Mary Jo’s Swimming Courses

08/08/2026

Wow!! What a wonderful week of fantastic swimming in our Summer Intensive Learn to Swim Course at Holly Farm!!
Well done to all the children ! They have all improved and progressed their swimming skills tremendously and of course had lots of fun in the process! 🤩👍🏊‍♀️⭐️
After 2 weeks of very busy summer courses Mary Jo Swimming Courses is now on holiday until the 24th of August ! All messages, enquires or emails will be responded to after this time! 😊 ☀️ 🏖️ 🌊

31/07/2026

A quick change and a slightly more upmarket end of week post pool breakfast and present opening this year for my wonderful staff! Keeping it in the family - ☺️ 💙 💛

31/07/2026

ROOKY LIFEGUARD/ WATER SAFETY COURSE 2026 DAY 5!

LAST DAY! PRESENTATION DAY!

Today was a presentation of the awards the children have achieved this week and gifts for my staff and wonderful helpers for whom without none of this week would have been possible!
It’s been a fantastic week, with the children learning so much invaluable information and knowledge to keep themselves and others safe in the water; learning swimming and rescue skills and techniques that could potentially save their life and the lives of others as well as having lots of fun too in the process!
They have all done absolutely brilliantly and should be so proud of themselves for all they have accomplished this week.
A huge thank you to our parent helper Tracey for taking so many of the brilliant photos this week that have kept all the parents informed in what their children have been doing.
Big thank you to our lifeguard Sian for giving alot of her expertise to our Gold Rooky children, my youngest daughter Cerys for helping with the water safety children and for getting in the water to take all the brilliant under water shots and videos, and huge thanks of course to the wonderful Mary Jo our RLSS qualified Rooky Lifeguard Instructor for all her hard work with the Rooky Children this week.

It was lovely to see so many parents on poolside for our presentation- a big thank you to the parents for supporting the children (and us !) and bringing them each day !

Kings is the perfect facility for a course such as this so it’s brilliant that we can use their pool!

After the presentation the children then took part in some water safety themed games so they could demonstrate some of the skills they have learnt this week plus of course some free play time and diving practice!

I do hope all the children have enjoyed their time with us this week and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible back next year! And the vast majority of you I will see again in September when our weekly lessons resume 🤩🏊

30/07/2026

30/07/2026

ROOKY LIFEGUARD/ WATER SAFETY COURSE 2026! DAY 4!

The Gold Rookys, did their 400m swim continuously using a competitive stroke in less than 12 minutes - they all did this really well!
Then using initiative they assisted 2 casualties in difficulty up to 15m away in shallow water and demonstrated a non contact rescue of both casualties and instruct the casualties of what to do and assist them to land and place them in the support position.
They also Swam 50 m continuously in clothing and then towed a casualty 25 m to a point of support using a non contact tow in less than three minutes
Today was also about going over all the other aspects that they have done.

The Silver rooky’s began their lesson in their clothing Swimming 200m 100m on the front and 100m on their back in less than 10 minutes this was completed in really good time today.
The children then did 25 m of sculling and 25 m of reverse sculling then they treaded water for three minutes shouting and signally for help every 30 seconds and removed additional clothing.
They then all managed to climb out of the deep end by the high wall.
To finish Using the throw bag they coiled and threw a rope to a casualty 10m away and pulled the casualty back into the side and put them into support position- they completed this all in less than 45
Seconds Which was execellent!

The Bronze Rookys had an excellent morning they all swam 100 m in their clothes really well and some of them even did 200m! They recapped the rescues that they have been doing including shout signal, reach rescue , throw rescue (and instruct casualty to the side) and shallow water entry and wade to a casualty and using a rigid aid instruct them to kick to the side.
They also did 50m swim of life saving backstroke and sculling head and feet first for 15m.
They did more treading water for 2 minutes and signalling for help and Most of them were able to remove their clothes in the water and climb out at the deep end.

Water safety
We started by going over the hand out sheets which was all about cold water shock. We then did a recap of the water safety code and made sure that the children can now recite it all off by heart and in particular that the water safety 3 children can demonstrate a sound knowledge of identifying potential local hazards and how to minimise risks when around them and know the effects of cold water and what to do if they find themselves stranded in cold water.
Then the rest of the session was all about recapping everything we have done this week to make sure the children are all secure in all the outcomes to pass the course !
The water safety 3 children all did their 8 lengths in clothes !
And the water safety 2 children did some straddle jumps ready for if they do the course again next year and do water safety 3 ! And they even had a go at doing some diving ! Some kneeling and some standing and some even off the high wall !
A very busy morning was had by all !
😅

29/07/2026

ROOKY LIFEGUARD/ WATER SAFETY COURSE 2026 !
Day 3 was Another successful day at the pool with lots more underwater work!

The Gold Rooky children swam 20m head out of the water front crawl to an unconscious casualty- turned the casualty over then performed a swim and tow for 20m using a cross chest tow to shallow water, and shouted for help. They did all this in less than two minutes.
They did treading water for 2 minutes before removing their clothes then continued to Swim sidestroke for 50m to a point of support in deep water and climbed out of the deep water unaided.
They also demonstrated a reverse and standoff from a 10m swim and followed appropriate hand signals from land up to 20m to a point where an unconscious casualty had disappeared from sight in deep water, as well as doing some more diving.

The silver Rookys did their 200m swim again in full length clothes - 100m on the front and 100 m on the back and they completed this in less than 10 minutes.
They also demonstrated a throw and reach rescue to a casualty 5m away and instructed them what to do:
They then entered shallow water and waded to a casualty 10m away and using both a throwing a rigid aid instructed the casualty what to do and placed them in the support position. They swam 20m continuously with their head out of the water on their front and treaded water for 3 minutes before removing their clothing.
They also demonstrated fall in entries and did diving and really enjoyed diving down in the deep end to try and pick up Bob!

