KS2 · Physical education · Year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Entry and exits, travel, buoyancy and balance
Swimming: an introduction to core aquatic skills and survival swimming
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/10
Your learning goal
I can enter the water in a safe manner and travel in a balanced and coordinated way.
1 of 10
Entry and exits, travel, buoyancy and balance: slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
What you’ll learn
I can enter the water in a safe manner and travel in a balanced and coordinated way.
Key learning points
- Move: quality walking and travel in an aquatic environment requires balance and control.
- Move: pulling your hands through the water with speed and power helps you to travel.
- Think: to travel, the water must be moving in the opposite direction to your body.
- Feel: self-motivation enables us to enjoy moving in the water.
- Connect: working with peers to move effectively requires cooperation.
Words to know
- move
- feet are in contact with, or off, the bottom of the pool; stepping, hopping, skipping, or jumping
- travel
- independent movement around the pool where feet are off the floor
- pull
- to exert force onto the water to cause movement in the intended direction of travel
Common mistakes
When pupils lose their balance and fall forward into the water, they often instinctively try to place their hands onto the pool floor.
This significantly hinders pupils' ability to regain a standing position, often causing panic. Pupils should be taught how to regain a vertical position before, and at the start of, their first swimming lesson.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Provide demonstrations, before and throughout the lesson, to aid understanding of the correct technique of regaining a standing position. Get pupils to demonstrate if they are able to regain a standing position quickly and effectively from a horizontal position, to help others with their technique.