Positive reinforcement
Only catch them doing it right. It is much harder than you might think.
Firstly, when assessing the main theme stroke, let them finish, then find something positive about their effort, don’t mention what they did wrong but provide a snippet of what they need to do next to make it better.
For example, you ask a child to swim across on backstroke. They manage it with a good leg kick, but forget the arms.
Do you say:
“Lovely legs, but what about the arms?”
“Great leg kick but you forgot the arms you banana” or
“Terrific effort, next time we will add the arms in and it will be perfect”
Avoid using the word “BUT”. It tells the child that everything you said before “BUT” was flannel.
When a child performs the task, say a somersault, have a special reward.
I use five down low, then move my hand away so it splashes the water. “ Too slow” and repeat till they make contact.
The important thing is to reserve this “reward” for actual achievements, not just good trying.
It provides motivation for the other kids to emulate the task and receive the “reward”.
Everyone loves a pat on the back.