The Learn to Swim Program at Ravenswood caters for swimmers four years and older. It welcomes beginners and can help transition swimmers into the Squad program.
Our Learn to Swim Program provides swimmers with an opportunity to learn vital water safety skills and fundamental stroke mechanics in a safe, fun and friendly environment. All new and returning swimmers require a swim assessment prior to enrolment.
Junior School Learn to Swim
| Level Name | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 | Level 6 | Level 7 | Level 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level Name | Starfish | Tadpole | Frog | Goldfish | Turtle | Seahorse | Barramundi | Marlin |
| Number of sessions per week | 1+ | 1+ | 1+ | 1+ | 1+ | 1+ | 1+ | 2+ |
| Lesson focus | Water confidence | Introduce kicking | Introduce breathing | Introduce backstroke | Introduce Breastroke | Introduce stroke endurance | Develop stroke endurance | Prepare for squad training |
| Maximum lesson size | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Equipment | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles |
Senior School Learn to Swim
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level Name | SNR LTS | SNR LTS Advanced | SNR Development |
| Number of sessions per week | 1+ | 1+ | 1+ |
| Lesson focus | Water confidence and introduce strokes | Confidence in deep water and stroke endurance | Building stroke endurance across 25m to 50m distances |
| Maximum lesson size | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Equipment | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles | Cap and goggles |
Learn to Swim lesson fee structure, per week
| First Lesson | Second Lesson | Third Lesson | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ravenswood Student | $22.97 | $20.67 | $20.67 |
| Non-Ravenswood Student | $22.70 | $24.93 | $24.93 |
Learn to Swim Levels
To find out more about individual levels in the Learn to Swim Program, click on the tabs below.
Aim: Starfish is the entry level for the Learn to Swim Program. Swimmers are introduced to the water, learning how to submerge themself and blow bubbles, float, kick and paddle, and how to enter and exit the swimming pool safely.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘water confidence’.
| Assessment criteria: | |
|---|---|
| Submerge | Whole body submerged under the water |
| Bubbles | Blow bubbles from mouth and nose while fully submerged |
| Front float with recovery – 5 seconds | Floating in starfish with eyes down, long neck, long body, long limbs, blowing bubbles |
| Back float with recovery – 5 seconds | Floating in starfish with eyes and chin up, long body, belly button and toes at surface, long limbs |
| Kick and paddle independently – 1m | Kick and paddle without assistance with head in the water for 1m |
| Safety jump and return to wall | Squat jump from side of pool, kick and paddle around teacher standing 1m from wall and back to side of pool |
- Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
- Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
- Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
- Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the Learn to Swim (LTS) coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4
Term class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.30pm | 4.00pm | 3.30pm | 4.30pm | 10.00am |
| 4.30pm | 6.00pm | 10.30am | ||
| 5.30pm | 11.00am |
Aim: Tadpole is the second level for the Learn to Swim Program. Swimmers are introduced to torpedo push and glide, torpedo kicking, and soldier kick on their back. In this level, swimmers will learn to hold different-shaped floats in the water and how to perform a seated dive.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘introduce kicking’.
Assessment criteria:
| Torpedo kick – 5m | Biceps on ears, elbows locked, one hand on top of the other, eyes down, kick with hips up, long legs and pointy toes, small splash at surface |
| Diving | Complete a seated dive unassisted with a tight streamline through arms and legs, feet together |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.00pm | 3.30pm | 4.00pm | 4.00pm | 9.00am |
| 5.00pm | 5.00pm | 5.30pm | 9.30am | |
| 10.00am |
Aim: Frog is the third level in the Learn to Swim Program. Swimmers are introduced to freestyle and backstroke arm strokes and continue to develop freestyle and backstroke kick. In this level, swimmers will learn how to perform a kneeling dive.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘introduce strokes’.
Assessment criteria
| Freestyle arms – 5m | Streamline body at the surface, strong kick with long legs and pointy toes, long continuous arm strokes with head still |
| Soldier kick on back – 5m | Long body, eyes and chin up, long legs with belly button up and pointy toes splashing at the surface, arms by side |
| Diving | Complete a kneeling dive unassisted with a tight streamline through arms and legs, feet together |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.30pm | 3.30pm | 4.30pm | 3.30pm | 9.00am |
| 5.30pm | 5.00pm | 5.30pm | 5.00pm | 9.30am |
| 6.00pm | 10.30am | |||
Aim: : Goldfish is the fourth level in the Learn to Swim Program. Swimmers continue to develop their freestyle and backstroke arms and are introduced to freestyle bilateral breathing and breaststroke kick.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘introduce breathing’.
