Swimming holiday courses

Our intensive holiday swimming courses will help toddlers and children in stages one to six improve their swimming skills.

Children in pool for swimming lesson

These short courses run during school holidays at Riverside Leisure Centre and South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre (SWFLC). Our swim instructors will help children perfect their swimming skills as toddlers or older.   

In small groups, children are gently guided through the key skills they need to swim safely and feel comfortable and confident in the water, under the watchful guidance of our swim instructor. Lessons are based on the ASA Learn to swim framework.

Toddlers

These sessions are for beginners aged from 3 to 4 years. They include swimming aids and there will be an assistant in the water.

Stage 1

These sessions are for beginners aged 5 to 8 years. They include swimming aids and there will be an assistant in the water.

Stage 2

These sessions are for children aged 5 to 8 years. They must be able to swim 5m front and back without aids, but there will be with an assistant in the water.

Stage 3

These sessions are for children aged from 5 to 15 years. They must be able to swim 10m front paddle and backcrawl or be in our Stage 3 weekly lessons.

Stage 1 and 2

These sessions are for beginners with armbands aged 5 years and over. 

Stage 3 and 4

These sessions are for children 5 and older who can swim both 10 metres back crawl and front paddle.

Stage 5 and 6

These sessions are for children who are slightly more advanced, who are comfortable in deeper water.

Day(s) running

  • Monday 28 October to Friday 1 November

Times 

You will be allocated one half hour time slot per day from the following. 

Riverside Leisure Centre

  • Toddlers: 9am to 9.30am
  • Stage 1: 8.30am to 9am or 10am to 10.30am 
  • Stage 2: 9.30am to 10am

South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre

  • Stage 1 and 2: 9am to 9.30am 
  • Stage 3 and 4: 9.30am to 10am or 10am to 10.30am
  • Stage 5 and 6: 10.30am to 11.00am

Prices

You can also pay using childcare vouchers.

Riverside Leisure Centre

  • Toddlers, and Stages 1 and 2 (four day course): £28
  • Toddlers, and Stages 1 and 2 (five day course): £35 
  • Stage 3 (three day course): £31.50

South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre

  • All courses: £35

Sibling discount

We offer a 15% sibling discount when you book two siblings onto our course at the same time at our Riverside Leisure Centre. You can request this discount when you call the centres to book the course.

To book you course, please call the relevant centre:

You will need an ourChelmsford card to book.

  • Discounts can only booked in person at our centres or by phone Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm and cannot be booked online. Please see our pre-course information page for full details.
  • For Riverside, all equipment is provided, so children will just need swimwear, swim hats and a towel.
  • Children must arrive swim ready and will be assessed on the first day. They may be moved to a different time slot to suit their swimming ability.
  • We will provide discs as buoyancy aids during our lessons. If your child wants to use arm bands, they can bring their own if they have them.
  • If you have not booked and paid for a session, you will not be able to attend.
  • Please arrive five minutes before your child's course is due to start.

Suitable for

Age 3
to age 15
Bring swimwear
Bring a towel

Report a website issue

You can report issues with the website using this form, which will go directly to the Web Team. This team will be unable to deal with your enquiry if it is not related to the website.

(Please give the URL of the page, such as https://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/council-tax/bands-and-amounts/)

 

Data protection declaration: We are a Data Controller for the purposes of data protection legislation. We hold and process all personal information in accordance with data protection legislation. For more information, you can read our privacy policy and privacy notices