Swim Training in deep water – Dagsavisen

 
 

It appears from a new report Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) has commissioned by the Education Directorate.

 
 

– It is no longer enough to swim a few strokes, students should be able to save himself. Currently there are very few students who are receiving the amount of training they need to achieve this goal, says Jan Kjensli, who is responsible for quality assurance and develop Norway’s swimming school organized by the Norwegian Swimming Federation.

 
 

Also read: Will have swimming lessons in kindergarten

 
 

Requires effort

 
 

In the autumn of 2015 introduced new requirements for swimming excellence in physical education in the 4th grade. According to the competence goals, pupils including could fall into the water in deep water, swim 100 meters, dive down and pick up an object from the pool bottom, stop and stay afloat for three minutes, then swim 100 meters back to the land.

 
 

– Get schools and teachers have acted on the amount of effort needed to meet competency goals, says Kjensli.

 
 

In NIFU report headmasters in 400 primary schools were asked how many hours swim training students receive at the various steps. Major shows that:

 
 

* Less than half of the schools provide swimming instruction in first grade.

 
 

* Most of swimming training takes place in the fourth grade, but there is great variation in how many hours swimming lessons students receive.

 
 

* In one of four schools pupils get a maximum of ten hours swimming in the whole fourth grade. Only one in ten gives the age of nine 30- to 40-hour swim lessons during the school year.

 
 

– When we know that students on average have 40 hours training to cope swimming requirements in the 4th grade, it goes without saying that many will fail, says Jan Kjensli.

 
 

He believes all experience shows that there are two things that help children to achieve the objectives: Early and intensive training.

 
 

– This year it is allocated 25 million kroner for swimming lessons in kindergarten, but it is virtually wasted when students has almost no swimming lessons from 1st to 4th grade. We want children to be used with water when they start school, then start skills training, says Kjensli.

 
 

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Great Success

 
 

He refers to a pilot project in Bergen where fourth graders at 17 schools received 23 hours swimming lessons distributed in as many weeks.

 
 

– As many as 80 percent of students managed competency goals. Without this training, we estimate that only five to ten percent would prospered, says Kjensli.

 
 

He feels good swimming skills is about more than avoiding drowning.

 
 

– This concerns both public health and social inclusion. There are so many activities you can do safely when you can swim. This is particularly important for minority children who we know are overrepresented among 10-year olds who can not swim, he said.

 
 

See also: Simple measures can save lives