School Aged Program
Our school aged program is designed for children and adolescents aged 5 and up and continues on from the skills our pre-school and prep age program. In this program the child enters the pool without their parent but are supported by the swim teacher.
Key features of our school aged program are:
- Skill revision: We revise and build on previous skills, supporting your child to enhance their ability to control their breath and trust that the water will always hold them up, provided they have not blown out the air inside their lungs.
- Confidence building: Here we focus on enhancing your child’s confidence that comes from knowing they will not fall to the bottom of the pool and will always float on top of the water.
- Freestyle: Your child is supported to build their individual skills in arm and leg movements required for freestyle (crawl stroke). This involves teaching your child:
- The correct leg movement (kicking)
- How to bring their arms out of the water after their hand reaches their thigh at the back end of the stroke, then move their arms through the air and place their hand in the correct position to start the next stroke.
- To maintain the correct leg speed while their arms work (timing)
- The correct way to exhale their breath under the water, and then inhale the same amount of air.
- To apply the newly learned breathing techniques and take a breath by turning their head to the side, without losing the timing their legs and arms. After you child demonstrates they can perform this skill for 6.25m, they can be easily applying this to longer distances (e.g., 12.5m).
- Other strokes: Once your child learns freestyle, we start to introduce other swim strokes. We routinely teach freestyle and backstroke to enhance skills and comfort in the water.
- Stroke correction: At this stage we prioritise your child’s stroke correction to perfect their skills.
- Distance: Once your child can show their ability to swim each stroke for 12.5m, they are supported to progress their skills to longer distances. Here we introduce into the program the skills for your child to swim up to 100m without stopping.
What our customers say about us
We have had a lovely friendly experience here. Our child’s swimming and confidence has grown with each lesson and we are very happy with the service, the teachers and the owners of the business. Highly recommend this swim school
My 11 year old son had to have his swimming and floating ability evaluated to join Nippers. Chris saw us at 6.30 am, before his regular classes, and conducted this assessment. He was helpful, supportive and patient with my son and offered him practical advice for swimming in the ocean.
My kids love having their lessons at Shapland! The teachers are great and even my anxious child really settled and thrives there.
An amazing swim school. Nothing but great experiences. My kids have become so confident and safe in the water. One even won a few ribbons at his first swim carnival recently. Highly recommended.
I’ve been so impressed with the patience and dedication of my son’s teacher. He has been a very reluctant swimmer, but after a few months he now asks excitedly if it’s swimming lesson day. He will now put his face underwater and float on his back. It’s amazing seeing his improvement. Thank you to the Shapland Team.
Great swim school, the small class size means you get solid teacher time. Plus the online bookings make it pretty easy to cancel and re-schedule (even the night before too).
We love our swimming lessons at Shapland Swim School!! Can’t fault any of the coaches. 3 to a class is perfect. Progression is good! Make up lessons are easy to schedule. Facilities are clean. An overall wonderful experience, highly recommend!
Shapland Swim School has improved both my kids’ confidence in the water so much! I have been very impressed with the quality of teaching, cleanliness, small class sizes and overall professionalism of the staff, creating a safe and supportive environment to learn.
Why didn’t we start earlier? We’ve moved almost 3 years, driving past the promotional sign almost every day. Only started our first classes last week. Kids LOVE the pool. Especially my older girl, who keeps telling me how her hair isn’t turning into hay after swimming and how the water doesn’t sting her eyes. They both can’t wait for their next lesson! Really should’ve started 3 years ago, then they could both swim like dolphins already!
I can’t thank this swim school enough. Not only have they taught my little boy water safety and to swim with confidence, they have supported me, an anxious mother, to gain confidence in the water. Now my son and I have lots of fun together. A bonus is the heated magnesium pool and only 3 to a class, so it doesn’t feel crowded and we learn a lot in each class. Definitely worth a visit, go try it out!
Amazing team of people that really care about your child’s swimming ability! They really connect with the kids in the water and the kids have a ball, all while learning how to swim.
I wish we had changed to this swim school sooner. Such a peaceful and clean centre. My son’s first lesson here was a success and he stayed in the water for the whole lesson which rarely happens. Swimming time had previously been a stressful time as now I am excited to watch him start to actually learn to swim and showing new skills 👏
My 2 year old loves her swim lessons here, here confidence is soaring each week after initially being terrified of even getting wet, she’s turned into a water loving toddler all thanks to the brilliant instructors. The small class sizes are great as your child gets alot of 1 on 1 attention.
Absolutely the best swim school in the area. Only 3 children per session means my son always gets the attention and coaching he needs to succeed. I’ve watched his confidence grow in the water. The teachers and owners are the most amazing humans, always showing compassion and patience. Would definitely recommend.
Ready for your child to learn to swim?
Enroll in our baby swimming lessons at Shapland Swim Schools and give your child the best start in their swimming journey.
Check out our center location in Brisbane, Queensland.