First Swim

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Reviews

1. Alexander Kokuev ★★★★★

   We’ve been swimming with First Swim for five full terms, starting when my baby was just four months old. It has become a wonderful bonding experience for us every Saturday. Here we found not only an amazing teacher, Emily, but also our little one’s very first friends. Emily runs her lessons with a thoughtful and consistent structure, which makes a big difference for both babies and sometimes tired parents. She gently introduces new challenges and playful games, keeping every class engaging and full of joy. From time to time, there are also fun themed parties that make the sessions even more special! The facilities are excellent: the changing rooms are spacious and safe, and the café is always stocked with coffee, cookies, and all the essentials. I wholeheartedly recommend First Swim - and especially Emily - to anyone considering baby swimming lessons. It’s truly a wonderful experience for the whole family.

   almost 6 months ago
2. Estefany Campos ★★★★★

   Our baby started on June his first swimming classes in the Twickenham branch. The facilities are well cared for, clean and truly baby orientated. We look forward every week for this class, Nico loves it. Teacher Emily is fabulous, her songs, consistency and teaching makes all the babies feel comfortable, safe and of course they have lots of fun, you can see she truly loves what she does. We also appreciate how easy is to reschedule the classes in their website, as we couldn’t attendee on a couple of dates due to other commitments. The cookies and cakes offered are delicious.

   almost 6 months ago
3. Lana Chloe Valentina Rowlandson ★★★★★

   Just had my first swimming lesson with my 4 month old. Wasn't sure how much he'd get out of it but I was so impressed. Greeted by a lovely, welcoming lady at the cafe. Had a delicious iced coffee and best cookie I've ever eaten! Lovely, relaxed seating area with plenty of space to chat to other welcoming mums. Facilities are well-designed with people who know what's it's like to have a lot of stuff to take and a baby to hold! Super clean. Swimming lesson was pitched perfectly. What could have been a bit of a scary, stressful experience with a young baby was actually really calm with songs and water safety skills from the get go in a fun way. We had Eryn who was so lovely and explained the reasoning behind each activity too. She is clearly a well-trained professional with a wealth of knowledge about how to get the most out of the lesson and was really encouraging to both babies and parents which made me feel completely at ease. She even kindly watched over my baby while I quickly nipped to the loo. What could have been a stressful experience was actually the complete opposite. No horrible chlorine smell after either and didn't dry out my baby's skin at all. Absolutely worth every penny - don't hesitate to book!

   almost 8 months ago

1. Laura Corbett-Hill ★★★★★

   A fantastic place for you and your little one to get pool confidence. We have been coming here for over three years now, and my little ones confidence has grown so much, a total water baby! Lessons are fun and interactive with teachers making 1on1 time even in really busy classes. The facilities and changing rooms are always clean and the staff are so lovely and helpful. There is a great café with good snacks to chill out and feed after the lesson, and great to socialise with other mums with little ones the same age.

   1 year ago
2. Kim Ogden ★★★★★

   My children have both been swimming at First Swim Twickenham since they were babies, so we now have 6 years of experience there. We couldn’t be more thrilled with it. The children not only love their lessons and their teacher (Natalie), but they have also both made really excellent progress. My youngest swims independently with confidence, despite only being three years old. First Swim is not just about the lessons, it is the whole experience that makes it so great. From the friendly and welcoming staff, delicious snacks and lovely cafe area… to the lovely warm pool and clean, well equipped changing facilities. I would recommend becoming part of the First Swim family to anyone with babies or young children, looking to either start or continue their swimming experience. We have made some friends for life there over the years. We will be so sad when our children are too big to continue lessons there, as other swim school just don’t compare.

   1 year ago
3. Aisha Roberts ★★★★★

   I took both my kids to First Swim Twickenham with my youngest starting at 5months old. I can honestly say it was an amazing and fun experience with my kids loving the water. The premises is lovely (great coffee and cakes/snacks) to purchase. And oh make sure to purchase and make use of the coffee club for younger ones as it’s an amazing offer (free coffee and swim nappy for each lesson!). The staff and teachers are what makes the place as they are great and always happy to help. My eldest have now outgrown the pool, with my youngest not far behind so we’ll miss going there. I’ll highly recommend using First Swim Twickenham!