Assessment criteria
| Freestyle bilateral breathing – 8m | Complete 3 breath cycles with continuous freestyle arms, continuous freestyle kick, back of head on arm in breathing position with one eye in the water through the breath |
| Backstroke – 8m | Long arms with eyes and chin up, long legs with belly button up and pointy toes splashing at the surface, pinkie enters in line with shoulder and hand exits past hip |
| Diving | Complete a kneeling dive unassisted with a tight streamline through arms and legs, feet together |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.30pm | 3.30pm | 4.00pm | 3.30pm | 9.00am |
| 4.30pm | 4.30pm | 5.00pm | 4.30pm | 10.00am |
| 5.30pm | 5.30pm | 5.30pm | 10.30am | |
| 11.00am |
Aim: : Turtle is the fifth level in the Learn to Swim Program. Swimmers continue to develop their freestyle and backstroke arms and are introduced to breaststroke and dolphin kicking.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘introduce breaststroke’.
Assessment criteria
| Breaststroke – 3 complete cycles | Complete 3 cycles of breaststroke, with correct timing, correct arm motion and toes pointed out during the kick phase |
| Streamline backstroke kick – 8m | Long body with eyes and chin up, long legs with belly button up and pointy toes splashing at the surface, tight streamline with one hand on top of the other and biceps squeezing ears |
| Dolphin kick at surface – 5m | Remain on the surface, undulating from the belly button, hips and knees with feet kicking down and up |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.00pm | 4.00pm | 3.30pm | 4.00pm | 9.30am |
| 5.00pm | 5.00pm | 4.30pm | 5.00pm | 10.00am |
| 5.30pm | 10.30am | |||
| 11.30am |
Aim: Seahorse is the sixth level in the Learn to Swim Program, and the first with the teacher out of the water. Swimmers continue to develop freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke technique, and also build endurance across these strokes. Swimmers progress to streamline underwater kick from the wall, and their dive progresses to a crouching dive.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘introduce stroke endurance’.
Assessment criteria
Swimmers will be assessed across two components: training capacity and execution of technique under fatigue.
| 2×12.5m freestyle | Bilateral breathing, long body, long neck, eyes down and hips up, arm stroke initiates the breath and remains in position for the duration of the breath, kick and arm strokes are continuous |
| 2×12.5m backstroke | Long body, long legs and continuous kick, eyes and chin up, belly button and toes at the surface, continuous arm strokes with long arms brushing past ear entering with pinkie behind shoulder and exiting past hip, even rotation for every stroke |
| 2×12.5m breaststroke | Hips at surface and arms at surface in a pull and breath – kick – glide pattern, with eyes down on the glide, correct timing for the breath as arms are pressing out to ‘Y’ position, toes turned out during kick |
| Dolphin kick at surface with breath – 10m | Kicking at surface with undulation from belly button, hips and knees, feet kick up and down and are continuous through the breath |
| Diving | Complete a standing dive from bulkhead unassisted with a tight streamline through arms and legs, feet together |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.30pm | 3.30pm | 3.30pm | 3.30pm | 10.00am |
| 4.00pm | 4.00pm | 4.00pm | 4.00pm | 10.30am |
| 4.30pm | 4.30pm | 4.30pm | 4.30pm | 11.00am |
| 5.00pm | 5.00pm | 5.00pm | 5.00pm | |
| 5.30pm | 5.30pm | 5.30pm | 5.30pm |
Aim: Barramundi is the seventh level in the Learn to Swim Program. Swimmers begin to develop technique endurance for freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and dolphin kick, while continuing to develop their stroke. Swimmers are introduced to butterfly arms and progress to a standing dive.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘develop stroke endurance’.
Assessment criteria
Swimmers will be assessed across two components: training capacity and execution of technique under fatigue.
| 2x25m freestyle | Start with streamline push and glide, 4 underwater kicks and smooth breakout, long body with long neck and eyes down, strokes are long with arm remaining in position during breath, legs are long with strong kick at surface |
| 2x25m backstroke | Start with streamline push and glide on back, 4 underwater kicks and smooth breakout, long body with long neck and eyes up, strokes are long with pinkie entry and hand exit past hips, legs are long with strong kick at surface |
| 2x25m breaststroke | Start with streamline push and glide, breaststroke pull out and smooth breakout, correct timing for pull and breath plus kick and glide, toes are turned out during kick, hips and arms remain at surface with eyes down during glide phase |
| 1x25m dolphin kick | Maintain hip undulation and kicking up and down for the duration of the lap, keeping the kick going through the breath |
| Diving | Complete a standing dive from bulkhead unassisted with a tight streamline through arms and legs, feet together |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.30pm | 4.15pm | 4.15pm | 3.30pm | 9.00am |
| 5.45pm | 5.45pm | 5.45pm | 10.30am | |
| 11.15am |
Aim: Marlin is the eighth level in the Learn to Swim Program before students transition to development squads. At this level, swimmers are introduced to drills working on specific aspects of their strokes while continuing to develop technique endurance across all four strokes. Freestyle tumble turns and racing dives are introduced.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘prepare for squad training’.
