Learning to swim doesn’t just happen naturally. Carlile’s nurturing approach is delivered by expert teachers and has been refined over years of industry-leading innovation. The Carlile Program allows children to build the skills they need at one level to confidently springboard to the next. Your child will learn to swim well and love the water.
A World Class Swimming School
Carlile is internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading swimming schools.
Teachers trained beyond the industry standard work within an award-winning program, proven to deliver great results and ensure consistency across every class. Carlile pioneered baby swimming lessons and opened Sydney’s first indoor teaching pool.
Things To Know About Carlile Teachers
- They care about children and love teaching them to swim.
- They nurture and encourage children with positive reinforcement and gentle correction.
- They are trained well beyond the industry standard.
- They are supported by ‘spare’ teachers, who provide extra assistance.
- Supervisors are at every lesson to ensure consistent quality and provide feedback.
- They work within a system which ensures a consistent approach at each level.
- They gain a nationally recognised accreditation and receive ongoing professional development.
How Carlile Helps Your Child Progress
Your child’s progress will be continually monitored and you will receive regular feedback on their progress.
While children progress at their own pace, Carlile’s approach of repetition and reviewing skills ensures they retain what they learn. Practised skills become the building blocks for the future. Carlile Swimming will ensure the following:
- A strong focus on technique before children move up or undertake any sort of endurance activity.
- Students remain close to their teacher, with shorter lanes allowing better class movement and more frequent feedback.
- When your child has achieved the skills to be confident and successful at the next level, they will be promoted.
- Your child will be encouraged and praised for their accomplishments.
Learning to swim should be fun! At Carlile teachers will engage and motivate your child and help them develop a life-long love of the water.
What children learn at each level
Carlile Swimming runs a skills not age based program (apart from water babies). This way children learn with others of similar skills. Each level builds the foundation for children to be able to confidently move to the next level. The end goal being children learn to swim well with great technique and grow to love swimming.
Waterbabies
Our water confidence classes run for 30 minutes with mum/dad or a grandparent in the class with the children. They are lots of fun, with games and songs but all with a purpose. From water babies to toddlers children learn vital safety skills. They become confident submerging, floating on their backs and propelling themselves to mum/dad or back to the wall. You'll find some great information to help your child, including things to do at home here.
Tadpole
You may not know but Carlile pioneered baby and toddler swimming in Australia, in fact we built Sydney's first indoor teaching pool more than 60 years ago. Today, our modern pools are purpose built for learn to swim. They have custom ledges and variable depths where children can stand along with warm air and warm water so as children learn and progress they feel safe and comfortable.
Pre-school beginners start off in our Tadpole level, these are 30 minute classes with no more than three other children in the class. Mums and dads are not required to be in the water with them. At this level they learn vital safety skills, like turn around swims, being able to dog paddle with their face down, take a safety pop up breath and go again, along with floating on their backs unassisted.
Seahorse
For pre-school children these are small 30 minute classes with no more than three other children, where children Children begin to learn overarm, without breathing, and kicking on their backs.
Sea Turtle
For pre-school children. These are small 30 minute classes with no more than three other children, your young swimmer will learn freestyle, with breathing, and the basics of backstroke.
Starfish
For school age beginners, your child will learn submerging, back floating and streamline floats. There are a maximum of four children per class. There are a maximum of three other children in the class.
Goldfish
Children with limited swimming experience are taught to swim overarm (no breathing) and kick on their backs, unaided.There are a maximum of five children in the class.
Dolphin
Children will learn freestyle, with breathing, and the basics of backstroke.There are a maximum of five children per class.
Marlin
This is the first stroke development level. Emphasis on improving freestyle and backstroke techniques and endurance, introduction of breaststroke, butterfly kick, somersaults and basic breaststroke kick.There are a maximum of six children per class..
Kingfish
Your young swimmer will really improve technique and endurance. They learn turns, breaststroke is refined and butterfly is introduced.There are a maximum of seven children per class.
