Swimming Diaries: Days 6 and 7

Today is our last day of swimming. Most of the children have greatly enjoyed their time in the water and we were really lucky, with our small class, to have such great instructor:child ratios.

This meant that we got lots of opportunities to practise our developing skills each day.

We practised our starfish/floating on our backs. (We do this while our group counts to ten!)

We practised kicking on our backs: 

We practised blowing bubbles as we play with the colourful balls:

Swimming has been so much fun!

Did you know Auckland Council has a 'Kids Go Free' policy whereby all children 16 years old and under get free entry into Auckland Council pools all the time? Make the most of this and take your children swimming this holidays - it will help them continue to grow their confidence and develop their skills if you play with them in the water - the more, the better!

Swimming Diaries: Days 4 and 5

Room Two is continuing to have so much fun swimming at New Windsor School's pool. We are really developing our confidence in the water and learning good techniques for swimming.

Rosina, Ashleigh, Joseph and Ceazah-Blue are learning to point their toes when they kick. They practiced this both in the water and by sitting on the side of the pool to kick - so the instructor could really help them focus on their toes.

The three instructors use the coolest swimming aids with us. You can see Joseph in the photos above using a foam frog to learn the proper body position for swimming and practising kicking. The novelty is really keeping us engaged!

We haven't had any parents come and watch our swimming yet. We'd love to have you along and there's lots of space on the bus! So you could either meet us at the pool at 11:30am or meet us at school at 11:10am (the end of morning tea time) and come with us on the bus. Just show up - there's plenty of room!

Swimming Diaries: Day Two

Last Friday was our second day of swimming - and it was just as fun as the first! As we had been sorted into groups last week, we hopped straight into the pool with our instructors after Room Four got out.

 

Some of us slid in from the side. Ceazah-Blue's group is learning to use the ladder on the side of the pool. This is a new experience for some of us and we need to remember to go down the ladder backwards like Ceazah-Blue is here. Well done for getting into the pool safely Ceazah-Blue.

In our groups we did some of the same activities as we did on Thursday and we did some new activities too. We practiced floating on our fronts...

...and on our backs,

We got to play with colourful balls and blow bubbles to make them move across the water.

 We swam with the noodles and kick-boards again.

We used kick-boards to help us learn to float.

But best of all - we went for rides on the foam mats to help us learn to kick better; what fun!

 

I hope everyone's remembered their togs for swimming today! I know they can be hard to dry each night ready for swimming the next day. Remind your child to hang them up as soon as they get home so they dry in time - and if they're a little damp in the morning that's okay; we're going to get wet again anyway!

Swimming Diaries: Day One!

Yes! Today was our first day of swimming this term. Most of us who were going swimming were very excited. We got changed at school, lined up and walked down to the bus which was waiting to take us to New Windsor School's swimming pool. It was a very quick trip and we were there, ready and eager for swimming before we knew it!

By the time our instructors had finished lessons with the previous class any nerves had disappeared and we were all eager to get into the water. We all got into the pool and the swimming instructors gave us a quick assessment and put us into three groups depending on how able and confident we were in the water. It was so much fun!

Then we got stuck into lessons straight away. We got to do lots of cool things in the water like using straight 'Superman' arms and kicking from the rail, being a starfish by floating on our backs, blowing bubbles in the water, and using 'noodles' and kickboards.

We'll be back in the pool tomorrow so please come and watch us swim whanau! Our lesson is at 11:30am at New Windsor School Pool. It's only half an hour long so come along and support us with our swimming lessons!