Sunbound

Hey ,
My son already goes to a swim school on the Gold Coast for lessons twice a week and loves it. He has had a fantastic teacher for a while who really did her job well,but he has now moved up to another group and the options of teachers hes had are quite simply hideous !! The last lesson he had the teacher was looking everywhere but at her students,not correcting their form,wasting time by taking off their floats ,putting them on the side,looking around her ,then putting them all on again !! (I mean whats that all about???) etc As a good swimmer myself i nearly jumped in and took the lesson myself!!
:curse::curse:
Despite being angry i'm sad really as the teacher he had is not available now and i'm not paying x amount per week to put up with this.
Can anyone recommend a good swim teacher or swim school ? My son loves the water and has learnt very quickly since weve been here. If this is going to be something hes going to be good at i dont want to let it go.
Thanks Sunbound x

Weird Fish

I can't help with a good swim school as I'm not in the Gold Coast, but I am an swimming teacher, coming from a competitive swimming background. There are some terrible teachers out there and you are right to seek one that you are happy with, if you find one get their mobile number and follow them to wherever they teach. I do understand your frustration.

I have read from your post that your child is not yet swimming independently (ie still using floats, noodles etc which I am not a fan of at all, sorry if I have misinterpreted) if this is the case there is little point in correcting their form, as they have none! If the teacher is removing floats to practise independent swimming or underwater activities I don't see a problem with this, but if the teacher is simply getting confused as to the next activity, they haven't planned well.

I work with under 5s in a deep pool and I aim to spend 50% of the time without swim aids, sometimes I have to take them on and off. Once kids can travel 3mtrs with their face in the water, they are gone, never to be seen again. Lots of reasons why, but a child will not learn to swim with an aid on.

Why not consider teaching? I did it because I thought I could do better and I was sick and tired of paying for bad teachers. But it isn't just about being a good swimmer, it is about herding cats and understanding child development and being able to teach and communicate well with kids. Not easy when every child has different issues, abilities and then their are the parents to consider. Many university students teach for the money and put frankly their hearts may not be in it and couldn't really care less. :curse:

Honestly though, as I feel like I'm having a rant & I'm not , I just enjoy doing my job well and helping parents understand why I do what I do in the pool.

Good luck with the search!

Sunbound

Hi Weirdfish,
Yes he is only young and very nearly swimming.They do half the lesson with a floatboard out front practising a strong kick,head in the water etc (sometimes a float round their middle during these drills if their tummy keeps sinking)then they go down the deep end with one arm ring (or none depending on the level) and they practise jumping in,safety circles,,treading water,getting in and out unaided and swimming the full length of the area. In all ,from my swimming experience (competitive also) it all helps them understand the components needed to swim safely. However if my son isnt told to put his head down,or kick with straighter legs not bent from the knee,or watch what he's doing etc and is just floated along from one end to the other then told "well done that was good !! I dont think thats good enough.
Im just sore really because he was doing very well ,very fast and now he's going backwards.Which means i have to sort the problem somehow.
Damn ,i guess the next Olympics is out now !!!!!!
Rant over ,Thanks Sunbound !!

Weird Fish

HaHa... I can see you with the whip out now!

I know your frustration. My boys should be good swimmers and started out very well when they were young. They have definitely gone backwards since moving to Australia. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I do think there is in some situations a laziness towards teaching. I also don't take them swimming as often as I should, but they certainly won't listen to me!

There is also an anti UK style of teaching attitude. I certainly don't feel they are interested in stamina at the beginner level, which I feel is very, very important. If you haven't got the strength or ability to swim 15m with a very basic stroke or even a torpedo, why on early do teachers insist on using freestyle catch up with kickboards, especially when their faces are looking up. I hate it.

One place where I taught kids were given a 5m stretch to swim in and they could put their feet down the whole way. Ridiculous!

In the UK I have come from the kids being taught Breast Stroke first. No such luck here, which is silly as it is a great safety stroke and one that I try to teach kids once they are independent swimmers. They are even taught butterfly before breast stroke, for goodness sake.

BTW if your son is swimming with a bent leg, it is a normal and developmental. If you want to improve his flutter kick use flippers (or fins) and only let him swim with those on. They are used to improve kick as it is virutally impossible to use them with a bent knee.

Oh, I could go on and on. So feel free to rant away. I'll join in!

quoll

I was always surprised at the poor swimming levels of kids in Australia - I worked in schools for many years and was astonished at the lack of competence at school swimming carnivals. I naively assumed coming from UK that everyone in Australia could swim before they could walk!! My Aussie DH is a total non swimmer (he sinks very well).

Cant help you with GC swim schools I'm afraid - you could ask at the local swim club whether there is a swim school which has better outcomes than others I suppose. Austswim schools have the Geoff Huegill seal of approval.

Weird Fish

I'm AustSwim qualified for both general teaching (5-16yr olds) and Infants & preschool, I know some schools will only accept teachers with AustSwim qualifications, but many schools do not insist on Infant quals. Infant teaching is a totally different to teaching school age kids and you have to have a lot of energy, enthusiasm and understanding of child development to do it well. Some schools do not even insist on any qualifications. Worrying isn't it.

