Swimming lessons - is this expensive?

[countryhousehotel]

Hi - just looking for advice / information. DD is 3, for the last 2 terms (since Jan this year) I have taken her to swimming lessons once a week costing around £140 a term.

This is the only organised activity we do (apart from nursery which she attends 4 mornings a week).

However,now she's turned 3 the classes are unbelievably expensive around here (central London) and the same company seems to have a complete monopoly. For a term it will be over £300 which seems ridiculous.

Does that sound expensive to anyone or is it normal? We would just about be able to afford it because she starts pre-school in September and we are saving on nursery fees, but it will still work out at almost £1,000 for 3 terms. And we'll probably need to keep going for a year or 2 until she's swimming confidently if not longer.

I want to her carry on for lots of reasons. I am/was slightly phobic about water as was my mother, as a result my sister and I learnt to swim very late and have never been comfortable in the water. But I can't get over the cost!! Perhaps I'm just naive about how expensive these things are??

[madwomanintheattic]

how long is the lesson?

ours are 30 mins and we pay just over £90 a term... £300 a term sounds v high tbh...

[missmama]

We pay about £45 a term and I thought that was a lot. I will stop complaining

[tvfriend]

£100 for a term in Fulham

[Ceolas]

My children had swimming lessons at the local council swimming pool which cost about £3 each (30 mins) in a group of about 6-8. Are these private lessons with one-to-one tuition?

[scrappydappydoo]

Sounds expensive to me - are they at the local lesiure centre or are they a private company? Ours at leisure centre are £65 for next term (cheaper if you're a member)

[AramintaCane]

Is there a sports college or university near you. We have one that teaches degree level students to teach swimming. They are supervised by lecturers and the ratio of adults to kids is very very high and the lessons are super cheap. They reach the same standards and do badges like the other places you can learn. It is worth looking out for.

[littleducks]

council leisure centre cost £96 or £77 if your a borough resident with 'advantage' card here

sounds very expensive

[IdrisTheDragon]

DD's cost about £60 for a term. 30 min lessons in a group up to 6

[paisleyleaf]

That sounds like private company prices
we paid around £10-£11 a lesson to start off with (and yes they wanted it up front termly)
but now my DD has lessons at the local leisure centre pool
and they work out cheaper than if I were to pay entry for me and her to go in for a swim (about £4 a lesson)

[MumtoCharlieandLola]

My ds goes to the local leisure centre in Durham and we pay £45 per term.

[ChopsTheDuck]

Yikes, that is really extortionate. How about trying the local council?
We use a private school and pay around £72 a term, works out about £7 a lesson for a 7 year old in a beginners calss.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Our lessons are £95 for next term, this term just gone was £80. The difference is the number of lessons, the prices have stayed the same.
These are at a private pool, 5 of us in our group but some groups are smaller.

I think it sounds like a huge amount of money they are asking you to pay - what does that work out at per lesson £25-30? I would expect one-to-one teaching for that price.

[Bramshott]

The DDs lessons are about £75-£80 a term (depends on the length of the term) at a private gym. Classes of 6-8 children.

[newpup]

DDs have lessons at our health club. 30 minute lesson once a week is £60 aterm and there are no more than 8 children in a class. Individual lessons are £15 for 30 minutes.

If your child is not a member of the club the lessons are £95 a term for one 30 minute lesson a week.

Membership is £20 a month per child so I pay £40 a month which is a lot but the DDs have access to a lovely, clean mostly quiet pool with fantastic changing rooms.

We go most weekends and at least 3 times a week in the summer holidays.

[countryhousehotel]

thanks all - lessons are 30 minutes, price I mentioned was for 2 to 1 tuition, private tuition is more like £500 a term!!!

Dd is getting much more confident but still slightly uncomfortable, hates jumping in and going under the water, so the teacher we had for the last 7 months recommended 2 to 1 because she's not ready to go in a group yet (at the age of 3 parents do not go in the water and dd not ready to be in a group in the water on her own).

it is a private company, but unfortunately for me they run lessons at all the local council leisure centres, so there are no council lessons here (Westminster) although possibly there are for older children. Camden is next borough along, they do them but not until the age of 4.

I will have to think again but useful to get your responses.....dont think we'll be paying it to be honest..!

[peanutbutterkid]

omg, you are mad! Why not just take her for fun swims, I don't see the value of lessons at this age at all. Most the children I know who swam like fish by age 5 (or younger) just went lots and lots (at least twice a week) with their parents, from age 2 or younger, no formal lessons required. As a side effect your own confidence in water would increase, too.

Group lessons here cost 21/month (so ~250/annually), and that goes on year round with only a 2 week break at Xmas. Private 1-to-1 lessons were 9 quid/an hour 5 years ago, so probably more like 12 quid/hour now. We are far out of London.

[hippipotamiHasLost49lbs]

gosh, that is expensive! We pay £22 per month, so some months that is 4 lessons but during a 5 week month that is 5 lessons. But for this £22/month we also get free swimming at the pool whenever we fancy and free entry to the jungle gym at the leisure centre next to the pool.
This is a county-council pool/gym, not a private one.

[Blackduck]

We pay £14 a month for 30mins a week which sounds cheap in comparison to OP! Ours are with a swimming club who use the local baths...

[filchthemildmanneredjanitor]

saying she's not ready for a group because she is nervous is just plain wrong.

being in a group makes them more confident because they can see what the others are doing and copy them and it also takes the pressure off them.

ds2 did a once a week group lesson from a very young age-it was quite cheap-in the olcal council pool.

he adored it and loved seeing his swimming friends. he was uber confident and helped some of the more nervous children see that it was ok and fun to jump in/get wet etc.

he's five now and can swim without armbabnds.

i think you are being ripped off-find ut what is available at your local pool.

[filchthemildmanneredjanitor]

oh and parents were in the water with them-that way it's more normal.

i don't agree with the not having parents in the water at 3-thats way too young!

[thirdname]

Although I absolutely hate swimming with children, as it's soooo boring, I think it is more "productive" to take them for "fun swimming " at that age with a parent in the water.

[snorkle]

That is very expensive, even for 1-2. I'd also say that at age 3, many children don't really progress very fast at swimming, so you are likely to need lessons for a much longer time to get to the same standard than if you leave it until she is 4 or 5.

I would recommend stopping the lessons, but taking her regularly yourself to have some fun (force yourself to conceal your own phobias). You can still encourage her to kick and push-glide a bit too if you want. It will probably develop her confidence more quickly than continuing with the lessons.

[paisleyleaf]

I agree with Filch about the group thing
it's much more fun for games and songs to have a few of you

[Hulababy]

7y DD does group lessons and they cost just under £5 for a 30m class. We pay termly.

DD is also going to do some one to one lessons over the holidays, as her group lessons stop. These are £15 for 30m.

[countryhousehotel]

Filch the thing about not being ready for a group is that this company have them in the water without parents / carers from age 3 - basically it's not an option for me to go in with her. So at her level, it means 6 children to one instructor. Fine if they are happy, not sure dd would even consider it to be an option to be honest and she's not really confident enough to even try! When they progress the ratio changes to 8 then 10 to 1 or something.

I do agree about fun swimming being a good option but have always been concerned about my own issues around water and thought formal lessons were the way to build her ability and confidence slowly but surely over the next 18 months or so until she's at school. I was the only kid at my primary school who managed to get through until the last year without ever learning to swim - I was ashamed and hugely embarrassed about it.

Part of me also can't bear to stop now and "waste" the investment we've already made but perhaps it is just as wasteful to keep paying when as other posters have pointed out she's not going to be swimming properly for a year or 2 yet.