Baby & toddler swimming lessons
Lessons by early years specialists in calm private pools
GoggleSquad Swimming School provides swimming lessons for babies and toddlers in private indoor swimming pools in Walton-on-Thames and Claygate.
Our baby and toddler swimming lessons are for children aged from around 8 weeks to three years old.
Lessons are run by early years developmental specialists and highly qualified Swim England teachers dedicated to achieving clear progression among children of all ages.
The one-to-one or small group classes utilise all types of play to develop the important building blocks for confident and safe swimming.
Walton-on-Thames lesson times:
Mondays 9am - 12pm
Our 30-minute lessons in Walton-on-Thames can be booked in half-termly blocks, with prices from £21 per lesson.
Claygate lesson times:
Wednesdays 3.30pm - 5.30pm
Fridays 9.30am - 11.30am
Saturdays 9.30am - 11.30am
Our 30-minute lessons in Claygate can be booked in half-termly blocks, with prices from £21 per lesson.
Arrange baby or toddler lessons
Our baby and toddler swim programme
The early months up to age of one are important for helping children get a ‘feel’ for how their bodies move in the water.
The swimming pool can be a daunting place for a small child, so they must feel in control at all times and having a parent or carer in the pool with them up to the age of three is essential.
For instructors, being able to read a child's body language (non-verbal communication) is imperative, and teaching parents to read the signs is also vitally important. This leads to children who are happy and confident in the water and ultimately, better learning outcomes.
We are members of the Swimming Teachers Association (STA), Aqua Sensory and Aqua Education bodies and learn from them all to offer an extensive and well-rounded programme of early years lessons.
It’s all about the play!
Our baby and toddler lessons include plenty of sensory-based activities which are rocket fuel for children’s brains. Sensory play develops physical literacy and supports mental and emotional wellbeing in and out of the water.
We often take inspiration from children’s books like The Gruffalo or TV programmes such as Paw Patrol or Octonauts and also draw on general themes like ‘space’, ‘shopping’ or ‘pirates’.
Buoyancy aids are used when working or focusing on a specific desired outcome, such as balance, strength, body position, breath control, movement and so on.
The most important things to familiarise learners with as soon as possible are the ability to float independently - on their backs and their front - and aquatic breathing (comfortably blowing bubbles with their faces in the water). A child needs to be able to do both of these before progressing to learning swimming strokes.
Meet the teachers
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Nicola Ayers
GoggleSquad founder Nic is an ASA Level 2 instructor and has taught swimming for 15 years. She competed for England and Great Britain in synchronised swimming and founded GoggleSquad in 2020.
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Suzan Laverick
Suzan has over 10 years experience teaching children to swim and joins GoggleSquad after a decade at Water Babies, the respected swim school dedicated to baby swimming, where she was a senior swimming teacher.
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Tanya Van Straaten
Tanya is a Level 2 swimming instructor with a specialist qualification for teaching parent and child classes. She has been teaching swimming for more than eight years and instructs babies and toddlers at our Claygate venue.
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Rachel Weaver
A seasoned Level 2 instructor with 17 years’ experience, Rachel has taught a diverse range of learners, from newborns and toddlers to the advanced stages of the Swim England Framework.
Baby and toddler lesson venues
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![Walton-on-Thames Private Swimming Pool]()
Walton-on-Thames
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![Claygate Swimming Pool]()
Claygate
Arrange baby or toddler swimming lessons