Wednesday 28^th January 2026

Dear Parent/Carer,

Re: Year 4 Class Swimming Lessons

This term, swimming lessons are being provided for Year 4 pupils at Forest Hill Pool.  The provision of swimming lessons is a statutory part of the National Curriculum, and your child will be expected to participate. Children will swim in their new Year 4 classes, as previously communicated.

This is a great opportunity for children of all abilities to develop their confidence in water and be taught by a qualified swimming instructor.  Your child will attend a daily swimming lesson, every afternoon for a 2-week period as part of an intensive teaching approach.  Each swimming lesson is 1 hour long which will give every child the chance to improve their swimming skills.  During the first lesson, a qualified swimming instructor will carry out an assessment of each child to ensure that they are placed in a teaching group that matches their skill level. 

Cobalt Class will swim daily from Monday 9^th February up to and including Friday 13^th February 2026 and after the half term will go daily from Monday 23^rd February up to and including Friday 27^th February 2026.  

Azure Class will swim daily from Monday 2^nd March up to and including Friday 6^th March 2026 and from Monday 9^th March up to and including Friday 13^th March 2026.

Turquoise Class will swim daily from Monday 16^th March up to and including Friday 20^th March 2026. and from Monday 23^rd March up to and including Friday 27^th March 2026.

Children in Year 4 Green and Blue classes will begin weekly swimming lessons after half term. These sessions will be tailored to meet the individual needs of each child, ensuring they are supported and challenged appropriately. Further details, including exact dates and times, will be shared in a separate letter once arrangements with the pool have been fully confirmed.

Each day, your child will need to bring appropriate swimwear (not white and no bikinis), a towel, a swimming hat (wearing a swimming hat is compulsory) and a plastic bag for their wet items after the lesson. For hygiene reasons, children should not wear their swimming costumes under their school uniform during the day, and we would appreciate your support in ensuring they are able to change into and out of their swimwear independently. All jewellery should be removed in advance and left at home, and long hair needs to be tied back securely. Children may bring swimming goggles if they would like to use them.

As your child will be swimming daily for 2 weeks, please remember to dry your child’s swimming costume and towel each evening or have a second set of swimming kit available.

Each afternoon, school staff will walk the children to and from the pool and remain with them during the lesson.  Each lesson is from 2.00pm – 3.00pm and therefore we will need to adjust home time slightly for children who are swimming. We will encourage them to change as quickly as possible and be back to school as soon as we can. All children must be collected from school at the slightly later time of 3.30pm. They will not be dismissed from the swimming pool. Please be understanding that the children may take slightly longer to change on the first few days.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via the school office or in the playground after school.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Blackley, Miss Saglam & Ms Whyte
Year 4 Team