Developing water confidence in young students

On Thursday 13 October at 6pm, the PE Department held an informative virtual meeting to highlight the importance of developing water confidence at an early age. BISS Puxi is one of the only schools in Shanghai that offers swimming experiences to Pre-Nursery children. We pride ourselves on our 1:1 ratios for two-year-old swimmers entering the pool environment with a team of experienced swimming staff and a team of Early Years educators with whom the children are familiar.

At BISS Puxi, we view swimming as an important educational journey that allows students to develop confidence and ability at their own rate, rather than being defined by their age. Students begin their journey by developing water confidence through game play that mirrors our world-class EYFS classroom curriculum and reinforces the skills learnt in the BISS Puxi PE programme, which focuses on functional movement capabilities.

Swimming is a life-saving skill and the PE Department is meticulous in giving students to best experience within lessons to develop as well-rounded individuals as well as offering students avenues for competitive opportunities. Over the years, we have had students as young as five compete within our swimming team. We believe the success of our Primary School swimming programme is down to the fantastic facilities which we have; a 15 metre Primary Swimming Pool and a 25 metre Secondary Swimming Pool. We also have our qualified and experienced team who have devised a swimming programme, our supportive Primary teaching team who reinforce learning in their classroom environments, and our full time extracurricular swimming team who support the PE Department in assessing and moderating their programme.

Our dedicated PE team prides itself on staff from international backgrounds, which allows our programme to stem from the Swim England standards but host a fusion of international best practice and global research.

Swimming staff and their nationalities:

Thomas Hitchings, UK
Natasha Manley, Ireland
Wayne Grant, UK
Janice Lyke, New Zealand
Mario Castro, Portugal
Craig Williams, South Africa
Joël Jean-Baptiste, France
Jacqueline Zhang, China
Jason Zhu, China
Ji Guo Xiong, China
Ilya Blinov, Russia

We feel incredibly privileged at BISS Puxi to not only have a highly-motivated and qualified team to inspire students, but we also have a dedicated staff who have pledged a significant number of years to improving swimming standards at BISS Puxi through dependable and consistent practice.

Jacqueline Zhang has been at BISS Puxi for over 12 years. She is fluent in both English and Mandarin, and she has taught every child that has passed through our EYFS and Key Stage One programme. She can not only remember every child’s name, but she will also be able to remember their swimming level and the name of their siblings. Jacqueline has competed for China in water polo and is no stranger to elite competitions. Developing water confidence and a love of swimming is at the heart of Jacqueline’s pedagogy, and she works as a calming and nurturing figure within the pool. She is an example how consistent and nurturing staff pave the way for students to blossom as BISS Puxi PE teachers pride themselves on knowing their students’ capabilities.

Thomas Hitchings, Director of Sport has been at BISS Puxi for over 12 years and Natasha Manley, who has been at BISS Puxi for over 5 years, also serve as examples of long-standing teachers at BISS Puxi. Together, the PE Department strives to ensure that a world class swimming curriculum is designed based on their knowledge of BISS students and research-driven practice, that is combined with the passion and fresh perspective of newer colleagues. One such colleague is Craig Williams who has a number of impressive accolades, such as National Colours in Triathlon and Provincial Colours in Surf Lifesaving.

Swimming spans the PE curriculum from Pre-Nursery to Year 11. Once students master the skill of swimming, they are invited to develop their love of water through water polo, lifesaving and many other fun-filled aquatic activities.