Our swim lessons are available for children 2 months and up. No matter what age your child is, it is NEVER too late to start swim lessons. In the event you can't get in with us, we recommend that while waitlisted with us you enrol at another local swim school as any water exposure, is better than no water exposure.

We provide small, intimate class sizes to help ensure a safe environment for your child to learn to swim. All our classes have a maximum of 3 children per instructor, regardless of age or ability.

Our lessons are 30 minutes long. We’ve found this to be the optimum length of time for focused learning and fun for young children.

All our Aquatic Educators have completed a minimum of 80+ hours of intensive classroom and in-water training in the Swimtikes teaching method and philosophy. All Aquatic Educators have obtained CPR and First Aid training, hold a Working With Children card and either hold multiple qualifications or are working towards gaining further certification in specialist areas including Basic Sign Language, Coaching, Trauma Aquatics, and much more via recognized training providers. Our instructors continue to participate in regular in-house and in-water training sessions and are regularly evaluated for quality assurance, in addition to attending state, national and international conferences held by the peak swimming bodies.

There is no definitive answer to this as every child is uniquely different, and brings with them a unique aquatic history prior to joining lessons with us, as well as their own personalities, learning styles and concerns. Other influences outside a child's control that can impact the learning process are; - Inconsistent attendance - Not utilising makeups, and free additional lessons on offer - Consistently being late for the start of lessons and missing vital skills practice - Letting the child not attend lessons if they are struggling with a skill/confidence, instead of working with their aquatic educators to put a supported progress plan in place. - The consistent and over use of floatation aids (jackets, arms bands, floaties, backpacks, noodles, rings etc) for hours outside of lessons - The reinforcement of habits such as swimming with their eyes out and a vertical body position through hours of play outside of lessons - The use of force by well meaning families members trying to 'teach' them at home, which create broken trust, hesitation and in some cases fear

RLSSA (Royal Life Saving Society Australia) recommend that children should stay in swimming lessons long enough to at least achieve the 50-metre swim and 2-minute float national benchmark as a bare minimum. And we agree! The sad reality is that in Australia according to RLSSA data, only 60% of 12 year olds can achieve the 50-metre swim and 2-minute float national benchmark. ​ Swimming across a backyard pool in a thrash about play format is very different from having to swim back to the closest edge/bank in a much larger body of water such as a public pool/lagoon or dam. Adding in moving water with varying temperatures and cold spots such as lakes, rivers and beaches add a whole other level of difficulty. When considering stopping lessons with us or any other provider, please consider if your child is even close to reaching the national benchmark to be considered safer in the water.

We always aim to challenge children and continually make progress when possible. However, progress may not always be continuous. It can come in spurts and children will occasionally plateau in their learning. Sometimes, they may even appear to regress. It is not uncommon for some skills to take a while to master, particularly if they are learning a new or difficult skill or combining multiple skills together. Being patient and trusting the process is important, but if there are specific concerns, they can be addressed with your child's Aquatic Educator or the manager. It’s also important to remember that children are accomplishing something by maintaining their existing skills. Many younger children will regress if lessons and regular practice are not continuous or stop for more than a couple of months.

Information on our levels can be found on Our Program page and on each individual class in our customer portal. We are more than happy to assist if you're not sure, or if you feel your child is between levels. We will work with you to find the best level to suit your tikelet's individual needs. Feel free to give us a call or email us so we can help.

We offer free make-up lessons when you log into the customer portal with a minimum of 1.5 hours notice of your absence on the day of your lesson. Make up tokens last for 4 months from date of issue. We do not offer credits or refunds for missed lessons. More details about our Make-Up Policy can be found in our policies section.

For extended absences of 4 or more weeks we offer 3 options; Hold the spot, pay full lesson price for the allocated time and receive makeups for the missed classes Hold the spot, pay half the lesson price for the allocated time and forfeit makeups Cancel the spot as per our termination period of 28 days and pay no fees, and take the chance a spot is available when you return Please contact the office via email at admin@swimtikes.com.au to advise of your circumstances and what you would like to do with your account.

Currently we do not have the pool or timetable space to offer Private lessons or Intensive holiday programs due to our operating agreement with Council. If you send us an email at admin@swimtikes.com.au we will provide a list of local swim schools that have been known to offer Privates lessons or Intensive programs.

We do not offer trial lessons. The three main reasons are; We feel it's disrespectful to our current families who have not only made the commitment to their child's aquatic education, but have joined our ethos in how we teach and our program outcomes. We feel it's disrespectful to our highly trained staff who not only undergo a minimum of 80 hours initial training in our program compared to the industry standard of 20 hours, but ongoing training including attending national and international conferences and courses to stay up to date in infant to pre-squad aquatics. Most importantly it is not fair on your own child/ren. The teaching environment in a pool is very different from land-based activities and requires a lot of trust in their teacher, the water and themselves. This is developed over time, not through a one-off lesson. Add in new faces, different teaching styles, new environment and a change in routine, and it is not the ideal learning environment. We ask that all families make a minimum commitment of 4 consecutive weeks to our program. If you would like to come and watch our lessons in progress, please arrange a time with us to come and view classes.

Classes run Monday to Saturday, with 'AM' sessions running between 9:00am - 1:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am - 12:00noon Saturday. 'PM' sessions run between 3:00pm - 6:00pm Monday to Thursday. Available times will depend on the current timetable allocation of class levels and vacancies. Our PM sessions are reserved for school-aged children, and our Saturdays for full-time working parents.

You certainly can. Log into the customer portal and request a transfer to a class with an available space. If there's no space available, you can request to be waitlisted with current customers taking priority when a space becomes available. If you need help in finding a class, we're always happy to help!

No. Our bookings are continual meaning that you don't need to wait for the start or end of term as we run continuously throughout the year with a short break over the Christmas holidays. Your booking remains the same until your child moves up a level, you need to change days, or you give your 28 days notice to finish up lessons permanently.

Yes lessons run during school holidays and on student free days unless notified in advance for annual breaks or conferences. Lessons will be billed during school holidays and student free days regardless of attendance, unless a notified closure states otherwise. Lessons do not run on Public Holidays. Please refer to our Public Holiday Policy and the issuing of makeup tokens.

Our program is a competency based one, and our aquatic educators are constantly assessing your swimmer against our progression milestones. Once your child is ready to progress you will receive a phone call or an email from us with - no need to wait until the end of term as we understand that every child develops at their own rate. Our customer portal also allows skill tracking so you can always track your child’s progress through our program.

To enrol in lessons at any time, you can create a family account in our Customer Portal via the 'Book Now' button at the top of this page, and find available classes. If you're not sure about which class would be the most suited for your tikelet, or can't find something that suits email us at admin@swimtikes.com.au or phone us on (07) 5433 1234 and we can help. If you enrol online, we will contact you when a space becomes available. Your Bond Deposit and lessons will need to be paid in full before your first lesson.