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12
Oct
Families in limbo as Harrogate school stops swimming lessons
Children learning to swim in Harrogate could be left high and dry, after Ashville announced it will not continue operating its swimming school in the New Year.
But the independent school does hope to throw families a lifeline, by finding alternative provision.
In a letter to parents, the school did not give a reason for the move, but wrote:
Our priority is to ensure that children are able to continue their swimming journeys with as little disruption as possible.
We are currently in discussions with a local provider to takeover the swim lessons from the New Year, and we will keep you notified with updates.
Ashville's sports centre on Yew Tree Lane in Harrogate.
Ashville's 30-metre-long swimming pool – which the school claims is the district's longest – has been used to provide swimming lessons for many years.
It currently runs weekly lessons on Tuesdays from 5pm, on Fridays from 4.30pm, and on Saturdays from 9am.
But the pool's normal timetable has been disrupted recently. Over the summer, it was closed for essential maintenance for three weeks, and the school has now announced a further closure. In its letter to parents, it wrote that it would close the pool again from Friday, December 11 "in order to ensure that the swimming pool is brought fully up to the standard required by the school".
The letter stated:
During this period, the pool will undergo a full relining, together with a comprehensive review of the pool plant and associated equipment.
As a result, the current swimming term will be shortened to five weeks, which will end on Saturday 5th December.
Any missed lessons will be refunded.
At 30 metres long, Ashville's pool is said to be the longest in the district.
'Crossing my fingers'
But parent and Stray Ferret columnist Vicky Carr said she was "disappointed" the school was not continuing to offer lessons even after the work has been completed in the New Year, as both her children had loved learning there and had "made really great progress".
She added:
Since around January, it has been noticeably quiet when we've been at lessons. There are fewer groups using the pool and they have been smaller too. At our last lesson, there were only 10 children in the pool, which is about half the number it has been in the past. The number of instructors has definitely declined and some long-standing teachers have left.
I'm really hoping the sports centre is able to find another operator to continue the lessons from January, and keep the same small groups and affordable lessons. I've heard there are long waiting lists for the council pools and I know the costs at other private swimming schools can be much, much higher. I'm crossing my fingers we don't have to look elsewhere.
Ashville's response
The Stray Ferret contacted Ashville and asked why it had decided to stop running the swimming school, whether the decision had anything to do with difficulties recruiting swimming coaches, and what its plan for the facility was for the new year.
A spokesperson told us:
Ashville Sports Centre will continue to evolve its offer for the wider community as it develops and invests in its facilities.
Last year it saw record numbers of people using the sports centre, including many teams and organisations coming to play netball at all levels and age groups.
We will review community use of the pool in the new year after we have completed the maintenance programme.
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