Dear Parents and Guardians,
It is with a great sense of relief that we are able to restart the St. Gabriel’s Learn to Swim Programme after the long break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I am grateful for the dedication and hard work of Mr. Smith and the class teachers of Top Infants, J1s, JW and now J2s, as they join the programme temporarily for this year. Our Learn to Swim programme has always been part of the curriculum and is a well-planned programme. We have made some changes through the years based on recommendations from the teaching and coaching staff, as well as from the parents. The spirit of volunteerism is always present at swimming with the needed help in the girls’ and boys’ changing rooms and, occasionally, with some basic coaching on the side lines.
This year, we have made some changes to the initial arrangements based on the feedback from parents, which mostly affects the students of the Top Infants’ classes. We have agreed that Top Infant students can come to school in their P.E. clothes with their swimming suit or tights underneath. This means that underwear MUST be included in the swimming bag in addition to the other items needed such as a towel and cap (goggles and rashguards remain optional). The class teachers will continue to manage how the bags etc. are laid out and, indeed, how the changing process will proceed for their groups. This also includes how the classes line up at the Aquatic Centre before and after swimming.
The other change for all of the classes involved is the number of volunteer parents needed. We note that we only need a maximum of two parents for each changing room, i.e. two females and two males or four adults per year group. Please roster the parents who are available using your Class Reps as a point of contact. A big thank-you in advance for your help!
We ask that parents continue to take the responsibility of being a parent volunteer at Swimming very seriously, especially being mindful of how staff and students are spoken to and treated. It is a shame that this needs to be mentioned and thankfully the negative incidents have been isolated. However, feelings have already been hurt and we would not wish a repeat of any of the incidents.
Please feel free to reach out to myself or Mr. Smith if you have any questions or concerns about these changes or any part of the Learn to Swim programme.
Yours sincerely,
Alexina Chandler (Mrs)
Acting Principal