Assessment criteria
Swimmers will be assessed across two components: training capacity and execution of technique under fatigue.
| 2x50m freestyle | Start each lap with streamline push and glide, 4 underwater kicks and smooth breakout, correct body position, long strokes with correct breath timing, strong kick. Arm stroke initiates tumble turn |
| 2x25m backstroke | Start each lap with streamline push and glide on back, 4 underwater kicks and smooth breakout, correct body position, long strokes with correct hand entry and exit, strong kick with long legs, finish on back |
| 2x25m breaststroke | Start each lap with streamline push and glide and smooth breakout, correct timing for pull and breath plus kick and glide, toes are turned out during kick, hips and arms remain at surface with eyes down during glide phase, finish with two hands |
| 25m butterfly (as 4 kicks 1 stroke) | Start with streamline push and glide, 4 underwater kicks and smooth breakout, acceleration of arms over water, correct shape of stroke under water, correct breath timing, finish with two hands |
| Diving | Complete a standing dive unassisted from blocks with a tight streamline through arms and legs, feet together |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.15pm | 3.30pm | 3.30pm | 4.15pm | 9.00am |
| 5.45pm | 5.00pm | 5.45pm | 10.30am | |
| 11.15am |
Aim: Senior LTS Advanced caters for swimmers in the senior school who are developing their strokes over 15m-25m distances. Swimmers gain confidence swimming in the deep water, as well as developing stroke endurance up to 25m.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘stroke development’.
Assessment criteria
| Submerge | Start each lap with streamline push and Whole body submerged under the water |
| Front float with recovery – 5 seconds | Floating in starfish with eyes down, long neck, long body, long limbs, blowing bubbles |
| Back float with recovery – 5 seconds | Floating in starfish with eyes and chin up, long body, belly button and toes at surface, long limbs |
| Torpedo kick – 5m | Biceps on ears, elbows locked, one hand on top of the other, eyes down, kick with hips up, long legs and pointy toes, small splash at surface |
| Soldier kick on back – 5m | Long body, eyes and chin up, long legs with belly button up and pointy toes splashing at the surface |
| Freestyle bilateral breathing – 10 strokes | Complete 3 breath cycles with continuous freestyle arms, continuous freestyle kick, back of head on arm in breathing position with one eye in the water through the breath |
| Backstroke arms – 8m | Long arms with eyes and chin up, long legs with belly button up and pointy toes splashing at the surface, pinkie enters in line with shoulder and hand exits past hip |
| Safety jump and return to wall | Squat jump from side of pool, kick and paddle around teacher standing 1m from wall and back to side of pool |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.00pm | 6.00pm | 9.00am |
Aim: Senior LTS Advanced caters for swimmers in the senior school who are developing their strokes over 15m-25m distances. Swimmers gain confidence swimming in the deep water, as well as developing stroke endurance up to 25m.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘stroke development’.
Assessment criteria
| 2x15m Freestyle | Bilateral breathing, long body, long neck, eyes down and hips up, arm stroke initiates the breath and remains in position for the duration of the breath, kick and arm strokes are continuous |
| 2x15m backstroke | Long body, long legs and continuous kick, eyes and chin up, belly button and toes at the surface, continuous arm strokes with long arms brushing past ear entering with pinkie behind shoulder and exiting past hip, even rotation for every stroke |
| Diving | Complete a kneeling or standing dive from bulkhead unassisted with a tight streamline through arms and legs, feet together |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.00pm | 6.00pm |
Aim: Senior Development caters for swimmers in the senior school who are at a stroke
development level. Swimmers continue to develop their technique while building endurance over25m-50m distances.
The long-term athlete development focus for this level is: ‘stroke development’.
Assessment criteria
| 6×50 freestyle on 1.20 | Maintain good body position, with strong kick and long strokes across all 6x50m efforts. Swimmers should be achieving 10+ seconds of rest on each repeat |
Stage 1: Introduction to the swimming skill
Stage 2: Progressing the swimming skill
Stage 3: Improving the swimming skill
Stage 4: Competent in the swimming skill
Promotion to the next level is at the discretion of the LTS coordinator, once a swimmer has achieved Stage 4.
Term Class schedule
| Monday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.00pm | 5.00pm | 5.00pm |