About us
Confidence & Trust First
We are a private swim school, located in Oaklands, Welwyn. Specialising in neurodivergence and fears of water. Children get a personalised tailored experience every time! Joining a small group and making friends helps to boost confidence, speeds up learning, and increases knowledge and awareness of water safety. We learn how to have fun while keeping ourselves and others safe! We offer group lessons & private 121’s, 221’s and 321’s for both children and adults.
Our Philosophy
Our five principles
When we build confidence in the water, ability naturally follows. We avoid creating reliance on floats, as this can increase fear and anxiety. Instead, we focus on encouraging independence and self-confidence.
That said, floats are used when necessary—especially with very nervous swimmers, including adults—but always minimally. We do not use armbands. When we do use floats, it’s limited to swim belts and noodles.
We’re far from a traditional swim school. If a full lesson of star floats or jumping in is what it takes to build confidence, that’s exactly what we’ll do—because once confidence kicks in, progress happens fast.
If we don’t have fun then whats the point! Everyone no matter old or young learns faster if they are enjoying themselves. Each of our lessons should be full of fun and laughter.
Our bodies often give us away, even when we’re trying to put on a brave face. Recognising these signs helps us understand each swimmer’s fears and anxieties so we can respond appropriately.
Children may show this by being very quiet and withdrawn—or the opposite, acting out. We take the time to get to know every swimmer, finding the best ways to support them, build confidence, and encourage progress.
By building trust and confidence early on, we help swimmers feel stronger in their bodies allowing them the freedom to explore and learn and have fun!
It’s okay to have fears and worries—we all have them. But they tend to disappear quite quickly once we build trust with our swimmers, making sure they feel comfortable and calm.
We work with everyone individually, at their own pace, encouraging them to try something new—or something that scares them—as often as possible. No matter how small or insignificant it may seem, we’ll spend as much time as needed on each challenge. Once accomplished, it boosts confidence and helps diminish the fear altogether!
Equity is giving each person what they need to be successful, no matter what level they start from, using empathy to judge the best way in which to do so. Our teaching methods especially in groups will differ from person to person. Finding each individuals learning style and using it to help bring out their full potential, giving options and asking opinions, while still maintaining control of the class, helping each swimmer to feel involved and confident during their lessons.