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Class Information

Swimming is one of the most amazing experiences you can share with your baby/child!

Mini Manta Ray’s swimming classes involve lots of play and songs to help your baby/child learn. Babies can start from just a few weeks old, or when you feel you are ready. At the classes, your baby/child will learn all the water safety aspects with you, and they will develop their water confidence skills.

The swimming teaching is highly responsive to individual needs; skills, games and practices are developed to ensure individual needs are met for you and your child, and that they can progress throughout the course of lessons, to become confident, independent swimmers.

The classes are great for meeting new people and they provide gentle exercise for you as well as a unique bonding experience for you and your child.

Other benefits for your child include:
  • Language development, through interactions with other children and adults
  • Social and Emotional development, through play and meeting new friends in a happy, relaxed environment
  • Intellectual development, through the sensory environment of water, and games and songs within the lessons which simulate and promote learning and development
  • Physical development, swimming develops strength and coordination and improves motor skills.

At Mini Manta Ray’s Swim School, we love to celebrate your child’s achievements, no matter how big or small. Each week a ‘Star Swimmer of the Week’ will be chosen, and they will receive a free certificate and a mention on facebook! We also have special Mini Manta Ray stickers for great swimming! At the end of every half term your child will receive a free ‘Swim England’ certificate and badge click here for more details

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Class Types

There are three class types:

  • Adult and Baby (for babies from 0 – 18 months)
  • Adult and toddler / preschool (for children from 18 months – 4 years old)
  • Pre-school lessons (for children aged 3 – 5 years old)

Classes are packed full of fun songs and activities to develop water confidence and water safety skills. Songs are the most effective ways to communicate with your baby/child, promoting learning through repetition, rhyme and movement. During each lesson, children learn to enter and exit the water safely.

Lessons include games and songs that help develop:

  • Buoyancy and balance. Songs/games include: ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’, ‘Dingle Dangle Scarecrow’ and ‘Jelly on a Plate’.
  • Travel and co-ordination. Songs/games include: ‘Five Little Ducks’, ‘Wheels on a Bus’, and ‘The Hungry Shark Game’.
  • Rotation and orientation. Songs/games include: ‘Pat a Cake’, ‘Row, Row, Row your Boat’ and ‘Treasure Hunt Games’.
  • Aquatic breathing. Songs/games include: ‘Humpty Dumpty’ (jumping from the wall), ‘Rainbow Magic’ (blowing bubbles under a woggle bridge) and ‘Egg flip races’.
  • Streamlining. Songs/games include: ‘Zoom, Zoom, Zoom’, ‘Speed Boat Rockets’, and swimming with floats.

Each lesson includes a wide variety of water toys and resources to gently simulate babies and children and to encourage development of the key water skills.

Our resources include: Flashing dolphins, egg flips, colourful animal floats, large floats, large hoops, woggles, spongy and squirty animal toys, brightly coloured balls, floating bricks, buckets and watering cans, diving fish, and a turtle and a duck family! We also have our own ‘Baby Annabell Learns to Swim’ doll, that the children love!

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Class Times and Dates

Classes run on a Thursday and Friday morning.

Session Age Group Thursday Friday
Adult and Baby 0 - 18 months 9:30 - 10:00 9:45 - 10:15
Adult and Toddler/Preschool 18 months - 4 years 10:00 - 10:30 10:15 - 10:45
Preschool lessons 3 - 5 years 9:00 - 9:30

We ask that you aim to arrive no more than 15 minutes before your lesson and try to leave by 15 minutes after your class, to help avoid changing room congestion.

You can book half a term at a time, or the full term.

Thursday Friday
Autumn Second Half Term 1st November – 20th December 2nd November – 21st December
Spring First Half Term 10th January – 14th February 11th January – 15th February
Spring Second Half Term 28th February – 4th April 1st March – 5th April
Summer First Half Term 25th April – 23rd May 26th April – 24th May
Summer Second Half Term 6th June – 18th July 7th June – 19th July

You can book lessons by clicking here and filling out the form to express your interest, or send us an email or text/phone. You will then be sent a booking form. On receipt of payment, you will be sent a confirmation form which secures your place in the class. If the class is full you can ask to be put on the waiting list.

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Pricing and Offers

You can either pay by the half term or for a full term.

Term First Half Term Second Half Term
Autumn Term £64.00
Spring Term £48.00 £48.00
Summer Term £56.00 £56.00

Receive a £5 discount when booking a full term

All classes must be paid for in full when booking the class. Unfortunately no refund can be given for missed classes.

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Certificates and Badges

Your baby/child will be awarded a free badge and certificate for each half term of lessons that they attend. The Adult and baby/toddler & Preschool lessons follow progression through the Swim England National Plan for Teaching Swimming (formally ASA).

The Adult and Baby lessons will focus on Discovery Duckling award skills.

The Adult and Toddler and Pre-school lessons will focus on the Duckling Award skills. All awards can be achieved with or without floatation equipment or support. A record of your child’s achievements will be kept in a file on poolside that you can look at anytime.

All children can work towards achieving ‘I CAN’ badges. The Swim England ‘I CAN’ Awards are perfect for babies, toddlers and pre-school aged children. The Awards recognise achievement of specific single successes for early learners, and can be awarded at any time by your child’s swimming teacher. Your child can enjoy receiving a special badge, certificate and sticker for nine types of skill development:

  • …enter the water safely
  • …jump in
  • …float on my front
  • …float on my back
  • …roll over
  • …blow bubbles
  • …swim
  • …enter, turn, return
  • …exit safely

Badges that your child can receive at Mini Manta Ray’s include:

  • I CAN AWARDS (for jumping in, blowing bubbles, floating, for example).
  • DISCOVERY DUCKLING AWARDS (Levels 1 – 4).
  • DUCKLING AWARDS (Levels 1 – 4).
  • Puffin 5m badges (swimming with aids).
  • Rainbow distance awards, such as 5m, 10m an 15m badges (swimming without aids).
t | 07795 026207
e | splash@minimantarays.co.uk