KS2 · Physical education · Year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Rotations whilst floating and travelling with coordination
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 rotate from my front to back, back to front and vertically around 360 degrees in the water.
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Rotations whilst floating and travelling with coordination: 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 rotate from my front to back, back to front and vertically around 360 degrees in the water.
Key learning points
- Move: accurately rotating from our back onto our front and vice versa, requires the body to be relaxed and precise.
- Move: our head leads the movement when performing a turntable in the water.
- Think: floating on your back is the best position to be in to keep the nose and mouth clear of the water.
- Feel: confidence is needed to move our head, shoulders and hips as this will affect the way our body turns in the water.
- Connect: considering other pupils' positions in the water requires awareness.
Words to know
- rotation
- the act of turning from front to back or back to front
- turntable
- 360 degree rotation, in a seated position
- travel
- independent movement around the pool where feet are off the floor
Common mistakes
Pupils think that learning to swim distances is more important than learning to rotate onto our backs.
Turning onto our back to float, and have the nose and mouth clear of the water, is an extremely important skill to learn as it means the airways are clear.
For parents, carers and teachers
- When teaching gymnastics talk about how rotations are important in swimming. In the pool, use lots of games which incorporate rotations and changing direction.