Hempsted Primary School are practising hard ahead of this month’s National Primary Swimming Finals at the London Aquatic Centre.
The Gloucester-based school were winners of the first-ever Gloucester Primary Swimming Panathlon back in 2017 – and came third in last year’s national final.
Teaching assistant Julie Bassett helped get the school involved with Panathlon right at the start, explaining: “When I watched sports at home and at school, I saw some of the children who aren’t as able struggling to get involved.
“I wanted to help the ones who struggle and need extra support to get the confidence to start doing sports. The confidence they’ve got in sport is feeding through into their school work as well, which is amazing.”
Although Hempsted don’t have a pool on site, they have in the past hired one for a short period so that every single child in the school gets the chance to swim – and the Panathlon squad are able to practise at a nearby school which does have its own facilities, thanks to the help of a parent-governor.
Getting children water-confident is vital, says Julie.
“To me it’s made a massive impact,” she says. “Some of the children who were scared of going in the water – by the end of the week they’re able to swim without armbands.”
