Swimming in the Lower School

We are very excited to have swimming become part of our Lower School Physical Education program starting in the 2019-20 school year. From 2019-20 all LS students from K3 to Grade 5 will swim twice a year as part of their swimming units in the PE program. This semester students will have an introduction to the pool and our swimming program with a trial period from March 28 to April 26.

As swimming is new to the school, the trial will allow everyone including students, teachers, and parents to become familiar with the pool and the routines around swimming lessons. This will also allow us to monitor the introduction of swimming and make any needed adjustments before the swimming units begin in the 2019-2020 school year.

As part of the trial, all LS students will have three or four swimmings lessons during their PE class time. Half of the classes will start lessons on March 28. The other half will have lessons from April 11-26. We will send out detailed information to parents including the exact days each class will swim as part of the trial.

The students will be taught swimming by their current PE teachers in addition to three other PE teachers/PE interns. All the PE teachers and interns have been trained as lifeguards and as swim instructors. A recent training has also occurred in the Graded pool so they are familiar with our swimming environment.

There will only be one PE class in the swimming pool at a time. There will be four teachers teaching, with a ratio of one teacher to five or six students. In addition to the four teachers, there will also be a lifeguard on duty and a teacher’s assistant who can assist the children with trips to the bathroom if necessary.

For children who are non-swimmers, the program will teach them how to be safe and confident in the water, and a survival stroke. For more confident swimmers, students will learn freestyle/front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly to help further develop their confidence and strength as swimmers.

The emphasis of the program is to give children a positive experience. There will be a lot of fun and games during the lesson. The water temperature in the heated pool will be around 30 degrees celsius. Children can use their choice of swimsuits (with the exception of bikinis, which are not permitted).

Students will get changed in the changeroom at the new Athletics Center. There will be a small, private designated space in the change room for LS students to change. For the younger children, their teacher’s assistant will be on hand to assist them.  For older children, there will be a teacher’s assistant or a teacher available if children need assistance. The school is also interested in having some parents volunteer to provide additional support for the children in the changeroom. More information will be sent by room parents closer to the date.

Before the swimming trial starts, all LS children will need a medical check from a doctor that says they are fit to participate in the program. This medical check is required under Brazilian law every six months. The school will arrange for these checks to be done by the school’s doctor during a PE class in mid-March. We will send detailed information about how we will do these to parents, once we have finalised the details.

Once the trial begins, children will need to bring the following to school each swimming day:

• Swimsuit: for boys this could be board shorts, sungas - which can be paired with a rash shirt if they wanted to; for girls, they can wear a one piece, or a one-piece with board shorts, or a one-piece with board shorts and a rash shirt - if they wanted.Swim cap (Silicon swim caps are the best - they may be a little more expensive but they do the job of keeping hair dry well.)
• Towel
• Flip flops
• Goggles (optional)

If you require additional information, or if you have any remaining questions, please feel free to contact our Aquatics Coordinator, Rob Cope rob.cope@graded.br, or your child’s PE teacher: Andrea Ramires (andrea.ramires@graded.br), Gisela Maldonado (gisela.maldonado@graded.br), or Enrico Pasquini (enrico.pasquini@graded.br).

We are excited about this amazing opportunity for our students, and are excited to see them use the Graded pool for the first time!