‘After three weeks, we’ve managed to get almost all of year four swimming’, said the lead teacher
Pupils Aisha, Fatima Noor, Aliza, Maryam, Aysa and Henrietta with Wayne Cummings at Arboretum’s pop-up swimming pool(Image: Penguin PR)
Time saved not having to travel to a distant leisure centre for swimming lessons was a major factor in one Derby school’s decision to install a temporary pop-up pool.
For four weeks this term, Arboretum Primary School in Corden Street has been home to a fully heated, ten-metre swimming pool.
Around 100 children a week have been enjoying learning to swim in the pool which is housed in a marquee and provided by Next Level Sports and run through Elite Swimming UK as part of the Pools to Schools initiative.
The school has invested in the temporary pool instead of paying for children to travel to swimming lessons externally, although the cost has not been revealed.
Headteacher Helen Phillips said she had arranged a pool at a previous school and had seen the huge impact on children’s confidence in the water.
She said: “I want to ensure that the children get quality swimming lessons. Because the pool is on the school grounds, it’s a much more efficient use of time, maximising their time spent in the water.
“Some children who are nervous about swimming have been more accepting because you can say things like, ‘Look, the water’s lovely’ and they can see their friends having a go. A lot of children have gone from being very unsure to overcoming their initial fears and being able to get on and swim.”
The school’s year four classes has benefited from daily sessions in the pool while year six children have been able to enjoy additional catch-up sessions too.
Mrs Phillips said: “It’s been great for year four children to build on their previous day’s learning, seeing the same coach. It’s had a very positive impact on the children.
“The joy on their faces has been wonderful to see. For many, this will be their first time in a pool. Their sense of achievement and the huge smiles on their faces have been fabulous and have made it all worthwhile.”
As well as organising swimming for year fours and sixes, there has also been an after-school club for years one and two.
Instructor Wayne Cummings, lead swim teacher, said: “It has been a really good experience being here. On the first day, a lot of the children had never been in a swimming pool before.
“After three weeks, we’ve managed to get almost all of year four swimming. For me, as a teacher and a coach, it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences that I’ve had in 30 years being involved in aquatic sport.”
The director of Next Level Sports, Luke Smith, said he understood the problems of schools taking children for swimming lessons off-site.
He said: “We understand the ongoing demands on a school for swimming and the potential issues, logistics and costs, and the amount of time children are out of the classroom.
“What our pools achieve is short-term intensive swimming. Children get smaller group sessions every day to achieve their 25 metres.”
Year six children at Arboretum said they were loving their pop-up pool. Aliza said: “I really like the swimming lessons because we can learn something new if we don’t know how to swim.”
Fatima Noor added: “When I was in year four I could only swim with a noodle (buoyancy aid) but now I can swim without one. It was easier to learn than travelling far away.”
Dr Sarah Clark, chief executive of Derby Diocesan Academy Trust, of which the school is part, said that the pop-up swimming pool at Arboretum Primary School “had been a great initiative”.
She added: “Swimming is a very important life skill and a vital part of growing up. It’s wonderful to see the positive result of bringing a temporary pool to school.
“Children at the school have clearly enjoyed having the pool there and it has had a very beneficial effect.”
