Woodham Sports Academy is currently working alongside local primary schools in an effort to raise the quality of swimming opportunities for primary school children. The national curriculum for schools in England says children should be able to swim at least 25m unaided by the end of primary school.
However a recent report by the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) has warned that half of seven to eleven year olds in England, some 1.1 million children, cannot swim the length of a standard pool. Only 2% of schools surveyed delivered the government’s recommended 22 hours per year of swimming lessons.
As Woodham Academy has such a fantastic swimming pool, local primary children from Byerley Park and St. Francis schools have been attending Woodham Academy on a weekly basis to use the swimming pool as part of their swimming lessons and will continue to do so up until the end of the summer term.
Students have quickly progressed from swimming widths to lengths and all students continue to make progress relative to their ability, regardless of whether they are a beginner, improver or advanced swimmer. Swimming lessons are led and run by Heather Brewster, a fully qualified ASA swimming teacher, alongside Woodham Sports Academy staff.
