Frequently Asked Questions - Kids Can Swim Kanata
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Frequently Asked Questions

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General

Registration for our classes begins by creating an account on our parent portal at this link. Once you’ve created an account and added your swimmers, you can search for classes, see available classes and register for them or add yourself to a waitlist for a class. Click on this link to watch our step-by-step videos for registration!

If you are new to KidsCanSwim, you can use our KCS Level Finder tool to determine your child’s level.

During their first class with us, they will also receive an assessment to ensure they are registered in the correct level.

Yes we do! As a registered guest at KidsCanSwim, we understand that life happens, especially during these extraordinary times. For that reason, each swimmer is entitled to one (1) make-up lesson per month per enrolment if they have missed a class for any reason.

Make-up classes can only be scheduled when your child is a registered swimmer at KidsCanSwim.

The make-up tokens are automatically issued and visible in your Parent Portal,  following their missed class. You do not have to do anything. Make-up tokens are valid for sixty (60) days after the date on which the absence occurred.

Make-up tokens can only be used to book a make-up class 7 days in advance.

As a matter of courtesy to others, we appreciate you notifying us of upcoming absence(s) as early as possible via the Parent Portal.  This will make a space in a class for others who may be looking to schedule a make-up the day of your absence. However, you will only be able to book a make-up class after you have missed your scheduled class by using your make-up token which will be automatically issued on your Account.

Make-up token(s) are non-transferrablenon-refundable, have no cash value, and can not be used to pay an outstanding balance or towards any future tuition payments.

Our perpetual swimming lessons are billed on a monthly basis. On the 1st of each month, a charge will be added to your account, a statement will be sent, and you payment will automatically be withdrawn from your credit card on file.

If you have already cancelled your lessons for part-way through the month, a partial charge for the number of lessons you are swimming will be taken.

Cancelling an Individual Class: If you need to cancel one individual class for any reason – whether illness, a social event, or anything in between – simply login to your parent portal account, select the future absences button under the swimmer who will be missing a class, and select the date of your absence. Doing this creates a space in your child’s class that will allow another family to use their makeup token!

Cancelling a Membership: To cancel your lessons, simply login to your parent portal account, select “Enrolments” under each child you want to cancel, and submit a drop request for their lesson – this must be done 30 days prior to their last lesson.

Each KidsCanSwim level is comprised of 3 core skills and 3 survival skills. During the second and third weeks of each month we run our assessment week where all our kids get assessed for their progress against our skills.

Assessments are done by our senior teachers who have passed an Assessor Course. Parents receive feedback on their kids’ progression both in person from our Assessors and via the online portal.

KCS runs continuously rather than on a session or term basis. This means your lessons will continue until you choose to withdraw from our school and kids are assessed on a monthly basis, instead of at the end of their session or term.

This allows kids to progress at their own pace and focus on the skills that they struggle with while not feeling left out if they progress at a slower pace than those around them. It’s also why we offer swimming lessons 12 months of the year, 7 days a week with no terms. It’s the fastest and most effective way for your child to learn a life skill and progress.

Included in your monthly fee is one 30-minute lesson every week of the month (a total of 4 lessons per month).

Our BabiesCanSwim program is designed for babies from 3 months old to 3 years old and for their parents. A parent or guardian must be in the water with their babies at all times. Progression in this program is based on age as babies’ capabilities change so quickly.

Our KidsCanSwim program is designed for kids starting at 3 years of age and is an independent program meaning parents are not in the water with their kids. Progression in this program is based on skills achievement rather than age and allows kids to progress at their own pace.

Kids lessons from K1 to K4 take place in our smaller 0.8m deep pool with occasional activities in our 1.2m deep pool. From levels K5 to K12 kids will have their entire lesson in our larger 1.2m pool.

For more information on our curriculum or facilities please check our “Why We’re Different” pages starting with our Purpose-Built Facilities.

Two (2) parents/guardians are able to attend each child’s lesson. For our baby classes, there is a maximum of one (1) parent/guardian in the water with your baby and the other parent/guardian can watch the lesson.

If both parents would like to swim with their baby, we recommend alternating which parent is in the water each week.

We do not offer free trials. On your first lesson, our on-deck supervisor will be able to quickly asses your child so to ensure they are in the right level.

We know our product works and that if kids attend their weekly lessons regularly, they will progress through our program and become confident and safe swimmers for life.

To that end, we offer a learning guarantee to all our swimmers who are 3 years old and above that states if your child has met the below criteria and still not passed their level, their lessons are free until they do:

  1. Has attended 20 swimming lessons where they got into the water;
  2. Has not had a break in their enrolment (eg. did not take a break from lessons for 2 weeks or more);
  3. Has been assessed by our team members on a regular basis; and,
  4. Has maintained 90% attendance in their classes.

After your child has initially qualified for the learning guarantee, to retain the free lessons, they must maintain a 90% attendance rate in their classes and must not take a break from monthly lessons – otherwise the learning guarantee will be removed.

