At Ryders Green, we strive to give every child, every opportunity, at their one chance in primary school.

We spend our Sports Pupil Premium money on our swimming provision which goes ‘over and above’ the National Curriculum expectations. We do this because swimming is great for your health and wellbeing, it can be a social activity and it is the only sport that can save your life.

The National Curriculum expectations for the end of KS1 are:

Our Swimming Journey

We are very proud of of our journey because it has led to strong and consistent outcomes for our children and are above national expectations.

In 2015/16 some of our sports pupil premium money was spent on Year 2 and 3 swimming because the percentage of children who could meet national expectations at the end of Key Stage 2 was extremely low. We felt if children started to swim from Y2 upwards then they could build on the skills and confidence to feel safe in the water. In 2015/16 only 3% of children were able to swim in Year 2 and 3. When these cohorts left Ryders Green Primary in 2019/20 and 2020/21, despite the COVID lockdowns 75% and 85% met national expectations.

In 2016/17 we spent some of our sports pupil premium money on additional Y2 Y3 and Y4 swimming provision. By the end of the year 10% of the Y3 children were able to swim at least 5 metres at the end of Year 3.

In the academic year 2017/18 nearly all children are more confident in water. 20% of children were now closer to achieving their 25m swimming target than the previous year.

During the academic year 2018/19 all children from Reception upwards went swimming either weekly for 30 minutes or fortnightly for an hour. As a result nearly all children felt they were more confident in water. 50% of children are now closer to achieving their 25m swimming target than the previous cohort. This cohort received four years of swimming provision and at the end of Y6 80% of the children had met national curriculum expectations, when they began in Y3 only 3% of the children could swim.

During the academic year 2019/20 all children between Year 1 and 6 received a weekly lesson of 30min or a fortnightly lesson of an hour until the COVID pandemic began in the March. Before the pandemic began in April 75% of the Y6 cohort could swim 25m and felt confident and safe in the water. When this cohort began swimming during 2015/2016 in Y2 only 3% of children could swim.

During the academic year of 2020/21 we were only able to begin swimming post pandemic in the summer term and then strict COVID rules were in place. 85% of our Y6 cohort met the national curriculum requirement for swimming. This cohort had been swimming since Y2.

During 2021/22 we continued with the same consistent provision and began working with Swim England to ensure that our Sandwell Leisure Trust lessons were as efficient as possible. Our intention was to further accelerate the children’s progression following the pandemic. Due to COVID our Y6 cohort received four years of swimming provision rather than five years, 88% achieved national curriculum expectation by the end of the year.

Our achievements for 2022/23 are currently underway and they will continue to be stronger than the previous year. We want as many children as possible to achieve Swim England Stage 6 which means they have the skills to swim for fitness, and achieve their Water Safety award.

For more information please look under our ‘Experiences’ tab or click here

Click this question to find out ‘How can swimming connect with a STEM career?‘

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