Water confidence is a term that is used regularly in swimming, in particular for learning to swim. It refers to being able to safely enjoy the water without fear or stress. Before a child can swim properly being in a swimming pool can often be a scary thing. We therefore always want to find ways to encourage children to enjoy being in the water, and build up their skills so they can swim safely. This can start from a very young age, during bath time. Getting a child used to having water going over their head and it being a fun thing rather than a scary thing by using bath toys can really set a child up to be more relaxed and enjoy being in the pool when they are older. We use toys, floats, pool noodles and games with our youngest children at Springmead in order to encourage them to feel safe, relaxed and confident in the water when doing their swimming lesson. We also ensure there are specific fun swim sessions and if time at the end of a lesson, there will be a couple of minutes to just play in the water. This allows the children to have the freedom to try new things on their own terms and makes swimming a positive experience.