The key stages to learning to swim
We offer a comprehensive range of swimming lessons and sessions for all abilities and age groups, including baby lessons and adult swimming lessons. LED follow the Swim England Learn to Swim Programme using qualified teachers to provide quality swimming lessons to all of our customers.
Click on each stage to view more information.
Age Range:
4 to 36 months
What you will learn:
An introduction to water, accompanied by parent or guardian, helping you to develop your child’s confidence and the basic skills necessary for learning to swim.
Information:
We run lessons for babies as young as 4 months at our 3 pools in Exmouth, Sidmouth and Honiton. These lessons are a great chance to introduce your little one to the water, meet new friends and ignite their love of water from an early age. Led by qualified baby and pre-school swimming instructors, they will offer a mix of structured activities and songs and ideas for you to take away and practice in your own time! These sessions operate on a Pay as You Go basis at the following times:
Sidmouth: Tuesdays 11:00am
Exmouth: Tuesdays 10:00am; Wednesdays 10:00am, 10:40am and 11:15am; Thursdays 9:30am; Sundays 11:15am
Honiton: Wednesdays 9:30am, 10:00am and 10:30am
When little ones reach 3 years old, or in some cases slightly sooner, they can join our ducklings programme, where parents no longer need to join them in the water. Please contact your relevant site for details on the timings of these lessons.
Age Range:
3 years to school age teachers assessment
What you will learn:
Encourages further water confidence and independence without the parent or guardian in the water
Age Range:
4 years +
What you will learn:
Encouraging water confidence, moving independently, floating, body position and submerging
Age Range:
4 years +
What you will learn:
Encourages further water confidence, movement through the water both with and without the use of floatation aids as well as introducing aquatic breathing
Age Range:
Once passed Stage 2
What you will learn:
Developing movement on both the front and the back for a distance of 10 meters. Also introducing children to the water safety code
Age Range:
Once passed Stage 3
What you will learn:
This group has a strong emphasis on buoyancy and floating in the water. It requires kicking over 10 metres for front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly
Age Range:
Once passed Stage 4
What you will learn:
This group is to improve and develop deep-water work as well as demonstrating the action for getting help and treading water whilst out of depth. It also covers the arm technique for all four swimming strokes
Age Range:
Once passed Stage 5
What you will learn:
Continued development in all four strokes with more emphasis on technique and breathing. Also teaches children to swim with clothes on and how to perform a shout and signal rescue
Age Range:
Once passed Stage 6
What you will learn:
Water skills and correct stroke technique on all strokes over a distance of 50 meters. Also incorporating a sequence of skills including sculling, floating, rotations and treading water. After Stage 7 of the Swim England NPTS you can choose to continue on the teaching plan to either Competitive Swimming or Rookie Lifeguarding stages 8,9 & 10
Age Range:
Once passed Stage 7
What you will learn:
Further development in water skills and stamina in all four strokes. Participants will learn the correct turns for all the strokes as well as learning to use the pace clock. Stage 8 includes swimming distances of up to 400m, leading up to Stage 10 where participants will be striving to achieve continuous swimming of up to 1600m. Competitive Swimming also includes refining starts, medley’s and relay swimming
Age Range:
Once completed Stage 7
What you will learn:
Mini Polo teaches the basics of the game of water polo to young players. Mini Polo will build overall motor skills, increasing speed, power and endurance through fun and games. It is also an introduction to simple rules and the ethics of sport
Age Range:
Once completed Stage 7
What you will learn:
Lifesaving Society UK are the leading provider for water safety education, rescue techniques and resuscitation. There are three stages; Bronze, Silver and Gold and each stage is subdivided into 3 levels. Each stage can be completed in roughly 16 weeks and a pupil can progress at their own rate
Age Range:
18 years plus, beginners and intermediate
What you will learn:
Learn to swim or to improve your technique on a particular stroke
Information:
Adult swimming lessons are available at Exmouth, Sidmouth and Honiton pools on a weekly basis. We offer both beginner and improver lessons, as well as advanced stroke technique and Swimfit classes for the more advanced swimmer looking to improve fitness. Lessons are included in an All-In membership but are also open to non-members on a pay as you go basis. For more information about session times, please contact your local centre or view the LED App.
All of our pools are proud to host their local competitive swim club. Once swimmers complete their Learn to Swim journey with LED, they have the option to progress into competitive swimming. The respective clubs are:
For Masters, LED offer advanced SwimFit sessions (check your local site for session times), that are run by qualified coaches. All local swim clubs also have a Masters section. For more information or advice on which session to join, please contact our Aquatics Manager, Katy Yardley.
Ratios/Group sizes
The below are our maximum teacher to swimmer ratios. We may have a swim assistant present with certain stages, meaning class sizes may be bigger.
Payments
Swimming lessons are payable monthly by direct debit or a recurring card payment (with the exception of Discovery Ducklings). Discovery Ducklings lessons (children under 3) are payable in 10 week blocks.
Direct Debit is an on-going payment, which will continue until cancelled by the payer. With our Direct Debit price for Swim School, the child will be entitled to free public swimming during public sessions as well as their swimming lessons. Direct Debit guarantee’s your child a place in the swimming lesson program each week.
You can sign up to the swimming lesson programme at any time.
Tracking Swimmers Progress
During the term your child will be continually assessed on their progress.
Pupils involved in the swim school set up are able to log on to our website and view their child’s progress online through the LED HomeHub.
Meet the Team
Swim Coordinators
Exmouth Leisure Centre: Lizzie Mayne and Leanne Fegan
Sidmouth Swimming Pool: Rowena Bosworth
Aquatic Manager
Katy Yardley
Contact the Swim School
We run various training courses across Exmouth, Sidmouth and Honiton pools throughout the year. These include First Aid and PPO courses, as well as the extremely popular National Pool Lifeguard Qualification and an in depth Swim Teacher training pathway.
Upcoming NPLQ courses: Dates to be confirmed.
Swim Teacher Training Courses: Dates to be confirmed.
Please complete our enquiry form to find out more information.
We also offer in house training for aquatic helpers to join our swim team to assist with swimming lessons. For more information about this role, please contact our Aquatic Manager, Katy Yardley.
How to join enquiry form
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