The bronze children also had a very busy morning with Mary Jo, most of them managed to swim 100 m in their full length clothing as part of their warmup-
In the shallow end - they all demonstrated a non panicking, panicking and unconscious casualty which they really enjoyed! They entered shallow water and waded to a casualty 5m away threw a buoyant aid to them and instructed them back to the side - they also did lots more reach rescues across 2m and shout signal rescues to a casualty 5m away, aswell as holding the the ‘HELP” position for 2 and half minutes and demonstrating a huddle. They also all really enjoyed diving down in the deep end to try and pick up or touch bob !

The water safety 3 children all did their long swim in their clothes again today - they all managed 8 lengths which was fantastic ! So they have all reached their 8 length target!

After our daily recap of the water safety code all the water safety children talked together about rescue aids - the basic different forms of rescues : shout signal, throw rescue and reach rescues- we talked about which one is the safest and what everyday items we can use for throw and reach rescues - as part of the home work was to bring in some everyday items that can be used as rescue aids.

We then talked about the effects of cold water and cold water shock - and what we do when we find ourselves in cold water and the HELP position and huddle-
They then all practiced the HELP position and huddle in the water - and acted out scenarios to further practice.
The water safety 3 children had to demonstrate the HELP position with a float for 3 minutes - which they all did really well -and even most of the water safety 2 Children did it for this length of time!

We also recapped some of our treading water ensuring that all the water safety 3 children did it for 2 minutes rotating 360° and signalling for help and ensuring that all the water safety 2 Children did it for a minimum of 30 seconds (although most of them did it for a whole minute !) rotating 360° and signalling for help - shoes

We then did some acting out of throw and reach rescues, those children who brought in items from home used these -
The children worked in partners taking it in turns to be the ‘rescuer’ and ‘rescuee’ those being rescued also had to demonstrate floating on their backs and treading water and rotating 360 degrees and signalling for help before being rescued.

Then finally we finished with an obstacle course - the water safety 2 children did a fall in entry and swam a full 25 m in their clothes going under and around the big floats and some managed to dive down and swim through a hoop at the end of the obstacle course in the shallow end -
The water safety 3 children did a straddle jump entry off the wall and completed the 25m obstacle course going over woggles and inbetween floats and under floats and also demonstrated both head first and feet first surface dives to swim through hoops at the end of the obstacle course.

It was certainly a very productive morning for all and lots of fun was had in the process!

28/07/2026

ROOKY LIFEGUARD/ WATER SAFETY COURSE 2026 Day 2 !

Day 2 was another busy day at the pool!

Lots of under water work today !

The Gold Rookys all did their 400m continuous swim in less than 15 minutes in full length clothing using life saving back stroke, side stroke, and breast stroke or front crawl.
They then practised swimming 20m to an unconscious casualty, surface diving and swimming 5m underwater then swimming down to recovering ‘bob’ from the deep end then swapping bob for an ‘Unconscious casualty’ - turning the casualty over and performing a swim and tow using both extended arm and chin tow; for 20m and shouting for help - all this had to be completed within 2 and half minutes- they then had to assess the casualty for normal breathing and began commencing rescue breathing whilst waiting for help -

The Sliver Rooky’s all did a 100m swim again in full length clothes during which they performed head and feet first surface dives to recover a brick in water of more than 1m in depth - they also practised unconscious casualty in the shallow water, bringing the casualty to the side-while doing a supported tow in the scenario The casualty then wakes up as they get to the side, and they helped them out. Talked to them, and if necessary, put them in the recovery position.
They also did straddle jumps and treading water for 3 minutes signalling for help every 30 seconds.

The Bronze Rooky’s : Today the children all did a 100m swim in their full length clothes - which was fantastic ! They also practised towing and helping unconscious, casualty out of the water in the shallow end.
They did feet first surface dives followed by Swimming 5 m underwater and treaded water for a minimum of 1 minute and signalled for help - they also practised their straddle jumps -

The Water safety 2 and 3 children went through the water safety code again and reciting the 4 key water safety message of SAFE (spotting dangers, taking advice, gong with friends and family and knowing what to do in an emergency) then we went through their homework of spotting dangers identifying local hazards and minimising their risks, we talked a lot about how to stay safe in an around the home, swimming pools and inland water like lakes canals rivers and the beach .
The water safety 3 children did a straddle entry and then their big swim in full length clothes again for their warm up -the aim is to do 8 lengths by the end of the week ! all the children managed at least 5 lengths today some did the full 8; some did 9 and one child swam an incredible 13 lengths in full length clothes !

The water safety 2 children all demonstrated their fall in entry and swam 25m in their clothes for their warm up half on their front and half on their backs.

Then all together we talked about the importance of and practiced treading water.

The water safety 3 children all managed to tread water for 2 Minutes rotating 360 degrees and signalling for help .

The water safety 2 children treaded water for 30 seconds and rotated 360 degrees and signalled for help which they all did brilliantly!

We then acted out a scenario on the big floats which both covered our floating from yesterday and treading water from todays session.

We ended the session with the water safety 3 children practising surface diving, head and feet first and swimming through a hoop in water of more than 1m deep.
Considering they weren’t wearing goggles and wearing full length clothing they all did brilliantly- we spent quite a bit of time on it practising to get it right and in the end they all did it really well!
the Water safety 2 children did some submerging and resurfacing in the shallow end and had a go at picking up bricks, and swimming through hoops they all did really well especially as they weren’t wearing goggles and enjoyed it !

A very busy and successful morning was had by all!