   almost 3 years ago

1. Cheryl Davies ★☆☆☆☆

   Really poor quality teaching in comparison to other swimming instructors. If you have an infant to toddler aged child, I think First Swim may be suitable, but older than that and I would recommend looking elsewhere. When my daughter started here, she was 5 years old and was put into a Monday class at 4pm with a teacher (a blonde woman named Jo or Sarah?). She stayed with the same teacher until we left First Swim only recently. So she took lessons here from around March until October and I obviously can't comment on the quality of any of the other teachers on a long-term basis. When signing up, I was told by the manager that my daughter would progress based on the appropriate level for her and wouldn't be held back, but during the last two terms I could clearly see that she was ready to progress to the next level and was not being given the opportunity to do so. By the last term there, she was in a class of beginner 4 year olds and barely being given any time to practice properly. The teacher was also growing very obviously impatient with my daughter and was not at all warm with her. The teacher only once gave me a moment of her time to talk for around 20 seconds after a class (other than that she didn't say hello at all even after many months being in her class) and during this conversation she insulted my child directly. Not only was she totally off-base with her insult, she missed the mark completely about what was going on. Rather than holding herself and her teaching ability accountable for any perceived challenges, she was attempting to place blame on the student's ability to see colour (???) etc. When it was readily apparent that the issue was to do with the poor quality of instruction. I discussed this conversation with my husband and although it was really upsetting we decided to give the school another chance, which in hindsight was a mistake. During the last class, I could see the teacher rolling her eyes, growing impatient, and not communicating clearly with my daughter. She physically picked up my child without her consent, which scared her and she felt a bit shaken after class. All the while, my daughter, a talented swimmer already, was in a class with 4 year olds just beginning to learn to put their heads underwater. This is totally inexcusable and really dishonest practice for a swim school. In contrast, when my daughter took intensives at First Swim with different instructors, or when there was a substitute instructor: they were smiley, warm, friendly and encouraging of students. My daughter walked away talking about how lovely they were, with boosted self-esteem. I saw how much she progressed with other instructors, even during the course of a single class. When we withdrew from First Swim, my daughter immediately started lessons with the amazing Swimming Nature and within only THREE lessons she was swimming in the full length adult pool independently for almost the entire length. She's now doing backstroke, diving in the deep end, and more. I'm told by other parents that their children watch her, they are so impressed with her talent. She only needed a teacher who actually believed in her and had a high level of expertise to guide her way; not to mention, this teacher is so warm and friendly with students. It's such a stark contrast to First Swim. The saddest part about First Swim is that the teacher gave me a clear impression of annoyance with my daughter and it was clear she didn't believe in her. This shouldn't ever happen with a competent teacher. We didn't even finish the last term here because I was so strongly concerned about the teacher and they have not approached me to offer any form of refund, which would be the ethical thing to do. Highly recommend looking for lessons elsewhere, especially if you happen to be placed in this teacher's class. Also just to note: I met and spoke with two other mothers during our time there who echoed much of what I've said above about their children being held back when ready to progress.

   almost 3 years ago
2. Sejal Shah ★☆☆☆☆

   DO NOT USE WORST EVER AND I HAVE USED LOTS OF SWIMMING TEACHERS /COMPANIES AND THIS IS BY FAR THE WORST. I started both my girls with Simone at first swim at Moss Hall school. All was great until she didn't communicate any info properly. The girls missed 2 classes due to school closure of pool so 4 lessons I never recieved a refund and I'm still chasing with no response from Simone. To make matters worse she lost most her staff and classes used to get muddled upwith different teachers not knowing children's ability etc. She then advised no more classes at Moss Hall and could book at alternative locations and days to which nothing suited us. Still awaiting my refund and a reply....

   almost 3 years ago
3. Natasha Haupt ★★★★★

   I started taking my oldest child to First Swim when he was 2 months old. From the moment I walked in everyone was very friendly, helpful and professional and we had lots of fun learning to swim. Throughout Covid First Swim were fantastic, keeping us updated and changing things to suit the new way of life. When our second child started swimming there, they also loved it. It was a very sad day when we moved out of the area making it too far to travel every week. First Swim are fantastic. They have a great team, great facilities and things like being able to do 3 catch up lessons per term if needed is amazing, and not the norm which we have since found out. Our only complaint is that they haven’t got a First Swim where we live now. Thank you First Swim for making such an important life skill so fun for our kids right from the start.

   almost 3 years ago

1. John Phillis ★★★★★

   The attention the staff give to customers in the pool, front of house and in the changing room is exemplary. All the staff are friendly, helpful yet at the same time are always professional in their behaviour. I bring my grandson of 3 years and today Nicola was in the pool with him.she was great, kept him happy with the result was that both he and I had fun. I would wholeheartedly recommend first swim as a way of getting your child happy with being in the water and ultimately safe in the water too.

   almost 3 years ago

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