How we track progress
What your child can do, and how it gets recorded.
The short version
Your child is assessed every lesson, not once a term and not once a year.
Progress is recorded in 5 metre steps, so moving from ten metres to fifteen is written down as the achievement it is.
It all goes into the app, so you can look whenever you want to.
Five metres at a time
The national curriculum records swimming as pass or fail at 25 metres. We don't think that tells you much. A child who couldn't swim a stroke in September and can now manage fifteen metres has done something real, and we want that written down and said out loud. So we record progress in 5 metre steps all the way from 5 to 25, and every one of them counts.
Assessed every lesson
There's no assessment week and nothing to prepare for. The teacher is in the water with your child every lesson, so they already know what changed this week.
It also means a child never sits a test. They just swim, and we write down what they did.
We never tell them they haven't succeeded
Nobody fails anything here. A child who hasn't got something yet hasn't got it yet, and that is how it gets said to them.
Nothing is ever forced either. If your child doesn't want to do something today, that's fine — it gets done with them, not to them.
What gets awarded
Four schemes run alongside each other, so a child can be working on more than one at a time.
Before Level 1 →
3 preschool stages, from twelve weeks old.
Levels 1 to 8 →
8 levels, Brook Otter to Elite Otter. Level 5 is the national curriculum 25 metres.
Water safety →
6 awards, taught as missions. The last two are taught in clothing.
Distance
5, 10, 15, 20, 25 metres, then 50, 75, 100, 200.
Badges and certificates
Badges are £4 for baby awards, levels 1–8, distance awards. Water safety badges come with their certificate, which is why they're £4.50 rather than £4.
You pay £5 once for a full set of certificates — once for the baby awards, and again when your child moves up to the levels. Distance award certificates are free, and water safety certificates come with the badge.
There's also a assessment when a child first goes into a levelled class, so they start in the right one. Babies, toddlers and transition classes go straight in.
Where you see it
It all goes into the app, and it's there whenever you want to look.
You don't have to wait for a report or ask at reception. Open it on the way home if you like.
Not sure which class your child should be in? Have a word with us and we'll sort it out.