"Dear Teacher……
I relaxed today as I watched my kids swimming in your centre. As I looked around the pool, most of the other parents seemed relaxed too. We rarely start out this way. Despite our best efforts to keep our own anxiety under control, we can seem over protective and on edge when we first put our little ones into your care. It’s not that we don’t trust you,it’s just that we love our kids and work so hard to keep them safe. Being a mother is like having your heart walk around outside your body.
Thank you for getting to know my kids, they feel reassured when you know their names and remember something special about them.
Thank you for smiling at the start of each lesson and laughing with my kids throughout. We all feel more at ease when you smile and children are very good at reading adult’s facial expressions and body language.
Thank you for giving clear, simple instructions. My kids want to do the right thing and want to please you as their teacher, but there are so many distractions in the pool! Concentrating is hard work. Thank you for being so patient when those instructions need repeating.
Thank you for being firm without being harsh or cruel. I know that sometimes my toddler boy gets a little over excited and needs a few reminders. I appreciate you reminding him to sit down, or wait for his turn, in order to keep him safe. Thanks for not belittling him as he learns these important lessons.
Finally, thank you for communicating with me. I know you often only have a couple of minutes between the end of one class and the start of the
next. I am grateful when you share a sentence with me about something my child did well today, or something we can work on.
So really the reason I was relaxed at swimming lessons today had nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. Thank you for what you
do in the pool, it makes a difference to my kids and to me." - A Relaxed Mum
"To Peter and all the staff at the swim factory:
I would like to say a big thank you for teaching my son Charlie to swim. Charlie started here when he was just 15 months old and now at 6 years old is a confident swimmer.
I have a little story for you. We went to a public pool one weekend and the pool we went to has a very deep end. Well I took both of my children and got distracted with the youngest. It was only for a few minutes and Charlie was right beside me. When I turned back to Charlie he was gone. Well I must say my heart did a flip and I thought the worst as I couldn't see him anywhere. Well my story has a happy ending as I found him floating on his back in the deep end, happily kicking gently around. So I let him go this time watching him and staying close. It was then I realized that my son can swim and float and confidently move about the water with ease and most importantly of all save himself. So a big big thank you for teaching my son to swim and showing him that he can do it by himself.
From a proud and happy mum
Thank you" - Tina
"On Sunday, Jacob and I where inside the pool area tiding up the gardens and pool, getting ready for his birthday party on Saturday. I was busy cutting some bushes while Jacob was helping clean the pool with the long handle pool cleaner, when I heard a PLOP, I turned around to see Jacob pulling himself up and out of the pool. He had fallen in wearing tracksuit pants, jumper and shoes. He didn’t even get his hair wet. His actions where second nature and thou very cold he didn’t have to think twice about what he needed to do, to get out of the water. He was out and standing on the side of the pool before I could even react. We are very proud and relieved he knew what to do and not try to swim across to the other side of the pool wearing all those clothes." - Sharon
"Just after the flooding, our son Eli fell into the water near a road drain. The water was rushing through too fast and he could not hold on and I could not get to him before he was pulled under the water and through a drain pipe that ran under the road. He came out the other side and quickly and safely (although not before I had gone through a range of emotions and a hollowness I hope never to feel again). We were very lucky and he said 'I remembered to keep my mouth closed like I do at swimming'.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the part you played in keeping him safe." - Name withheld
"Dear Teacher……
I relaxed today as I watched my kids swimming in your centre. As I looked around the pool, most of the other parents seemed relaxed too. We rarely start out this way. Despite our best efforts to keep our own anxiety under control, we can seem over protective and on edge when we first put our little ones into your care. It’s not that we don’t trust you,it’s just that we love our kids and work so hard to keep them safe. Being a mother is like having your heart walk around outside your body.
Thank you for getting to know my kids, they feel reassured when you know their names and remember something special about them.
Thank you for smiling at the start of each lesson and laughing with my kids throughout. We all feel more at ease when you smile and children are very good at reading adult’s facial expressions and body language.
Thank you for giving clear, simple instructions. My kids want to do the right thing and want to please you as their teacher, but there are so many distractions in the pool! Concentrating is hard work. Thank you for being so patient when those instructions need repeating.
Thank you for being firm without being harsh or cruel. I know that sometimes my toddler boy gets a little over excited and needs a few reminders. I appreciate you reminding him to sit down, or wait for his turn, in order to keep him safe. Thanks for not belittling him as he learns these important lessons.
Finally, thank you for communicating with me. I know you often only have a couple of minutes between the end of one class and the start of the next. I am grateful when you share a sentence with me about something my child did well today, or something we can work on.
So really the reason I was relaxed at swimming lessons today had nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. Thank you for what you do in the pool, it makes a difference to my kids and to me."
- A Relaxed Mum
"To Peter and all the staff at the swim factory:
I would like to say a big thank you for teaching my son Charlie to swim. Charlie started here when he was just 15 months old and now at 6 years old is a confident swimmer.
I have a little story for you. We went to a public pool one weekend and the pool we went to has a very deep end. Well I took both of my children and got distracted with the youngest. It was only for a few minutes and Charlie was right beside me. When I turned back to Charlie he was gone. Well I must say my heart did a flip and I thought the worst as I couldn't see him anywhere. Well my story has a happy ending as I found him floating on his back in the deep end, happily kicking gently around. So I let him go this time watching him and staying close. It was then I realized that my son can swim and float and confidently move about the water with ease and most importantly of all save himself. So a big big thank you for teaching my son to swim and showing him that he can do it by himself.
From a proud and happy mum
Thank you"
- Tina
"On Sunday, Jacob and I where inside the pool area tiding up the gardens and pool, getting ready for his birthday party on Saturday. I was busy cutting some bushes while Jacob was helping clean the pool with the long handle pool cleaner, when I heard a PLOP, I turned around to see Jacob pulling himself up and out of the pool. He had fallen in wearing tracksuit pants, jumper and shoes. He didn’t even get his hair wet. His actions where second nature and thou very cold he didn’t have to think twice about what he needed to do, to get out of the water. He was out and standing on the side of the pool before I could even react. We are very proud and relieved he knew what to do and not try to swim across to the other side of the pool wearing all those clothes."
- Sharon
"Just after the flooding, our son Eli fell into the water near a road drain. The water was rushing through too fast and he could not hold on and I could not get to him before he was pulled under the water and through a drain pipe that ran under the road. He came out the other side and quickly and safely (although not before I had gone through a range of emotions and a hollowness I hope never to feel again). We were very lucky and he said 'I remembered to keep my mouth closed like I do at swimming'.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the part you played in keeping him safe."
- Name withheld