Amateur Swimming Association

The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) is the national body which supports the teaching of swimming in England.

Our aim at the ASA is to encourage more people to swim and have fun swimming more often.

You will probably be most familiar with the ASA name through our world renowned Learn to Swim programme and award scheme that’s taught millions of children to swim.

The ASA understands the pressures schools are under to perform and deliver a fully rounded education for each pupil, which can sometimes create difficult conditions for school swimming.

That’s why we provide support for schools in England in the delivery of school swimming lessons so that they can meet the statutory requirements set down in the national curriculum.

We are always here to answer any questions you may have about school swimming.

Teaching Swimming

In order to make school swimming a success at your school, those people who have an established relationship with pupils, like their class teachers, are best placed to do this.

School swimming is a statutory national curriculum subject, so it is essential that you train your teachers and they have access to appropriate support and resources.

You can use the government Sports Premium in order to get your teachers trained and confident, and here at the ASA we have made it as easy as we can for you to put the necessary steps in place.

The National Curriculum Training Programme (NCTP) is specially designed to provide class teachers and others involved in school swimming delivery with the information and skills they need to feel confident in supporting the effective delivery of school swimming.

Much of the training can be accessed online, which means your teachers don’t need to spend long hours away from school, just attend a few practical sessions over the duration of the course. These are structured to allow maximum flexibility for schools, with many of the face to face practical sessions fitting nicely into current INSET planning.

There are two separate parts to the programme which can be completed together or as individual packages:

• Fundamentals of School Swimming – for those who will be actively assisting a more qualified teacher.
• Aquatic Skills of School Swimming – providing the skills needed to teach school swimming independently.

SwimSafe Programme

Along with the RNLI, the ASA promotes safety whilst swimming with our SwimSafe programme.

Resources

As well as providing a wealth of support and resources for primary schools in England through the ASA School Swimming Charter, we can support you with;

• A full range of specialised school swimming Awards.
• Facilities information.
• Advice on suitable resources and equipment.
• Training of class teachers and other classroom staff.
• Classroom resources.

Find out more about the ASA and its SwimSafe programme by watching this video:

https://youtu.be/g9wAsk7lpvA