The Swim Programme making a real difference in Wiltshire Schools

Building confidence, competence and water safety in every pupil

As we head into a new academic year, we’re reflecting on the incredible success of the Swim:ED programme at Dilton Marsh and Chapmanslade Primary Schools at the end of last year. In Term 6 alone, 220 pupils received high-quality swimming and water safety lessons, with 192 lessons delivered across both schools.

By removing travel barriers and delivering daily swimming lessons on site, we’ve helped pupils across Key Stage 2 develop essential swimming skills, water confidence and life-saving techniques, all in line with the national curriculum’s expectations.

 

Incredible Impact

 

Across both schools, pupils in KS2 made outstanding progress:

• Pupils meeting the 25m national curriculum benchmark rose from 54% at the start to 86% by the end.
• Pupils able to use a range of strokes effectively increased from 82% to 99%.
• Safe self-rescue skills saw the biggest improvement, rising from 53% to 94%.

Year 6 Success

Year 6 pupils, made particularly impressive progress:

• At the start, just under two-thirds could swim 25m. By the end, this was 9 in 10 pupils.
• Every Year 6 pupil (100%) left able to swim using a range of strokes effectively.
• Safe self-rescue skills increased from less than half to almost all Year 6 pupils, a crucial life skill before moving on to secondary school.

By the end of Term 6, pupils weren’t just meeting curriculum requirements, they were leaving with confidence, competence and vital water safety skills that will stay with them for life.

 

 

What Headteachers Say

 

Jude Clements, Headteacher at Dilton Marsh:

“Swim:ED has been transformational for our school community. The children grew in confidence with their daily lessons and were eager to embrace new challenges in their learning. Swim:ED provides assessments for all the children which has informed planning and next steps. What is there not to like?”

Rob Cottrell, Headteacher at Chapmanslade:

“Once the pool arrives, it’s like it’s always been there… Pupils head up to their lessons and are back in class within the hour; there really is minimal disruption to learning. Teaching and learning is of a high quality, backed up by rigorous assessment. Parents and pupils have been overwhelmingly positive… If you are a school with no access to a swimming pool locally, I cannot recommend this enough.”

You can also read about our earlier success at Dilton Marsh — including a visit from GB Olympic swimmer Calum Jarvis MBE — in our previous blog post.

 

Looking Ahead – Where you can see Swim:ED next?

 

We are currently delivering the Swim:ED programme at Shaw Primary School, teaching pupils from Shaw and St Mary’s Broughton Gifford. 

We have limited spaces left for next year (25-26) and we have had a last minute 6 week spot become available in Term 2!

To arrange a visit or book your space, contact: abbie.morrissey@phactiveed.co.uk