Dear Parents,
Below is a reminder about our Swimming Class Participation Policy. In summary, it emphasizes that swimming classes are required for our students, there are only certain reasons that excuse a child from swimming class, and if classes are missed, students will need to take the class at another time.
Kind regards,
Dan Keller, PhD
—
Effective February 25, 2015
Elementary PE Swimming Class Participation Policy
Expectations:
At SSIS our children are very fortunate to have the opportunity to develop their swimming skills as part of their full educational experience. Starting in EC through 5th grade, we offer a unit of swimming each semester giving our children a total of 24 swimming days each year. During these classes we work to develop each child’s skills to ensure that they are moving from “Water Smart” towards “Experienced or Competitive Swimmer” levels. To make this progression, it is imperative that students be in the water during their swim class times.
Exceptions:
Swimming is just as important to our students’ day as math & language development. When a child misses class, they will lag behind their peers. Below we’ve listed just a few of the exceptions that may happen throughout the swim unit:
Excused reasons for missing swim class:
- Infections: Some infections like athlete’s foot or plantar’s warts can be spread to others and we would advise students with this condition to not swim or walk barefoot around the pool or locker rooms. Also ear & yeast infections may keep a child out of the pool. For any of these conditions, we require a medical note from a doctor indicating the condition and length of time required for recovery.
- Injury: When a child is injured there will be times when going into the pool is not wise (open wounds, sprains, fractures, etc.). If the child is injured outside of the campus we require a note from the doctor indicating the type of injury and how long the child will be expected to be out of the pool. The injury may happen during the school day and we will expect the nurse to issue a note in these circumstances.
- Absence from school due to illness: If a parent feels the child is too ill to participate in swim class, then the child should not attend any classes at school: they should remain at home until they are well enough to participate in the full academic day. Please see the parent/student handbook for details about illness and return to school.
If a student misses a swim class due to an EXCUSED absence, they will not be required to make up the lesson. However, if parents or students request to make up a missed lesson due to an excused absence, this service will be provided upon availability of swim instructors.
Unexcused reasons for missing swim class:
- Forgot suit: If a student forgets their suit and is unable to enter the water for instruction, they must listen to the instructions of the swim class from the deck.
- Parent or student request: If, for any other reason, a parent or student requests to not enter the water for instruction, they must listen to the instructions of the swim class from the deck.
If a student misses a swim class due to an UNEXCUSED absence, they will required to make up the swimming portion of their class during their designated recess time. In addition, their participation grade for the missed class will be given a “0” and the grade book will mark the absence as unexcused.
Consequences for UNEXCUSED absences:
- Decrease in the child’s growth and progress of swimming skills.
- Student misses their recess to make up the swim class.
- Negative impact on their Physical Education (PE) grade on their report card.
- If continued unexcused absences from swim classes occur, the consequence will be escalated. Students may begin to miss multiple recesses, serve in-school suspensions, out of school suspensions, or a meeting with parents to discuss whether SSIS is an appropriate educational program for the family.
Lengthy Medical Situation : When a child is unable to participate for a substantial period of time the PE teacher will assign a “project” for the child throughout the unit to help continue their learning.
https://docs.google.com/a/ssis.edu.vn/document/d/1wGRnovfgj0myq7sdIPnebkMnVJj0HFOWTnoIty7ZQsc/edit?usp=sharing
