Otter Tots at Knowle Lane
Otter Tots teach private one-to-one and 2-to-1 swimming lessons for children and adults in a converted summer room pool on Knowle Lane, Ecclesall, from £230 a term, after school or Saturday mornings.
Who it suits
Sheffield children or adults who want undivided teacher attention rather than a group class, and whose diary suits after-school weekday or Saturday morning slots.
Why it stands out
- Lessons are private, 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 only; there is no group option at this Otter Tots venue
- The pool is 13 by 5 metres, converted from a summer room, with light coming in from the garden
- Open to children and adults, not just the baby and toddler classes Otter Tots run at their other Sheffield venue
- Two teachers run two lessons in parallel, so at most three swimmers are ever in the pool together
- Taught by the same family who founded Otter Tots in 2003: directors Victoria and Alistair, plus senior teacher Tom
Our verdict
This is the venue to book if what you actually want is a private lesson, either 1-to-1 or 2-to-1, rather than a class with other children. £322 a term for one 30 minute lesson a week is a serious price for a swim lesson, though it buys a genuinely small pool and a fixed teacher rather than whoever is rostered on. Do not book if you were hoping for the same warm 30 degree water as Otter Tots' Mylnhurst site up the road; the temperature here is not published, so ask before you commit a term's fees. And do not expect flexibility: like the rest of Otter Tots, this is termly billing with no refund for a lesson you miss.
What it is
Knowle Lane is the second of Otter Tots’ two Sheffield venues, and the one built entirely around private teaching. Where the Mylnhurst School site up the road runs baby and toddler group classes, Knowle Lane offers only 1-to-1 and 2-to-1 lessons, in a 13 by 5 metre pool converted from what the school describes as a summer room, with garden light coming through the windows. Otter Tots is still run by the family who founded it in 2003: directors Victoria and Alistair teach here alongside senior teacher Tom.
Who should book
Children and adults who want a lesson built entirely around them, not families looking for a toddler class. Lessons run 30 minutes, after school Monday to Wednesday and Friday, or Saturday mornings. A single teacher takes a 1-to-1 session for £322 a term, or two people can share a 2-to-1 slot for £420, and one Tuesday slot taught by Victoria runs a shorter five week block for £230.
What stands out
Only two lessons run at once, each with its own teacher, so the most people ever in the water together is a family of three swimmers plus the two teachers. That is a genuinely different setup from a leisure centre lesson with a dozen children in the pool, and it suits anyone who is anxious in a group, catching up after missing years of lessons, or simply wants faster progress than a shared class gives.
The verdict
At £322 to £420 a term for one weekly slot, this is priced like private coaching, not a children’s swim class, and the small pool and fixed teacher are what you are paying for. Do not book expecting a bargain, or expecting the 30 degree water Otter Tots advertise at Mylnhurst, since no pool temperature is given for Knowle Lane. Book it if a group class has not worked, whether that is a nervous child, an adult who never learned, or a family who would rather pay more for guaranteed one-to-one time than sit on a waiting list elsewhere.
More Otter Tots venues
All Otter Tots venuesOtter Tots, family run since 2003, teaches babies and toddlers at Mylnhurst School's 30 degree pool in Ecclesall, from £156 a term, with New Baby classes on weekdays and Pre-School at weekends.