Drowning Prevention Week will be taking place as part of children’s lessons to raise awareness of water safety ahead of the summer holidays.

This will involve water safety sessions in place of the standard Swim England lesson. Don’t worry your child will still be meeting the Swim England Criteria, regardless of the stage.

Your child must already be registered on swimming lessons with us in order to participate in this activity.

Drowning Prevention week starts in:

Why is it important?

• In the UK and Ireland drowning takes an average of 402 lives each year.
• More than 46% never intended to be in the water.
• Over 55% of parents surveyed said they would not be confident their child would know what
to do if they fell into open water.
• 1 in 3 of those surveyed said that their swimming abilities limited the activities they could
do.
• 62.4% of accidental drownings happen at inland water.
• Around 44% of accidental drownings happen between May and August.
• It is estimated that close to 2 million children have missed out on school swimming lessons
in England alone, since the start of the pandemic.