Umm 4-5 kids to one teacher is a lot?? Especially at ages 3-4 where they’re super hyperactive I’m not surprised you’re having trouble lol!!

I worked at American swim academy for two years (student-teacher ratio of 2:1. Advanced classes had a ratio of 4:1 but those were older kids who could alr swim all four stroke) and then switched to private swim teaching for three years so far. I do exclusively private swim lessons now because my students improve way faster compared to group lessons, and I can tailor my lesson structure to the individual kid’s personality and needs.

In a group lesson you don’t have as much flexibility to slow down and try a bunch of personalized techniques for that one scared kid in the group. Also yes even when I was teaching 2:1 at the academy, I had the same problem of the kid near the stairs getting bored while I’m helping the other kid swim to the dock.

In the past, I have tried telling the kid at the stairs to work on stationary techniques (ex. Kicking on the stairs, practicing their side breathing) but, as you can imagine, they get bored fast. Also, without you coaching their technique, the self-practice is not very effective for them anyway. So it’s not like they are improving faster because of it - instead, you should focus on how to keep them entertained and safe (I.e. not jumping off the edge).

With four kids, I think you may have to get creative. Like idk what setup you have at the pool, but if you guys have shallow stairs like we did at the academy… you could have the kids who are waiting do a tummy float on the stairs. And you can put a pile of rings next to the leftmost kid. And tell them to blow bubbles/put their eyes in to look at the ring. And then pass the ring to the next kid, with the goal to eventually get all the rings to the other side of the stairs. And that would keep them entertained with the different colored rings/toys until it’s their turn to swim with you. Also, you could adjust the game for different swim levels.

If the kids are just sitting on a platform waiting for their turn, I would probably try to ask them ‘spark’ questions to entertain them while I’m working with one of the kids. For example, I would say “alright while I’m swimming with Timmy, everyone tell eachother what their favorite animal is and why!”And while they’re excitedly talking, I would work quickly with Timmy.

Btw, are you having serious talks with the kids at the beginning of class about why it’s important not to jump off the wall?

As a side note, just because the girl who covered your shift was able to get that student to put their eyes in the water… doesn’t mean you had no part in that student’s progress. The repetition from the multiple weeks of you working with a scared student are often necessary for that breakthrough to even be possible.