Costs becoming barrier to children learning to swim

A teacher has warned that costs are preventing children learning to swim as figures show a quarter are leaving primary school without being able to swim 25m (82ft).

Caroline Greenland, head of PE at Thomas Bullock School in Shipdham, Norfolk, said a growing number of children had never been in a swimming pool before reaching the age of seven.

Swimming and water safety is in the national curriculum but financial barriers are making it more challenging for schools to offer extra lessons - or for children to take lessons independently.

Department for Education data obtained by the BBC showed thousands of children missed key targets last year.

Greenland, whose school offered lessons in Year 3 and Year 6, said: "If families have more than one child it is just too expensive. It costs £30 a month on average."

Thomas Bullock School is among the top-ranking for swimming competency in the county, with 89% of 2025 school leavers able to swim 25m.

But she warned the rates of swimming proficiency could fall in the future as schools struggled to fund more lessons than the minimum required.

A freedom of information request to the DfE has revealed stark differences between primary schools across Norfolk.

The Duke of Lancaster in Fakenham and the Green Park Academy in King's Lynn have the lowest number of children leaving school being able to swim 25m at just 10% and 11% respectively.

The bottom 10 schools also include Watton Junior School (20%), Harpley CofE Primary School (33%), Sculthorpe CofE Primary Academy (33%), Cromer Junior School (37%) and Norwich Road Academy in Thetford (41%).

Four primary schools in Norwich - St Michael's VA Junior School in Norwich (36%), Norwich Primary Academy (37%), Magdalen Gates Primary School in Norwich (38%), Wensum Junior School (40%) - are also in the bottom 10.

This reflects data nationally, showing higher numbers of pupils at urban schools have lower swimming proficiency rates.

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The figures also show 80% or more students at 153 schools in Norfolk - about half of the schools that provided data - met swimming targets.

Nationally, Norfolk is among the top 30 local authority areas for swimming proficiency.

Luton is the worst performing area, followed by Leicester, Slough, Peterborough and Newham.

Julia de Lucchi, who runs Smart Swim School in Reepham, warned against making a 25m swim another test for children to pass.

She said her motto was "happy children in water make for safe children in water".

Speaking to the BBC, she highlighted Sports England evidence that has shown about 500 swimming pools have been lost since 2010 in the UK.

"This creates access problems for schools and families, a lot have been lost since Covid," she added.

"It is really expensive to run a pool and makes it hard for schools to access lessons for children."

Following the findings, a spokesperson for Swim England said: "Swimming is a life skill, not just a sport, and every child should have the opportunity to leave primary school able to swim and be safe in, on and around water.

"However, schools have faced significant pressures in recent years, particularly those serving disadvantaged communities, including competing curriculum demands, increasing transport costs and access to suitable swimming pools."

The DfE said problems with access for disadvantaged children "needs to change".

The spokesperson added a new PE partnership network aimed to close that gap through bringing schools, clubs and national bodies together.

Learning to swim as a child helps with safety around water but it can also spur record-breaking feats.

Dani Cameron, who runs the Shoulder of Mutton pub in Strumpshaw, learned to swim as a child from about the age of 18 months.

Later in life, she found a renewed love of swimming and now she is taking part in marathon challenges in her 50s.

Most recently this week, she became the first person to swim to Sealand, a former military fortress more than seven miles off the coats of Suffolk, which describes itself as the "world's smallest nation".

Cameron said: "You don't need to be the best swimmer, you just need to be safe in the water."

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