The Duckling Awards

The Duckling Awards 1-4 form part of the Swim England Pre-School Framework, this is the first part of the Swim England Learn to Swim Programme.

The Awards are for learners aged between two and five years, who have gained water confidence by completing the Discovery Ducklings and are ready for more independent swimming.

These lessons work best in an adult and child setting or in smaller groups (1:4 teacher: child ratio) with assistants in the water.

Floatation equipment, or full adult support, can be used to complete the outcomes depending on the age/ability of the child, unless otherwise stated.

The I CAN Awards can be presented alongside the Discovery Duckling and Duckling Awards, as they offer further opportunities to reward and recognise the achievements of younger learners.

Why should you deliver the Duckling Awards as part of your lessons programme?

These Awards promote increased independence and water confidence and set learners up for the Learn to Swim Stages 1-7.

Reward and recognition are vital from a young age to keep learners motivated and helps to increase their enjoyment of learning to swim.

▶️ Watch our I CAN Awards video to find out why it is important to reward babies and young children who are new to swimming.

Here’s why Active Northumberland delivers the Duckling Awards…

“We use Discovery Duckling and Duckling Awards, they are very motivational, and they get the kids involved. [The Awards] allow them to learn in a progressive way and they gain lots of skills, which is a very firm basis for what they go on to do in the Learn to Swim Programme.”

Here’s why Halo Leisure delivers the Duckling Awards…

“We use the Awards for our after school sessions – our main swim school, because we find they are a really good way of getting children continually moving through the early stages. So it helps reduce the bottleneck at the early end.”

Interested in implementing the Duckling Awards into your lessons programme? Below are a variety of options of where you can go to find out more…

📧 Email learntoswim@swimming.org to enquire about how to integrate these Awards into your swimming lesson programme.

🛒 Visit the Swim England webshop to view the Duckling Awards.

❓ Want to shout about any Awards that form part of your swimming lesson programme? Email us at learntoswim@swimming.org to feature in our Awards video series!