ToadMum wrote:
In all their many years of school between them, only one of ours has ever had swimming lessons through their school (DD sometime in KS2 during the 'have to be able to swim 25m by the end of year 6' phase - I think she had probably already got her 1000m badge by then, but hey-ho, it was time out of the classroom

), but they have all had lessons elsewhere since they were babies and the younger two are in the squad at a local-ish pool.
Presumably out of school football clubs are not that difficult to come by in Gloucester / Birmingham?
Things may have changed a bit since my attendance at Tommies but the pool held a special place in the history of the current site, iwas completely funded by parents but fell into disrepair in the 80s/so was not used for about a decade, a concerted effort by a few good people, plus a lot of fundraising got it back open inabout 95'ish. And it became a big part of the school life. Though I don't know what happens now - Tommies being quite a tradition oriented school I would suggest it's still an important part.
Other please correct me if I'm wrong