Swimming lessons

You can register your interest in level 1 swimming lessons for your child once they are 5 years old (your child must also be at least 90cm tall). Level 1 is the entry level for lessons. It helps build water confidence while introducing water safety and the basic skills needed to build swimming ability. 

More details on lesson content and competencies can be found in Swim England’s learn to swim guidance. 

Once registered, your preferred pool will email you when a space becomes available. Generally, this will be three times per year at the end of each school term. This is when most spaces are allocated.  

Spaces will be allocated on a first come first served basis based on replies to the emails sent out. Please don’t contact us by telephone to try and book your space. If you have secured a slot, our teams will contact you directly. 

If you are unsuccessful in securing a space, we will contact you again when recruiting for the next intake, again working on a first come first served basis. Please refer to our frequently asked questions for further details and the rationale behind the process. 

You cannot register your interest until your child is 5 years old. If you think your child is above level 1, contact your preferred pool directly. Our teaching staff can organise a bespoke assessment to establish whether your child can be allocated a space at a higher level. 
 

Please register your interest for level 1 by completing the swimming lesson interest form

Swimming lesson interest form

Swimming crash courses

Crash course intensive swimming lessons are offered across the four North Tyneside leisure centre pools during the school holidays (subject to swimming teacher availability). Children must be 5 years old to attend a crash course.

Contact the pools for dates and times of courses.

Adult swimming lessons are available at Hadrian Leisure Centre, Tynemouth Pool, Waves and The Lakeside Centre. 

Sessions take place in the small pool which is 0.9 metres deep and is an ideal environment to develop confidence in the water. A swimming teacher will be on poolside for support and to provide guidance and advice.

If you're new to swimming we would ask you to attend a beginners lesson. If you have some experience in water or of swimming we would ask you to attend an advanced lesson. Drop in sessions have an Instructor who can accommodate any abilities. 

Hadrian Leisure Centre

• Mondays, 6.30-7pm - beginner
• Mondays, 7.10-7.40pm - advanced
• Tuesdays, 12-12.30pm - drop in

Tynemouth Pool

• Fridays, 10.30-11.30am - drop in

• Mondays, 5.50-6.20pm - drop in

The Lakeside Centre

• Wednesdays, 7.05-7.35pm - beginner
• Wednesdays, 7.35-8.05pm - advanced
• Thursdays, 11.45am-12.15pm - drop in

Information on the cost of adult swimming lessons can be found in the sport and leisure price list. 

We also offer 30 minute one-to-one lessons or you can book a block of four lessons at a discounted rate. Please contact reception teams to find out when swimming instructors are available.

My child is a total non-swimmer. Can I register my interest?

Yes. These children need to come into the lesson programme at level 1, but you cannot register interest until your child is 5 years old (your child must also be at least 90cm tall). You can see information on the levels and skills in Swim England’s learn to swim guidance.

If your child is a total beginner and is already 5 years old, you can register by completing the swimming lesson interest form.

I’ve registered my interest in level 1 swimming lessons, can you tell me when I will be offered a space?

We will offer spaces as they become available. Everyone who has expressed an interest will be contacted by email. If you want a space, email back as soon as possible.

An email goes to everyone registered on the list at the end of each lesson programme. Spaces will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, i.e. the customer who emails back first will be offered the first space, and so on.

Please do not phone the sites to book your space. Our reception teams will directly contact those who have emailed us in date/time order.

As there is a process of continuous assessment, (where children can move up a level - even in the middle of a course) it is possible for spaces to be released during a course. Keep an eye out for emails to let you know if a space is available.

If you are not allocated a space within eight weeks of emailing us back, unfortunately you have not been successful in securing a space on the programme.

You will receive another email when spaces next become available, and you will need to reply again to let us know you are still interested.

Why do I have to e-mail again if I have already emailed once to try and secure a space? Surely you already know I am interested – and I have already registered my interest anyway?

Even though you have registered your interest, depending on when you completed the form, there could be up to 12 weeks before spaces available for allocation. During this time, you may have enrolled your child for lessons with another organisation. By asking you to contact us each time we have lessons available, we are able to filter out the customers who are no longer interested.

If you have emailed us back and can’t be offered a space, you will remain on the list for the next round of emails. The advice is to keep an eye out for the emails about spaces which will have the subject: Urgent, swimming lesson spaces – now available, North Tyneside Council

The sooner you can email back, the higher your chance of securing a space.

When I get my email – why can’t I just ring the centre directly to book my space straight away?

An email has a date and time stamp which helps us to manage the order in which spaces are being redeemed. It is not possible to co-ordinate this over the phone, especially if some customers have chosen more than one pool for their lessons and while reception teams are taking calls from other customers with other enquiries. We appreciate this might be frustrating, but this is the fairest way we can manage the demand for the lessons.

It’s not fair if someone who registered after me manages to get a space before me. I can’t check my emails all the time and even if I can, I might not be able to reply immediately?

We understand this and appreciate it is a possibility. Previously we have followed a system whereby priority was given to registrations based on date order via a waiting list. However, as there is only a small window of time to co-ordinate lesson bookings between programmes sometimes spaces were left unfilled due to the time it took to arrange bookings by following a list. We have changed the process to maximise the number of customers accessing the programme.

Why don’t you just put more courses on to deal with the demand?

Swimming lessons need to be programmed alongside other pool activities, for example public swimming, aqua classes etc. There are also restrictions with timings, for example, level 1 lessons later than 6.30pm are unsuitable due to the age of the children. The classes need to be squeezed into narrow time slots after school. We have introduced weekend courses where possible but the demand for public swimming is higher at weekends than weekdays.

My child has some swimming ability – I think they might be above level 1. What should I do?

If you think your child is above level 1 (find detail about the levels and skills in Swim England’s learn to swim guidance) you can ask for your child to have a free assessment of their swimming skills with one of our teachers.

The swimming teacher can quickly see where you child is at and if they are above level 1 it is likely they can be slotted straight into the lesson programme without much of a wait.

If they are at level 1, you will need to register your interest by completing the swimming lesson interest form.

Please speak to your preferred pool directly to book your assessment. 

My child is 4 years old. Why can’t I be allocated a place on level 1 he/she is very attentive and listens to instructions?

Unfortunately, we can’t accept children into level 1 until they are 5 years old. We appreciate that children mature at different levels but in our experience children younger than 5 can sometimes struggle in a class situation which can have a negative impact on lesson delivery.

There are adult and child sessions on our programmes e.g. Ducklings, for children younger than 5 years old. Contact your preferred site for details.

Is there a maximum age for level 1 lessons?

Most of the children we have on level 1 are aged 5 to 7. Age 8 is the upper limit.  We do have alternative junior lessons for older beginners, check with your preferred site.

At what age can children attend crash courses?

As crash courses are smaller in numbers of attendees, children can attend from the age of 5. These are advertised separately and take place during school holidays.