Summer Swim Boost Weekly Sessions

While its important that babies get introduced to water at a young age, the daily intensive lessons (SwimBoost) don’t have the same benefit for babies because they are not solidifying fine motor skills or muscle memory repetition at the quick pace of our toddlers and older swimmers.

Kids who are learning specific movements, really benefit from daily repetitive practice.

When you register your child for SwimBoost, you are registering for 5 x 30 minute lessons on consecutive days of the week from Monday to Friday at the same time – for example 9:30am each day of the week for one week .

While the same aquatic educator is scheduled for your class each day of the week and we do everything we can to ensure there is instructional consistency, we cannot guarantee it will be the same AE due to illnesses or unexpected circumstances for our team.

All registrations for SwimBoost take place through our online portal. Login to your parent portal account or create a new account. Once logged in, go to current classes and filter for the Program title Summer SwimBoost. Once there search for your child’s level and then choose the time of day that works best for you. Once selected, you can pick which week you’d like to register for.

There are a number of benefits SwimBoost provides to both our existing swimmers and new swimmers coming back to the pool after a break. They include:

  1. They provide great value – swimming every day of the week is like fitting an entire month’s worth of practice and lessons into a shorter amount of time. This is a great refresher course for kids who have been out of the water for a little while or a way for swimmers to build specific skills.
  2. We know repetition works – it takes practice to become a water safe swimmer. Frequent lessons work to build muscle memory and this provides the perfect setting for it.
  3. They help kids build great relationships with their Aquatic Educators – seeing their AEs on a daily basis helps kids bond and trust their AEs, which ultimately leads to better learning.
  4. Water safety – each of our lesson plans include components of water safety skills and we devote an entire day during your SwimBoost week specifically to water safety. As your kids head off to summer camps and pool parties, SwimBoost provides a much needed refresher for kids on how to stay safe in and around water.

If your child currently swims with us, they should register for a SwimBoost at their current level.

If you are new to KidsCanSwim, there are two ways to pick which KCS level works for you. You can use our KCS Level Finder tool OR attend our assessment day, being offered on Friday July 12th. If interested, please reach out to [email protected] with the word “SwimBoost” in the subject line.

As SwimBoost is an intensive course and all spots are fully booked, there are no makeups offered for missed SwimBoost classes.

Because of the intensive nature of SwimBoost, and the fact that we reserve a specific swim time for you, you cannot register mid-week for SwimBoost.

SwimBoost is designed as a supplement to your existing lessons to focus in on specific skills your child needs to pass a level and provide critical and intensive repetition to learn skills quickly. Because of this, we cannot hold or amend payment for your regular subscription based swimming lessons.

Classes can be cancelled up to 7 days before the first lesson.

Full refunds are only provided if classes are cancelled 7 days before the first lesson. In order to qualify for a refund, cancellations must be done through the parent portal.

Registration

Please take a look at our How to Register for Classes at KCS page at this link, complete with step-by-step video tutorials!

We teach parent-child courses for babies from 3 months old to 3 years old as well as kids from 3 to 13 years old.

At KidsCanSwim we don’t believe in locking you into contracts. Our subscription model works on a monthly basis. When you register you will be pre-paying for the month and can join the program at any time subject to availability.

If you register part way through the month, your initial fee will be automatically prorated based on the amount of swims that you have left in the month. The following month, you will be charged the regular monthly fee.

Cancelling an Individual Class: If you need to cancel one individual class for any reason – whether illness, a social event, or anything in between – simply login to your parent portal account, select the future absences button under the swimmer who will be missing a class, and select the date of your absence. Doing this creates a space in your child’s class that will allow another family to use their makeup token!

Cancelling a Membership: To cancel your lessons, simply login to your parent portal account, select “Enrolments” under each child you want to cancel, and submit a drop request for their lesson – this must be done 30 days prior to their last lesson. Billing and enrolment will cease 30 days from when you submit your cancellation request.

Unfortunately, KidsCanSwim does not offer refunds, credits or makeup classes for any missed lessons or monthly subscriptions once purchased.

Unlike traditional swimming lessons, there are no sessions at KCS. Our swimming lessons work on a monthly subscription model and you can sign up in the middle of the month!

When you sign up mid-month, you will pay a pro-rated fee based on the number of lessons left in the month. Billing for the following month is on the 21st month (eg. June tuition is taken on  May 21st) unless it falls on a weekend or public holiday, in which case it is the following business day.

Facilities, Programming and Safety

All of our swim teachers have both a water instruction certification or equivalent and a National Lifeguard certification.

In addition to these base qualifications, all our teachers have received an additional 40 hours of KidsCanSwim training in aquatic education and working with kids.

Our aim is to make your child safe and independent in the water. We only use float aids for specific activities when teaching technique. In the event that a child falls into the water without any floatation aids we want them to be prepared and equipped with skills to make decisions to save themselves.

Our pools are purpose-built for young swimmers. The shallow pool is 0.8m deep and the larger pool is 1.2m deep. Kids lessons from K1 to K4 take place in our smaller 0.8m deep pool with occasional activities in our 1.2m deep pool. From levels K5 to K12 kids will have their entire lesson in our larger 1.2m pool.

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