For anyone looking at booking a swimming class, I would strongly recommend discussing whether or not teachers are given a specific program to follow each week or if they develop their own. Personally I like to develop my own, as it allows conscientious teachers to "work" with the children. Young children need to be engaged and entertained in the pool. They need to experiment and investigate in order to build skills and unfortunately school designed swimming programs tend to rely heavily on swimming aids.

Sunbound

Thats the thing isnt it ..I would teach him some myself but as soon as we get in the pool ,he either wants to play and mess about (fine he is a kid after all) or he clings to me like a limpit !!! Which means we get no where unless i turn into some Sgt Major !!! Which is no fun at all !!!
Yes the bent leg thing is normal at his stage ,maybe i'll get him a little pair of flippers to try though.I remember swimming length after length in those things !!
Surely there must be somewhere on the Gold Coast thats good. I'll look up Austswim see what that brings up , Thanks
Sunbound

coolerkingcooler

Our two elder boys have been at a swimming club for a while now where the teachers are all volounteers and cost only £10 per month for each child (still in the UK). I was very frustrated for a long time as they are taught the 'Australian Method' where it seems to take forever to learn to swim. I have to say that I have changed my mind as it is giving a more rounded approach and the technique is excellent.

I too was taught breaststroke and learnt to swim a length in about 4 weeks - then no more lessons I think the approach at the club they attend is better as it guarantees they become far more comfortablle in the water learning more than one stroke.

Does this sound like the method taught to your child?

Cooler

moneypenny20

Where are you on the Gold Coast and how far are you prepared to travel?

Weird Fish

Not really, they did learn breaststroke first, but also worked on crawl and backstroke. I think we were pretty lucky with our school in the UK. They were pretty well rounded. But due to the fact that teachers weren't actually in the water with the kids age 4 up, improving technique wasn't really well addressed. The thing is children even as old as 10 can have difficulty understanding verbal instructions and demonstrating out of the water doesn't really show kids what to do.

I never had swimming lessons, just got it and went swimming all day just about every weekend. I don't recall anyone ever having swimming lessons, but there were zero public swimming pools.

At the end of the day, it all comes down whether or not you are a natural swimmer and if not, you need a really good teacher that will make learning to swim enjoyable.

Sunbound

I dont really have a problem with what they're teaching ,all the drills are working on body position and learning a good kick etc and then at the end of the lesson they practise them all together swimming ,treading water ,safety circles etc to i can see it working .The problem i have is the person teaching it ..her head is so far in the clouds someone (god forbid) could drown and she wouldnt know it.......Oh hang on a minute..er...er didnt i have 4 kids at the start...er...er doh !!!!!!!!:curse::curse:

Oh look im ranting AGAIN !!!!!

Sunbound

Hi Moneypen,
Mudgeeraba but dont mind a travel really if its worth it.

grossenbol

Hi,
My daughter goes to 'Gullivers' in Coomera. It is always in the local paper and they are always winning an award of some kind, my daughter has had various teachers through her levels and each 1 is as good as the last. I am really pleased with the swimming school. Price is around $180 per term woth different options for payment. Hope this helps. x

bourbon-biscuit

Hi Weird Fish- I emailed AustSwim yesterday and have decided to take the plunge and do the swim teacher training. I'm passionate about swimming and was also stunned to find my 11 yr old daughter who doesn't swim at club level (but did for a while some years back and is generally a strong swimmer- I taught her!) floored her Aussie school friends at the swimming carnival. She was promtly knocked out at the next round up against club swimmers, but I was shocked to see how poor some of these kids were at swimming and they live on the coast

Anyway, I've always wanted to teach swimming and am going to go for it

I guess everywhere is different but my 6 yr old (who has no intention of letting me teach her, lol) has had four lessons and I was blown away- both by the teacher:child ratio (1:3 or 4), the fact they were in the water with her and that they got her doing crawl (of sorts!) in 4 lessons. She was already water confident (duck dives to retrieve, swims confidently under water etc) but was 100% resistant to any guidance


I'm not very fit and out of shape myself swimming-wise so have had a lesson and been working on my stroke and stamina. I started finding 10 lenghts a challenge but am now up to 1.5km a swim, 2-3 times a week, more if I can. For me this is the BEST thing about Oz- all the wonderful, clean outdoor pools

Weird Fish

Brilliant! So glad you have taken the plunge. The AustSwim courses are pretty good, but like all courses the learning actually begins once you are actually teaching. I expect if you are enthusiastic about swimming, like me, you will enjoy all the reading and planning.

Heads up on the practical stuff mine was more lifesaving than teaching how to swim. Your practical demonstrations of ability to swim will have to include lifesaving backstroke, side kick and survival breaststroke (none of which I had any clue about, coming from the competitive side of things). They even made us do butterfly as the teaching stroke! I still can't do it properly. None of it is hard though, but if I can be of any help, feel free to ask.

I think now your exam is online, lucky thing, mine was the old fashioned written paper but we had the added benefit of thumping rave music from the aerobics class.

I did quite a lot of swimming once I decided to teach to, but then when I started working 4 days a week, I didn't have the energy to then do laps. I tried and died after 10 laps. Also invest in a good clarifying shampoo, you will need it to strip out all the chlorine.

ENJOY!