Five Acre Wood School in Maidstone first in Kent to build swimming pool for special needs pupils
A special needs school says building a pool on site has been a “game changer” for its pupils and teachers.
Five Acre Wood in Maidstone is the first in the county to participate in a project that provides an alternative to leisure centres for those with learning difficulties.
Principal Peggy Murphy said: “If you think about our public swimming pools – they're noisy, big and the atmosphere just isn't right for some of our young people – especially those with autism.
“It causes an awful lot of anxiety if you have to leave the classroom, get in a minibus and go somewhere new.”
“You're typically losing half a day of learning, whereas this is an hour,” head teacher Tim Williams explained.
“As a result, it's far more impactful but also enables learning to continue and not be interrupted for the rest of the time.
“Swimming can be challenging and complicated.‘There are barriers to travelling, pool availability, instructors and the level of training. This just overcomes all of those factors.”
The specialist school looks after more than 800 children with complex learning difficulties.
They have partnered with James Sladden, director of Elite Swimming – a company that has started a project called Pools to Schools.
It aims to transport and build a temporary fully-sized, heated swimming pool on site.
Tim says it was “super easy” to set up and took a week to get ready for the pupils.
The pool needed to be filled with approximately 55,000 litres of water during the first three days and then it took a further two days to heat it up to 31 degrees.
It measures 10m by 5.5m and is 1.4m deep.
For the next four weeks, it will be situated at the front of the school in a dedicated marquee.
“It’s actually quite an impressive setup,” Tim explained. “We’ve put up an additional marquee next to it for the students to change in.
“It does really look good. It's not just a glorified paddling pool.”
Elite Swimming also provides two qualified staff who teach 30-minute lessons for up to six pupils at a time.
Holly Olding and Dillan Cartel have been the instructors for the past week.
“It feels like my calling,” Holly said. “I never knew what I wanted to do at school.
“Here it is all about having fun, less discipline and being more fluid – we let the children lead.”
Dillan added: “The fact that we have already built a relationship with these kids in the space of a week is an amazing thing.
“Their goals are going to be different to others. We want to get them water confident.
“In the future, they will feel safe and comfortable in the sea.”
More than 500 schools across the country have participated in the programme since 2018.
However, Five Acre Wood is the first in Kent to give it a go.
Matty and Aidan, both 11 years old, say they really enjoy going in the water.
“We have been using the water guns, doing breaststroke, front crawl and some free play,” Matty said.
“I enjoyed splashing people,” Aidan added. “I do go to the leisure centre with my dad sometimes, but this is amazing. I get up and rush to school.”
Teaching assistant Joanne Mackay has been getting involved – and getting in the water – to support the children.
“It helps with their confidence a lot,” she said. “I’ve never seen so much joy.
“I’ve spotted them working so well as a team, especially if they are playing a game in the water.”
Tim added: “It’s incredible and is a real game changer.
“Staff were overwhelmed to see the pupils responding in such an engaged, attentive way.
“We want to make sure that we have swimming available for all our children.”
The pool has had such a positive response that the school has already decided to extend the time on site for an additional week.
“It's been so impactful,” Tim explained. “We're being inundated with requests from other schools to come and see it.
“I think people want to see it in action and to be able to visualise it.
“We're happy to take calculated risks and go for things if we think that it will have a positive impact on our pupils."
