidence at this level should be growing especially when doing ‘Ready Splash’ from the side or off a large mat; we would be aiming for the children to be able to do this safely and unassisted.
In doing the ‘Ready Splash’ exercise, the concept of the children ‘sitting and waiting’ (until the parents says so) for the count of 1,2,3 as a safety exercise should be attainable for all the children.
We continue the ‘Turning’ theme in this level, but now we are looking for children to be able to turn under the water unassisted. We continue work with dive sticks/Zoggies increasing the difficulty when the child is ready by taking the dive stick lower. (no goggles)
Submersions on some of the exercises have increased to ‘3 in a row’ and again we would want the children to be managing well with this before progressing further. Independent crab-walking is an important skill to master before moving into Otter level. We also introduce ‘Tigger bounces’ and encourage the children to start to bounce ‘on the trampoline’, with Mum or Dad of course.
Safe water entries and exits are introduced at this level.
Otter
At this level, the ability for the child to demonstrate how to ‘Push’ from the side is key, and exercises within this level help achieve this. Turning back to the poolside after jumping in is an important safety skill and one that needs to be encouraged.. Bubble blowing for 3 seconds with their mouths and the life-saving skills of children rolling over without assistance are also skills we work on. Children in this level should be very water confident, using woggles independently moving with the woggle on both their fronts and backs and as a ‘motorbike’ or ‘seahorse’ to help them with their balance. Breaststroke arms and legs along with a butterfly kick are introduced through a song.
Safe entries and exits are mastered at this level, sliding in like a ‘slithery snake’.
Sitting dives are introduced at this level.
Seal
In this level we really focus on balance with the use of kickboards. A kickboard is definitely worth purchasing to enable you to practice in your own time. The children use these on their fronts and on their backs with the aim to kick at least 5m unaided. We also use them to assist the children floating on their backs for at least 5 seconds. By now the children can blow bubbles, but we progress them on in this level by asking them to put their whole face in the water and to blow for 3 seconds. Lateral rotation is continued in this level, but with added difficulty of getting the children to regain a standing position after rotating from their back to their front. Safe entries and exits are mastered at this level, sliding in like a ‘slithery snake’ carefully into the water. Increasing the length of independent swims are promoted and encouraging the children to lift their heads up and take a breath is the next stage in their swim development.
Shark
Once the children reach Shark level, our focus is on helping them to achieve a five metre swim independently, on their backs and on their fronts using their arms.
Floatation and rotation in various forms are mastered. The ‘Push and Glide’ exercise should now be done consistently with both arms coming forward into a ‘Ziplock’ position.
The added difficulty of NOT kicking their legs when doing this is an extra challenge. Breaststroke arms feature more prominently at this level and should be mastered before moving onto Swim School.
Children are encouraged to float ‘face down’ on their fronts for 3 seconds.. like a star.
Treading water is introduced once the children can turn 360 with their heads above the water.
Children are excited to use the Fins for the first time and get used to speeding up and down the pool, beating their parents to the other end.
Swim School
We stretch you even further from a distance point of view and expect you to be swimming 10m on the front using a full arm stroke out of the water. You will also be able to demonstrate a breaststroke leg kick and be happy doing backstroke (5m) using arms and legs. More life-saving skills are introduced, as is the basis of sculling. Front crawl breathing is explained.
The Water safety code is explained and Life-saving in its most basic form is brought in on week 10 with the wearing of pyjamas and the ‘rescuing of their parent’ with a noodle.
Swim School Elite
Level 9: Swim School Elite (Children only) Congratulations and welcome to our final level, you will have already achieved a huge amount already on your journey through the Eaubaby swim programme, and you are now on the last leg! Children can join this final level of our programme once they are confident swimming 10m on their front and back independently. This is designed for parents to be out of the water for the first time and for children to perfect the strokes which they need to take them onto swimming clubs. Stages 2, 3 and 4 (of the Swim England) are covered and assessed in Swim School Elite Level).
Book your baby's swimming lesson
Ready for your baby to take the plunge and begin their journey from Duckling to Swim School? Book their swimming lesson by visiting our bookings page.
