Teaching independent swimming from birth, Puddle Ducks want every child to love swimming, respect the water and swim beautifully. Lessons are taught in specially selected pools with limited class sizes

Kickers

In a Kickers class we encourage children to be very comfortable under water through child-led activities, jumping right into the water and putting their face in the water when swimming – this is key to early independent swimming. Kickers classes are really energetic and fun – exactly geared towards busy toddlers. A typical 30 minute session would include the following: safe entry into the water, a warm up with some bubble blowing (very important – teaches your child to exhale when in the water), kicking and splashing then swimming independently with woggles, swimming with parent (usually with woggle for support), jumping in from side and plenty of swims between parent and teacher. Whilst in our Kickers class, the children’s communication skills come into their own. Language and responding to key words, counting and listening all play a part in this level of the programme. We use two short woggles to help them move around without adult support (which often ends in the parent chasing them around the pool 😊). Many of the Learning Outcomes are directly linked to personal survival and this is a key element of the programme, including partaking in our PJ week, three times a year, where the children learn how it feels to be in the water with clothes on. They can stay in our Kickers programme until the are 30 months and this length of time is just what some children need to gain and even regain their confidence as this stage can prove emotionally difficult for some toddlers (“Really?”, we hear you cry incredulously!). Our teachers are specially trained to make sure activities are adapted to each and every child and the focus is on encouragement and empowerment, never forcing and never undermining. For those children who have consistently shown aptitude and confidence in the water, we progress them to our Little Dippers class from as early as 24 months.