Students surf their way to swimming success

 Swimming lessons have been added to the timetable of an alternative provision Bristol school – with surfing lessons also on offer to those who thrive in the pool.

Snowdon Village has included swimming lessons in its curriculum this year, recognising swimming as an essential life skill that every child should have the opportunity to master.

This is especially important at this time of year, when outdoor summer pursuits make teaching children about water safety even more crucial.

And in recognition of students’ dedication and perseverance in learning new swimming skills, the children at Snowdon’s Bristol Futures Academy were invited to visit Bristol’s inland surf resort The Wave to experience surfing for the first time.

The surfing trip was a resounding success. The children loved surfing and displayed exceptional behaviour throughout the afternoon.

Alex Davies, Principal of Snowdon Villag, said: “Many of us take it for granted that we know and understand how to swim, but for many children, this has been a deficit in their learning and development as a child. This can be for many reasons – financial barriers being one of them.

“Our vision is to offer swimming and water safety lessons to every child who is educated at Snowdon Village and as an added incentive, we want to offer a surfing lesson next year to any child who learns how to swim 25 metres with us.

“Surfing has been recognised as a sport which has many therapeutic benefits for children that have/or are experiencing trauma.

“I was lucky enough to take a group of children surfing on Monday and it was an absolute privilege to see the smiles on their faces as they splashed about as innocent children navigating the waves.”