Our lesson guide will help you understand your child’s journey through the Aquarius Swim School stages.
A fun and playful class for children aged two and a half to four years old, aiming to build water confidence without a parent in the water but with the support of a swimming teacher. This class helps to develop basic motor skills, working towards Duckling Awards.
This class is for children aged four years and upwards with no water confidence or swimming experience. Children will develop basic movement skills and water confidence with a teacher in the water for support. Aids may also be used, such as armbands and body belts.
For children aged four years upwards who have confidence in the water, this class will develop basic stroke techniques on front and back, basic floating and jumping in skills. Children will achieve their five metres distance award. Aids may also be used, such as armbands and body belts.
This class will aim to reduce or eliminate the use of swimming aids, enabling children to further develop front and back swimming techniques, as well as developing safe entries – including submersion and rotation skills. Children will be assessed without aids and will work towards achieving the ten metres distance award on front and back.
Children will be able to swim ten metres unaided, on both front and back. This class is in shallow water and will introduce all four stroke techniques. Children work towards five metres front and back crawl awards, which must be swum unaided. The twenty-metre distance and Preliminary Water Safety awards will also be achieved.
This class is in deep water and will further develop swimming techniques. Children will be working towards maintaining correct technique for front and back crawl over a longer distance, and towards the five-metre breaststroke award. Children will also gain their 25 metres distance award.
This class will develop all four main strokes, as well as water skills such as sculling and treading water. By the end of the stage all strokes are performed for a distance of at least ten metres using the correct technique as directed by the ASA. Children will also gain their fifty metres distance award.
This class will develop effective swimming skills including coordinated breathing across all four strokes. Children will build up stamina by swimming lengths while still maintaining good stroke technique. Distance awards of 100 metres and 200 metres will be achieved, and children will also be introduced to swimming in clothes and personal survival skills.
All four swimming strokes will be performed for a distance of twenty-five metres to the standard provided by the ASA. Quality stroke technique will be developed for distances of up to 100 metres, and skills learned throughout stages 1-7 will be refined and further developed. Children will have the opportunity to complete higher distance awards – up to and including 600 metres.
Children will continue to develop stamina and focus on the finer technical points of all four strokes. Starts and turns for all four strokes will be introduced. The class will work towards Stages 8, 9 and 10 in Competitive Swimming and the ASA Bronze and Silver Challenge awards – as well as the 800 metre distance award.
This hour-long class continues to develop the finer technical points of all four strokes as well as speed and stamina. Children will be introduced to other aquatic activities: diving, water polo and synchronised swimming, as well as working towards ASA Gold and Honours Challenge Awards and the longer distance awards.