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1/3 of 11 year olds can't swim when they leave school

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Reply 20

S.G.

Original post by BTAnonymous

Same; only cos they're Asian though :smile:

So are mine.

I don't blame them though.

Rather to well in a school over a swimming pool

Reply 21

username1495504

I was allergic to chlorine as a kid and my mum still made me go to swimming lessons :frown:

Reply 22

butfirst_coffee

Original post by Strawberry68

I was allergic to chlorine as a kid and my mum still made me go to swimming lessons :frown:

Bless your soul...thats horrible.

I learned to swim on my own by practicing in open waters ^-^ like rivers. Not allergic but I also HATE chlorine infested swimming pools. Plus the added current on travelling water makes you a stronger and faster swimmer due to the resistance.

I can’t swim

Original post by SGHD26716

So are mine.

I don't blame them though.

Rather to well in a school over a swimming pool

But once you've learnt you don't forget how to swim? I'm 21 now and haven't been near a pool since I was 12 but I haven't forgotten how to swim. And it didn't exactly take up much time from my education lol.

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Reply 25

Miss.Unknow

Im 18 and i cant swim either..not even a little. I tried when i was younger to swim, but nearly downed and from then onward i never really gave it another go.

Reply 26

S.G.

Original post by Moonstruck16

It was very dry sarcasm.

It's not a serious comment. Also, I hardly go swimming but when I do my feet reach the bottom of the pool

I can't swim.

Original post by Miss.Unknow

Im 18 and i cant swim either..not even a little. I tried when i was younger to swim, but nearly downed and from then onward i never really gave it another go.

Isn't that more of a reason to learn?

Reply 29

SMEGGGY

Friday last two lessons were swimming at my school. God did I love it!

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Reply 30

VinnicombeDmv

That figure is absolutely atrocious! Besides, those kids are missing out of loads of fun they could be having if they could swim (flotation devices and shallow pools aside). I think it should be compulsory for all schools that can provide it, even if done externally. However, I also think parents should take care of the matter if the school is unwilling/unable to provide the lessons.

Reply 31

Miss.Unknow

Original post by Meany Pie

Isn't that more of a reason to learn?

Meh..never really bothered afterwards and never really got the time. There are lots of factors that led to me not knowing how to swim.

Reply 32

Meany Pie

Original post by Foo.mp3

Shame but hardly the end of the world. I mean, I know we're an island nation and this 'climate change' religion says we'll be swamped but.. :mute:

Natural selection?

Reply 33

(づ￣ ³￣)づ

Teach them the way I was essentially taught, slap some armbands on them and throw them into the middle of the pool.

Reply 34

Meany Pie

Original post by (づ￣ ³￣)づ

Teach them the way I was essentially taught, slap some armbands on them and throw them into the middle of the pool.

Sink or swim... it works.

Reply 35

Meany Pie

Original post by Foo.mp3

Seullement, ceteris paribus :scrooge:

I'm going to need a translation on that one.

Reply 36

Hedwig2189

Original post by Danny Dorito

A study of 1000 parents of year 6 students suggest that a third of 11 year olds in England leave primary school unable to swim and two thirds of parents surveyed feared their child couldn't save themselves in water.

Ministers have stated that "more must be done" to improve school swimming as Steve Parry (a former Olympic swimmer) has highlighted that "hundreds of people drown every year". He continues "water safety is the only part of the national curriculum that will save children's lives, it can't be treated as an optional extra," said Mr Parry.

You can read more here. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-40685881

What do you make of this? Should swimming be compulsory? Could you swim by the time you left primary school?

1/3! That's ridiculous! I think they should be compulsory. I was able to swim fully and confidently and strongly before I even started school, let alone when I left. When I was at primary school I was always the one that was picked to take part in competitions. There were so many people who had never got in the pool before. It was quite a big divide. Either there were the really strong swimmers who had been swimming since the year dot, of there were those who'd never swum before in their life. It's insane! And we live by the coast as well. It's even scarier knowing that there are city kids who have never learnt to swim and come down and go in the sea, not able to swim and not learned about the dangers of the sea itself. It's crazy. So yes, should be compulsory when it's such a basic thing to learn.

Reply 37

(づ￣ ³￣)づ

Original post by Meany Pie

Sink or swim... it works.

PRSOM. (again)

It's a foolproof method.

Reply 38

Ladymusiclover

I had swimming lessons at school but they were only useful if you weren't a beginner. My mum took me to private lessons and I knew how to swim to an advanced level by year 6. That's shockingly high though.