Superfish
Swimmers continue to refine their technique and work on competitive turns. They also acquire a basic understanding of squad swimming etiquette.There are a maximum of eight children per class.
Shark
The Shark classes are the final level before Carlile’s competitive swimming squads, they are a springboard to competition swimming, surf lifesaving, waterpolo and securing great results at the school carnival.
Expert coaches help young swimmers refine their technique, build endurance and learn the finer points of squad swimming.There are a maximum of nine swimmers per lane.
Swimvac
Our school holiday intensive program allows your child to swim every weekday for a reduced fee. This is on top of their normal lesson. Often, children really thrive with the extra time and attention this program provides and the repetition and muscle memory helps them progress more quickly. Swimvac is:
- A lesson a day every day
- Fun, and keeps your child active and occupied.
- Ideal for new or nervous children.
- Great practice for those close to achieving their next certificate or children learning new skills having just been promoted.
The Perfect Environment to Learn
Carlile pools are designed and built based on years of experience and understanding of what works best. They feature:
- Custom depths, lengths, ledges and platforms to help children confidently progress because as they are still learning and building confidence they can reach the bottom.
- Warm, 32-degree water so children are comfortable as they learn.
- State-of-the art filtration and disinfection systems to ensure hygiene.
At Carlile we know that to swim well is an asset for life. So, to help your child, we will:
- Deliver a highly developed program, proven to produce great results.
- Deliver high standard lessons consistently.
- Employ expert teachers trained beyond the industry standard.
- Constantly monitor your child’s progress.
- Provide regular feedback both face to face and via the parent portal.
- Hold health and safety in the highest regard.
- Always be ready to help.
- Once booked your place is guaranteed - your class is yours until your child is promoted or you make a change.
- Make -ups - each student is entitled to twelve make up classes per year.
- Payments - Lessons are paid in advance, so we can guarantee your class, on a four-week billing cycle.
- Lessons are $26.75 on weekdays and $28.25 on weekends.
- Family and multi lesson discounts apply, for example if a child swims more than once a week the second lesson is 30% off, the third is half price.
- We are an approved First Lap and Active Kids provider.
- Safety - we provide a safe environment for children, staff and visitors at all times. All equipment is checked regularly to ensure that it is safe, functional, and stored appropriately. A comprehensive First Aid Kit is kept at each of our pools. Emergency telephone numbers are displayed in the Customer Service area.
- Water Quality - maintaining water quality is critical. Our pools are equipped with state-of-the art filtration and disinfection systems. Water quality and chlorine levels are checked regularly throughout the day.
- Air Handling - we closely monitor air quality and maintain the optimum temperature for the comfort of our swimmers. We know that warm air and water are a must. All of our pools are designated non-smoking areas.
- Change Rooms/Bathrooms - if your child is under the age of 5 and needs assistance, you may take them into your change room. We request that all children over the age of 5 use the designated changing area. If your child is not yet at school, we request that you remain in the facility. Our staff are not available to escort unaccompanied children to the bathroom.
- Visitors and siblings – are welcome to watch your children swim, however our undivided attention is on the children in the water, please do not leave children unsupervised.
- Energy efficient – We actively look for ways to reduce our Carbon footprint and invest heavily in ensuring we minimise water loss and that our filtration and air conditioning is energy efficient.
Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by our teaching staff, but please feel free to talk to the Supervisor on duty, should you have any specific queries regarding your child’s lessons.
While children progress at their own pace, repetition and reviewing skills ensures they are able to retain what they learn. Practised skills become the building blocks for the future. We ensure:
- A strong focus on technique before children move up or undertake any sort of endurance activity.
- Carlile students remain close to their teacher, with shorter lanes allowing better class movement and more feedback, more often.
- When your child has achieved the skills to be confident and successful at the next level they will be promoted (this is a cause for celebration, and we love to see children achieve these milestones).
- Your child will be encouraged and rewarded for their accomplishments.