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Information for Parents

Swimming for fun, health and safety: That’s the aim of the STA – the world’s leading swimming and teaching association. We are a UK based charity, founded in 1932 to ensure that everyone gets the most out of swimming safely, especially families with young children and teenage children. The STA is also the only awarding body that offers a comprehensive water safety advice as part of its Learn to Swim programme.

The STA is recognised by many bodies, swimming groups, local authorities plus many independent groups worldwide and it is almost certain that you will have a STA course being run in your local authority or private health club pool.

Gone are the days when a swimming lesson comprised of children lining up in rows along the side of the pool getting cold and bored. Take a peek into an STA led swimming lesson and you’ll see the children singing songs, playing games and having fun in the water.

Why learn to swim?

According to RoSPA drowning is the third largest cause of accidental death to children in the UK. Drowning can happen anywhere, in a garden pool, pond or river, so safety in and around water is the largest incentive for parents who sign their children up for an STA swimming course.

As a result 1,000,000 people successfully complete an STA award every year, mainly youngsters, whose parents can be safe in the knowledge that their children will be given the best training in water safety and drowning prevention.

Encouraging Your Child to Swim

Safe fun in the water shouldn’t just be confined to school hours, and there is a lot you can do to help and encourage your child to swim and learn about water safety, survival and lifesaving.

• Supplement their school swimming lessons with regular visits to your local pool. Your child will learn much faster if visits are little and often rather than long and infrequent.
• Include the whole family in your trips – swimming should be a fun, social activity.
• Take a genuine interest in your child’s progress in the pool. What they learn could save their own, or someone else’s, life.

It’s never too early to start your child on the path to becoming a strong, safe swimmer – in fact the younger the better. Your child can even begin at pre-school or supplement their lessons once they have started education by joining a Learn to Swim programme.

Here are some tips:

• Start young. Buy a paddling pool and let your child splash around from the time they can sit up.
• Bath time is often a child’s first experience of water, so make it fun time.
• Think about joining a special Parent and Baby swimming programme.
• Bring toddlers into the water by holding them close. Once they know you will protect them in the water, they will feel more at ease.
• Swimming lessons for three and four year olds are a good idea, but make sure you choose a class that suits you and your child. Make sure you are comfortable with both the class and the teachers before enrolling.
• Ask if the Learn to Swim programme includes water safety education.
• Make sure the pool and the teachers are all Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) certified, and that the teachers hold nationally recognised qualifications.
• Make sure there are lifeguards on duty during the classes.
• Make sure there are clean, suitable changing facilities or baby changing rooms.
• Ask if the swim school is a member of the National Federation of Swim Schools. You can find out more about this organisation on the NFS website or by calling 01922 645097.