Swimming at Holy Trinity
All children are required to be able to swim at least 25 metres by the time they leave primary school in year 6.
Children will be working towards swimming awards where they will perform a range of different water skills. Children from year 5 will receive a swimming passport stating which awards they have achieved at the end of the school year. Children will also be taught to:
- Use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke]
- Perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations
In the academic year 2025 – 2026 we are offering the following children the opportunity to attend swimming lessons at St. Peter’s swimming pool each Thursday afternoon between 1pm and 1.30pm.
Autumn term 2025 – Year 5
Spring term 2026 – Year 5
Summer term 2026 – Year 5
If your child is time-tabled for swimming, please ensure that they have their swimming trunks (no loose or baggy styles), swimming costume and towel in school each Thursday morning. If your child has shoulder-length hair or longer, a swimming hat must be worn.
If your child is unwell and is not fit to participate, please send a letter to school.
As a school, we must provide swimming instruction either in Key Stage (KS) 1 or KS2. At Holy Trinity, this programme of study is followed in Year 5.
This includes teaching pupils to:
- Swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
- Use a range of strokes effectively – for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke.
- Perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations
All parents must ensure that their children attend all allocated lessons. As swimming is a statutory part of the National Curriculum. Parents do not have the right to withdraw their children from this statutory element of the National Curriculum. Children who forget their swimming kits will be provided with a spare swim kit in order to join the lesson if a parent is unable to drop this at school in time for the lesson. This is not optional. The spare equipment is washed after each use by school.
Parents of children returning from an illness that would prevent them from swimming for a short period of time must provide the school with medical evidence (from hospital or a doctor) of the illness indicating valid reasons why your child cannot attend. Should a child not be able to swim for an extended period of time, more than 2/3 sessions, a doctor’s letter must be provided. If your child does not pass the requirement of 25m within the current year group, they will attend the year after. It is essential that all children leaving Holy Trinity can swim a minimum of 25m.
Whilst we wish to support parents and meet their specific requests with reasonable steps, it is not possible to exempt children from the National Curriculum.
All swimming teachers are professionally qualified and are trained National Pool Lifeguards. Standards are high due to continued professional development in all aspects of aquatic disciplines. The safety of your child is of paramount importance.
Clothing requirements for school swimming are as follows:-
Girls:-
- One-piece swimming costume – no bikinis
- A swimming hat is required to be worn if the hair covers the eyes or airways.
- A towel
Boys:-
- A pair of traditional swimming trunks
- A swimming hat is required to be worn if the hair covers the eyes or airways.
- A towel
No Bermuda or long shorts are allowed, as these can be dangerous, – for reasons of safety, the swimwear should be sufficiently tight-fitting to allow freedom of body and limb movement without causing unsafe water resistance. In terms of the legislation that governs this, we are guided by AfPE (Association for Physical Education) Safe Practice in Physical Education and Sport 2012.
It remains the policy of the School Swimming Programme that jewellery of any description should not be worn in the School Swimming lesson. It is important that earrings in particular are removed. If you wish for your child to have pierced ears, please ensure that they are able to be removed.
Goggles are only permitted for medical reasons. Parents must produce a letter from either a Doctor or Optician to state that your child has a medical condition and is required to wear goggles in the school swimming lesson. Once again, this policy is in place for safety reasons and AfPE Safe Practice 2012 is the legislation that governs this.