In order to understand what is happening with your child’s Personal Aquatic Survival Skills development you need to know what was in my head when we started to franchise out what my family had been doing since 1947.

My philosophy since 1992 has been to supply affordable semi-private swimming lessons in a pool and surrounds that are designed to minimize anything that may distract your child during the lesson. This is one of the main reasons we only take three pupils in a class and limit the classes to two at a time in the pool. (Two of our swim schools – Clontarf and Buderim – only take one class at a time.)

Because of the boutique nature of our swim schools we do not use the “Station Teaching Method”, which is when your child is in a class where that teacher will only teach them one skill, then is moved out of that class and on to another teacher (station) where they learn the next skill. In the Shapland system your child remains with the same teacher as they become competent in the various skills required to be able to swim.

The progression is tightly controlled by our internal certificate system; if you are a client of a Shapland Swim School you will be familiar with the various certificates your child receives as they progress from one skill level to the next.

This was always the plan, as I really did not want to create a ‘cattle dip’ type situation where there are numerous classes in the pool, which results in lots of noise and distractions. As you know most children are inquisitive and easily distracted.

Over seven decades of experience has taught us that smaller classes in a pool and amenities area designed to minimize distractions is more conducive to your child learning their Personal Aquatic Survival Skills.

I hope my comments have helped you understand the simple nature of our system, which has worked for decades.

Chris Shapland.