We are excited to start lessons from the 1st of July!
Cumbria
Bannatynes Ingleby Barwick
Learning to swim at a young age is an important life skill that can not only save lives but also provide an enjoyable and healthy activity throughout one’s life.
Our program is for 3-11 year olds and has experienced teachers with a focus on both fun and water safety.
We have small class sizes and teachers in the water for foundation lessons that can help children feel more comfortable and confident in the water.
We want to celebrate swimmers’ achievements with certificates and milestone awards.
We have a convenient simple online booking process on a monthly direct debit payment system, which can make it easier for parents. We look forward to seeing you down the pool.
find the perfect group for your child
To ensure that swimmers are learning alongside other swimmers of similar ability, our group lessons are divided into four ability groups. Foundation, Early Swimmer, Improver and Advanced. Use our handy group checker to see which is most suitable for your child.
group checker
Time to learn this life saving skill
With low class sizes and dedicated teachers, your child will always receive the care and attention they need to help build water confidence.
don’t take it from us, take it from them!
Small swim classes so my child gets a lot of attention. Very friendly
Kerry
our children both love coming to there lessons. one who isnt very confident in water, is starting to really flourish and come out of her shell, with more confidence and starting to enjoy her swimming lessons.
james
Great teaching. My child has come on a lot recently, being appropriately pushed by teachers and now is out of armbands and moved up a level. Very impressed with the teaching and would definitely recommend to others.
Harry
Lovely and enthusiastic swim teachers. Clean pools with good facilities so a great environment for kids to learn to swim.
Rebecca
We are really pleased with our sons progress in the lessons and the staff are great!
Jane
My daughter has been very well supported since she started and is definitely improving in her water confidence although still got some way to go. Mainly it is the confidence to be in the water without me or her dad. Very happy with her progress so far
Sarah
Very friendly teachers, you can see the progress. My son really enjoys his swimming lessons!
Gail
I am very impressed. Both my children attended. David has been incredibly patient and encouraging. The kids have made really good progress
Sara
We have been so impressed with the lessons - the instructors are amazing and really good with our boys. We are really happy with their progress and find the lessons well structured and love how easy it is to track their development.
Katie
I've seen all the kids improve including mine. Staff are great!
John
Excellent atmosphere for small children to feel comfortable, owing to the approach the instructor takes - not too strict whilst getting the message over successfully! My granddaughter loves coming.
Jean
My daughters swimming teacher is amazing. She interacts with the children amazingly and is constantly giving them feedback about their technique as they swim.
Kelly
Small classes and both my children love their teacher. They have progressed so much since they first started and are very confident in the water.
Rachel
My daughter was terrified of the water, we've often been asked to leave the pool because she's unhappy. But since coming to Swimstars she's happy to be in the pool, happier to put her face in the water. And she's swimming! It's amazing. Thank you so much for giving her the confidence and teaching her to swim. She loves Tuesday nights now, and I couldn't be more proud of her. Thank you 😊
Sam
frequently asked questions
At SwimStars our programme focuses on great technique and core skills before progressing onto distances. Specially selected pools offering clean and modern facilities.
Small class sizes, expert teachers in the water for Foundation and Early Swimmer levels.
All of this comes with a simple online booking process with manageable monthly payments. Our programme runs over 50 weeks of the year to allow seamless progress with a break for 2 weeks over the festive period which is automatically factored into your payments.
Swimming lessons can be booked online via click here. Lessons are available for ages 3+ and are bookable on a monthly subscription basis and require a Direct Debit to be set up. All lessons will start immediately, and the confirmation date listed in your welcome email.
Don’t worry if you’re not sure which ability group to select, we’ve put a quick guide together here.
To book, simply click here to find your class and select your venue and ability group to check all availability.
Here’s a quick checklist of all the essentials:
- Swimming costume or shorts for your little one
- Hat (will be provided at your first lesson)
- Goggles (optional)
- Towel
- Shower gel and shampoo
- Hair bobbles to tie back hair
- Padlock if you wish to use lockers
All children in the Foundation ability group will wear arm discs throughout to help promote water confidence and to always ensure their safety. All equipment, including arm discs will be provided.
We know everyone is different so we will work with your child to ensure they are happy and confident in the water with the right equipment when and where they need it.
Yes, you will receive a free cloth hat when you join, in line with our safety policy to allow us to identify your child’s ability on poolside. Wearing a swimming hat helps us to maintain high standards of cleanliness in our pools. Your swimmer will be rewarded with a new hat as they progress through our levels.
To be able to swim at our Bannatyne venues in Scotland (Ayr, Dumfries, Dunfermline and Stepps) your child must be associated with a member (related as parent, guardian, or grandparent). You will be asked to provide this information when joining the SwimStars programme, failure to comply will result in your child no longer being able to swim in these venues.
Should your membership cease with Bannatyne Health Club, you must inform SwimStars. At this point your 30-day notice period will come into effect and your child will be removed from the programme.
You will be asked to provide this information when joining the SwimStars programme online.
Members can enter their venue membership number in at this point to receive a 10% discount on their group lessons.
You can view progress at any time on your online portal, accessed through your online account. Our teachers will update your child’s tracker on a regular basis to ensure the progress reflects your child’s ability against the group criteria.
You can change your lesson booking on a permanent basis only. You are able to manage your booking via your customer account and change your booking day and time. This can be done up to three times in a three-month period.
You can log into your customer account to let us know if your child is unable to attend a lesson. Lessons that cannot be attended will be classed as missed lessons and unfortunately cannot be caught up.
If your child cannot attend lessons due to medical reasons and will miss more than 4 consecutive lessons, as a gesture of goodwill we may refund 50% of the missed lessons upon their return to the pool. Simply send an email with a medical note and we can arrange this for you.
You can change your payment date and details via your customer account. Please take into consideration that any changes to your Direct Debit date may result in an additional payment required on your account.
Lessons are group based with up to six children per class and require children to have the ability to be independent in the water and able to take instructions from our teachers. We don’t currently offer SEN or disability specific group sessions; however, we may have one-to-one lessons on offer which may be suitable. Please contact us should you wish to discuss any information specific to your child.
Taster lessons are an opportunity to come and try a full 30-minute lesson for free. We know your little one will love what SwimStars has to offer, but sometimes you need that extra reassurance to know you’re making the right choice.
The UK national curriculum states children should be able to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres using a range of all 4 strokes effectively and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.
In line with this, your swimmer should be able to complete this upon finishing our Improver 6 level. Progressing your child to this level will be dependent on many factors as all children learn at a different rate.
We understand circumstances can change but we’ll always do whatever we can to keep your swimmer with us. You can request to cancel via your customer account and a member of the team will be in touch. We request, 30 days notice from your next Direct Debit date to finalise your cancellation. Any cancellations direct with your bank will result in the immediate cancellation of your lessons.
We operate 50 weeks per year, we have a break for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year period.
You can pay via our website by clicking ‘book now’ and fill in your details. Alternatively, you can book over the phone. We will need you to have your bank details to hand as we are a direct debit company.
We operate 50 weeks per year, we have a break for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year period. Lessons run on bank holidays and during half-term holidays. The 50-week lesson schedule is broken down into 12 equal monthly instalments.
You are able to mark your child as unable to attend via your customer account. Unfortunately, due to the high demand for our program, we are unable to offer catch-up lessons or alternative lessons as a one-off.
Your lesson will take place weekly on your selected day and time. We operate 50 weeks per year, we have a break for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year period. Lessons will run on bank holidays and during half-term holidays.