According to OFSTED primary schools may need to consult local mosques and involve families in their efforts to get all children in England swimming. Although most 11-year-olds did now reached the target of 25 metres some groups of pupils were missing out, including ethnic minorities with little experience of swimming. In a quarter of the 12 local authorities visited, the way that swimming facilities had been centralised meant pupils spent more than twice as long travelling to the pool as they spent in the water.

Most teaching of swimming was classed as good, with teachers often being qualified swimming instructors and good attention was paid in most instances to ensuring that appropriate account was taken of cultural issues, the report said. With regards to the lack of progress in ethnic minorities they said:

“Evidence from this small sample of schools suggested that pupils from some black minority ethnic groups often started with less experience of swimming than other groups and made the least progress. Providers did not always recognise or acknowledge this in their planning. Instances of good practice included consultation with a local mosque on how to improve participation of Muslim pupils, and family swimming programmes to involve parents from black minority ethnic groups.”

Gifted and talented swimmers were often not well catered for, the report said. And the tracking of the individual progress made by all pupils was generally not well done. Teaching was often less effective with pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The swimming teachers lacked experience and confidence with these pupils and sometimes resorted to excluding them from lessons in the absence of other strategies.

My experience of swimming has been really mixed. Some authorities that I have worked for have really impressed me (Trafford) whilst others I feel let the children down (Warrington). In all of the schools I’ve been in apart from Manchester the travelling to the pool has taken longer than the swimming lesson which is awful!