Please enable us to provide a block of swimming lessons to our P4 and P5 class at Whiting Bay Primary School. Help open up this vital life skill to all children and give them the opportunity to improve their confidence and physical well-being.
Description
We have the opportunity to provide our 16 pupils in the P4 and P5 class with 8 weekly swimming lessons. These lessons are offered during school time as an extra opportunity beyond what the school can offer for their PE lessons.
Learning to swim is a vital life skill that helps to keep children safe, and it is also a fantastic opportunity for our children to learn a new sport, increase their physical acitivity and gain new skills and confidence. Our students told us that swimming lessons are often their "favourite PE lessons" and that they "hope that everyone get a chance to have swimming lessons with Sally, because she's really good and really fun". They said that swimming lessons gave them the chance to learn and try new things and that they were really pleased because they surprised themselves with how good they were at it. Parents told us that learning to swim and being safe in the water felt especially important for children growing up in a coastal setting, but that there are limited opportunities to access proper swimming lessons on the island. They also told us that swimming lessons and/or taking your children swimming is one of the most expensive acitivites available to children and families, and the cost is often what prevents them from doing so more regularly. As such, these lessons are a mechanism to make learning to swim accessible to more of our children.
Whilst we have worked with the facilities provider to keep costs to a minimum, the cost of providing swmmming lessons has had to increase this year. The parent council will be funding the cost of the first swimming instructor separately, and we are applying to cover the additional costs of hiring the pool facilities, a second swimming instructor necessary to meet safety requirements, and transport for the children. These costs amount to:
Pool hire ( 8 sessions for 16 pupils): £512
Second instructor: £200
Transport hire (Kilmory Community Bus): £280
Total: £992
Thank you for considering us
Proposed on behalf of: Whiting Bay Parent Council is made up of parents and carers of all students at the primary school. We work with the school and the pupils to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all, and we raise funds to support the activities and environment available to the children
A life skill that all children should have the opportunity to learn, definitly a cause worth supporting.