Answers to all of your questions!
Choosing a swim school which is right for your child can be a daunting task. Here you can find answers to our most commonly asked questions to see why it is that esa are the clear leaders in swimming lessons if your priorities are quality, fast results, safety, and a luxury service.
We take children from 3 years of age. It is the age when most children are confident and independent enough to be given instructions by a coach without needing a parent present in the water for support. We find this is the fastest way to develop independent swimming at a young age.
Unlike other sports, swimming is a vital life skill. Not only will it develop fitness but it could save your child’s life. We don’t just teach the children to swim, we teach them to be the best swimmers they can possibly.
It is very common for children to be apprehensive or even scared of swimming. The unknown can be very frightening for them, but our methods get them to believe in themselves very quickly. There are a lot of things you can do at home to encourage water confidence: making bath time fun; picking up toys from the bottom of the bath; and going swimming as a family as much as possible. Of course, showing how comfortable you as parents are in the water is a great start.
All of our classes have no more than 3 students as a maximum. This small teacher-student ratio enables us to cover a huge amount of content in every lesson and also enables us to hone their skills with an attention to detail second to none.
We encourage all parents to be out of the water and leave the teaching entirely to us. Your children are perfectly safe with us and the fastest way for them to learn is for your child to engage with their coach 100% without any parental distractions. You are very welcome to be present and watch at all times.
If you are a nervous swimmer your children will pick up on this and will very probably be nervous themselves around water. We can break that mould very quickly. It is never too late to learn to swim so if you as a parent are nervous and would like some lessons to improve, then we would be delighted to work with you in our adult 1-2-1 lesson program.
This is a very tricky question to answer but one we get asked a lot. Each child will progress at their own rate so some are noticeably quicker than others at taking to the water. What we can promise is that your child will progress vastly quicker with us than they would with any other swim school. With our unique formula of small lessons, warm pools and exceptional coaches we see great results time after time. To give you a more accurate idea of progress, if a child starts with us at 3 years old, and comes with basic water confidence from family swimming, we can usually have them swimming unaided front crawl, back stroke and breast stroke by their 4th birthday. Not many companies can do that, but it is pretty standard for us!
We give every single student in our weekly lesson program an ESA badge and a certificate as they progress in their lessons which follows the national ASA curriculum. Teachers hold a stock of badges which they can give to you on poolside and you can download an accompanying certificate in your on line account.
We only work with luxury, warm, clean private pools. We have locations all over Cambridgeshire and Suffolk which have all been carefully chosen to give you and your children a 5 star service. View our full portfolio of locations here.
Investing in lessons with ESA is a big decision as we are a lot more expensive than leisure centre lessons. You do however get the results you pay for and can be assured of a very different level of service to what you will experience anywhere else. Our teachers are world-class and our pools provide a relaxed environment with no distractions. Combine this with our small classes of just 3 students and you can understand why we guarantee to get your child progressing years quicker than anywhere else.
ESA Minnow: These classes are suitable for children who are complete beginners with little or no water experience.
ESA 1: These classes work for children who have been in the water before but are by no means swimming independently. We develop basic safety awareness, basic movement skills and water confidence skills. Swimmers may use aids, such as woggles, floats, etc.
ESA 2: These classes work well for children who are on the verge of swimming independent doggy paddle. We work on developing safe entries to the water, including jumping in, basic floating, travel on the front and back up to a distance of five metres, and rotating the body to regain an upright position. Swimmers may use aids such as woggles, floats, etc. A degree of water confidence is necessary for these classes.
ESA 3: These classes are concerned with developing basic doggy paddle, backstroke and safe entries into the water – including submersion. Swimmers must be able to travel up to 10metres on the front and back, They will also progress water safety knowledge and body rotation skills from the previous Stage.
ESA 4: These classes are aimed at children who can swim 10 – 15m of a basic front crawl, backstroke and breast stroke. This stage aids the learner in developing the understanding of buoyancy through a range of skills. Also covered is refining kicking techniques for all strokes.
ESA 5: These classes start to expand on other water based skills such as sculling, treading water and body complete rotation. Children will be able to perform all strokes for 20m to a good standard showing good technique and rhythm.
ESA 6: These classes are aimed at children who can swim all 4 strokes well. Developing effective swimming skills – including coordinated breathing – across all strokes is the focus of this stage. Learners also have to swim a distance of 25metres using a stroke of the swimmer’s choice. Children also learn about aspects of water safety and about preparing properly for exercise.
ESA 7: During this stage, children develop quality stroke techniques up to 100metres incorporating the skills they have learned, and combine them to develop a linked routine. We will also cover dives, starts and turns.
