CHILDREN will no longer face lengthy waiting lists for swimming lessons at an Inverness pool as a major programme revamp is planned.
Hundreds more children could get access to swimming lessons when the new scheme is introduced. The new scheme will see the Parent and Toddler lessons replaced with a new Adult and Child five-stage activity programme which is hoped will see hundreds more children get access to lessons.
Eilidh Maclean, activities development manager at Inverness Leisure, has spent the last year reviewing the current ‘Learn to Swim’ scheme at the Bught Park facilities and came up with the new plan.
"I noted that once a child was in Parent & Toddlers that they effectively had their place from then on," she said.
" I felt that this ‘lock-in’ position was unfair as there is only so much a baby can learn in the early years but despite this other new parents and babies could not access the scheme as we had neither the pool space nor teachers available. In the new scheme, the criteria focuses much more on helping the adult with skills and practices they can use with their child outside of the lesson programme.
"For this reason, we have designed a new five-stage programme on 6-week blocks where activity classes will be based on the child’s age. At the end of the block parents will be given an information leaflet on what they have been learning and how they can continue to build and develop their child’s confidence out with the Learn to Swim scheme.
She added: "This means that there will be no waiting list for the new Adult & Child lessons therefore, depending on the child’s age, participants can get access on a ‘first come first served’ basis to any of the five classes effectively every six weeks. And as those in the classes are not automatically progressed, it makes the system far fairer than the scheme previously operated."
Miss Maclean said customers may experience some disruption as the new scheme is implemented.
"We hope our customers understand that there may be some level of disruption over the forthcoming months as the changes are implemented and then bedded in. However, when we are now looking at teaching far more children the life-saving skill of swimming than we were before, we really believe parents will be understanding as they start to see the alterations come to fruition."
Over the next few months, details of the new scheme will be available on the Inverness Leisure website at www.invernessleisure.co.uk and on notice boards in the centre
Inverness Courier
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