The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) has welcomed the findings of an Ofsted report into school swimming and has vowed to continue to work with all parties involved to ensure even more children are able to swim well by the age of 11.

The report into the quality and provision of swimming in schools, detailing numbers of children reaching the required Key Stage 2 standard of swimming 25m unaided, says that 83% of 11-year-olds are leaving primary school with the vital life skill.

A top-up swimming programme, funded by the former Department for Education and Schools, and implemented by School Sports Partnerships in conjunction with the ASA, targets those unable to reach the Key Stage 2 standard and has achieved a success rate of over 60%.
 
ASA Chief Executive David Sparkes believes the report highlights issues where further progress can be made but also welcomes examples of best practice which will shape the future of the programme.

"Swimming is a life skill, it can save lives and we owe it to our children to get this right," said Sparkes. "All involved in the provision of school swimming need to work together to increase the time being given to swimming in schools, the quality of the teaching in place and enabling better access to facilities.

"The Ofsted report is helpful in shaping the future of the top-up swimming programme as we move forward together in improving the teaching of swimming in schools and the numbers of children achieving the required standard.

"The report recognises the difficulty in engaging some sections of the community in swimming but also highlights the fact that it is possible and we will now look to build a programme around these success stories within the research."

Sparkes believes work needs to be done around the best practice examples contained within the report and the ASA will use this to provide guidance and advice to School Sport Partnerships.

"The ASA will be looking at the good practice examples and will promote this to be followed and adopted by School Sport Partnerships," said Sparkes. "In particular, the report highlights the need for swimming teachers to be well trained and up to date, and this falls in line with the work the ASA is doing in implementing the UK Coaching Certificate.

"We have seen improvements in the numbers of children learning to swim and achieving the required standard but we also need to look to providing talented pupils with the opportunity to develop swimming through close links between schools and local clubs. The work emerging on schools competitions will help towards this."