Telford headmaster backs Government plea over swimming

Martin Stott, of The Old Hall School in Wellington – where every pupil does weekly swimming lessons – believes that swimming is an essential life skill which should be an integral part of every school’s weekly timetable.

Following the plea from Education Secretary Damian Hinds, who has called for independent schools to start sharing their pools with state schools, Mr Stott says that Old Hall and its neighbouring Wrekin College would be considering how their 25 metre pool could be utilised for non-pupils.

He said: “We are very proud of our-onsite swimming pool, as it allows our children to not only get the weekly exercise they need through swimming, but it offers healthy competition between the children which then sets them up for later life.

“But more than this, we believe swimming is an important life skill that all children should be able to access and learn. We are currently looking into opening our pool further, and we are willing to explore how we can share our swimming resources for the good of the wider community.”

The most recent bid from the Government, to ensure primary school children are swimming by the time they move onto secondary school, comes following the revelation that almost half of pupils are unable to swim the required 25 metres by the time they leave primary school.

At The Old Hall however, there’s been a huge push for swimming to be a top sport for the pupils.

“One area in which we have excelled is swimming,” said Mr Stott.

“All children, reception to year six, have one hour of swimming every week in the on-site pool we share with Wrekin College.

“Those primary school pupils who are more confident swimmers also join the school’s key stage two swimming squads which meet once a week for an hour.

"They compete in five external galas and two internal galas each year.

“We also work alongside the team at Wrekin College to ensure those who show potential to aim higher have access to even further expert coaching and many Old Hall children have followed this route and have gone on to achieve county, regional and national standards.”

Wrekin College Swimming Club was established in 2009 for swimmers around the local area to train and compete seriously to achieve their swimming goals, and offers membership to swimmers in the wider community.