Our Lessons – Important Information
August 25, 2025
Arrival at the pool.
- To get children to their lesson on time, please ensure your child is at the pool entrance door 10 minutes before the lesson time, wearing hat and goggles (goggles optional) and ready to check in. We will close the entrance door 5 minutes before the lesson is due to start to allow us time to get children into the pool for the start of their lesson. Please note your lesson time is the time children are getting into the pool not the time to arrive at the door.
- If you don’t arrive on time, or if you aren’t ready to check in, you will need to wait outside the building until the pupils from the previous lesson have left the poolside area and are either in the changing room or have left the building. Pupils must only enter the building when a member of staff is present. Please do not enter the building by any other door or entrance.
- We regret that we are unable to offer parent viewing at our lessons and therefore parents are not able to be in the pool area. You will hand your child to a member of our staff at the door and we will take them to the poolside for their lesson.
- There are no designated viewing areas at most of the pools we use. The exceptions to this are Harwell and Hagbourne pools which are housed in ‘conservatory’ buildings so parents can view from outside. For the pools where parent viewing isn’t available, we offer 6 viewing lessons a year – one each half term. The dates for these are advised to you in advance.
- Where there is no parent viewing we ask parents please to please wait in their car in the car park while the lesson is running. We also ask that parents don’t leave the venue as in case of sickness or accident we will need to call the parent to ask them to return immediately to the pool. Please also ensure that your contact numbers held by us are up to date.
- As pupils arrive at the pool a member of Swim Clinic staff will be at the entrance door and will check them in.
- We keep a register of all children attending the venue.
- Changing rooms are not in use before the lesson and therefore pupils need to arrive for their lessons ‘beach ready’ which means that they are wearing their swim wear under their clothes. Please keep the top layer of clothes simple for your child to remove. During winter months please leave coats with parent at the entrance door as we have no facility for coat storage at poolside.
- Please give your child a towel to take to poolside, and this is better to be carried separately, not inside their bag, so that they can easily wrap it around themselves as soon as they exit the pool. We will help them with this if needed.
- All shoes must be removed before going into the changing room and pool area and must be stored where requested. Shoes that have been worn outside are not to be taken into the pool area or changing rooms either carried or in a bag. Flip flops or sliders worn outside are classed as outdoor shoes. All of the buildings have a no shoes policy, including the changing rooms.
- Children will be taken to designated areas for wait for their lessons. They will remove their outer clothing and put it into their bag (a small bag please, that they will need to bring with them – no holdalls or large bags – we have to fit 5 bags into a plastic bucket). At the end of each lesson children can collect their bag and either go to the changing room or straight to the exit to meet their parent. If your child is age 5 or under and it has been pre-agreed with Swim Clinic, one parent per family may enter the changing room to help their child dress. Please ensure your child only brings items that are required whilst in the building. Coats, hats, scarves etc to be left with the parent at the door.
- When the lesson is ready to start, the teacher will collect the children and take them to the pool..
Lessons
- Each class will be allocated a designated area for each lesson.
- The teacher will deliver lessons from poolside for pupils who are competent in the water. Beginners and non-swimmers will be taught by a teacher in the water.
- Our business model is to have small classes with no parents in the water. If your child has special needs please discuss with us in advance whether your child will need additional assistance in the water, as we are restricted by the number of people in the water at any one time.
- Parents are not normally permitted in the poolside area. However, if there is a severe medical need parents must speak with our office team in advance of the first lesson to arrange to be at poolside.
- Parents are not permitted to help other children who are outside of their family.
- Teachers and other staff can’t help children with hats and goggles, therefore children need to know how to do these themselves or enter the pool area with them already in place. Please practise at home.
Exiting the pool and changing.
- At the end of their lesson pupils aged 6 and over will be expected to dress themselves.
For children aged 5 and under, we are able to permit one parent into the changing room to dress their child. This must be agreed in advance with Swim Clinic as the changing rooms at all our venues are small and space is limited.
- When their lesson ends pupils will be taken to their allocated changing room or to the main door if parents have asked to meet them there. If you are watching at a poolside that you can view from outside, (Hagbourne and Harwell) please do not go to the poolside to collect your child. Just before the end of the lesson please either make your way to the main door (for children age 6 or over) where your child will meet you, or for children 5 and under please go to the changing room where your child will be brought to you.
For venues where there is no parent viewing (Our Lady’s, Kingfisher and the Oratory Prep, and your child is aged 5 or under, and you have previously arranged with us to assist with changing them in the changing room, please be at the main door 5 minutes before the end of the lessonso we can show you to the changing room.
- Please note that the changing room used when a parent is assisting theirchild is the one for the gender of the parent (not the child who is being changed). If there is an older sibling also changing, if the child is age 7 years or older, they must be in the changing room appropriate for their gender. If your child has special needs and requires assistance with dressing and is age 7 and over, please contact our office in advance of the lessons to ensure we can accommodate this.
- Parents may prefer to send children with a hooded towel, dressing gown or dry-robe to put over their wet costume at the end of their lesson and either take them home or change them in their car. Obviously this option is more appropriate during warmer weather unless the car is parked very close to the pool entrance.
- If parents are waiting in their car whilst the lesson takes place, please ensure you return to the main entrance to collect your child. We hand over every child to their parent and cannot permit children to wander off in search of their parent.
- The showers in the changing room are not available. We regret that there will be no hair washing or showering facilities. We need to get pupils through the changing rooms as quickly as possible to ensure that every child has the opportunity to get changed without having to wait, and so that we can check the changing rooms ready for the next classes to use.
General
- Parents of new swimmers, please be reassured that it is normal for children to be anxious at first and some children take longer to settle than others. We have seen it all before, and will do all we can to ensure your child settles happily. Separation anxiety is common, but most children are happy to do activities without their parent, and are used to being handed over to preschools, childminders, primary school etc. If you have any concerns please contact us so that we can assist.
- Staff and pupils must not attend if they have any symptoms commensurate with those of Coronavirus or any other infectious disease/illness. We reserve the right to exclude anyone who presents with symptoms that we feel may be an indication of an illness which may be infectious, or is clearly unwell.
- In line with all infectious diseases and illnesses, if a pupil does test positive for Covid19 or any other infectious disease/illness, Swim Clinic must be advised as soon as the family are aware and the pupil should not attend lessons. Again, with all infectious diseases/illnesses, please only return to lessons when the pupil is well and fit to return and when NHS guidelines advise that it’s ok to do so.
- If a child becomes unwell (with any illness) or injured during a lesson the parent may be asked to collect him/her and take them home, unless treatment for a minor injury such as a cut or graze can be given at the time.
- Our lessons run back to back and we regret there is no time for parents to speak with teachers. Please ensure you are enrolled to our Client Hub where you can access your child’s progress. Details are on your invoices.
- Lost Property. We get so many pieces of lost property, most of which end up in the charity shop! Please name all your property as almost everything that is left behind isn’t named! If you have lost an item please email us. Collection of lost property is from Harwell Village – the address on our invoices. Please contact us in advance to arrange. We regret that it isn’t possible to leave items at individual pools or bring items to pools for collection as we don’t have storage for lost property at any of the pools we use.
- Please note that payment is due on receipt of your invoice. Please see our Terms & Conditions for payment terms.
- Please see our cancellation policy for clients wishing to cancel and also our policy if we have to cancel lessons. Our cancellation policy can be found in our Terms & Conditions.
We strongly recommend that you read our Terms & Conditions which are available on our website www.swimclinic.co.uk
Swim Clinic Ltd
August 2022
Updated September 2023