Water Safety England (WSE) has published a new drowning prevention strategy that calls for all children to receive swimming lessons in school. The report announces an intention to work with the government to 'ensure all children learn to swim', a goal supported by the ChronicleLive Stay Water Safe campaign.
Key statistics and aims
WSE, a national partnership of relevant organisations, is targeting what it calls a 'long-standing and preventable' cause of death. Between 2019 and 2023, 2,306 people died in water-related fatalities in England. Although preventing drowning is described as 'complex', the strategy sets out several objectives.
One stated aim is to 'create equitable and inclusive opportunities for adults, children and young people to learn water safety knowledge, swimming and safe rescue skills'. This includes 'advocating and working with the government to ensure all children learn to swim through school swimming lessons'.
Local initiatives already underway
The strategy echoes existing efforts in the North East. Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council have provided free swimming sessions at leisure centres. Northumberland-based Blyth Lifeguard and Swimming Club offers water safety sessions for children and parents. Lifeguard Captain Michele Weedy noted that many children and adults 'do not have the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe at the beach'.
Weedy explained: 'The parents learn about the currents, the rips and the power of the sea while the children are doing water safety lessons on the beach. It worked really well last year, so we've dropped the age this year to five years old. We have got a few five year olds on the course this year and they're just having so much fun, so hopefully we educate the parents as well as keep the children safe at the beach. It becomes a family environment, and we all want to ensure that everybody has fun and more importantly goes home at the end of the day.'
How the strategy proposes to implement swimming lessons
The strategy details several approaches: enabling all swimming providers to embed age- and stage-appropriate water safety and rescue-skills messaging through the national competency framework; supporting collective efforts for sufficient, high-quality aquatic participation opportunities; and promoting evidence-based methods for inclusive swimming and water safety through key national projects and campaigns.
