Drowning Prevention Week 2024 – learning a life skill
Drowning Prevention Week takes place this month on 15th to 22nd June. The Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS UK) deliberately times the Drowning Prevention Week campaign ahead of the school summer holidays, when children spend more time outdoors and when vital water safety skills can help keep children safe.
In the article below we examine the importance of learning to swim and how swimming lessons can help save lives.
Why learn to swim?
We currently teach close to 40,000 children a week nationally in our More Swimming Academy, with the demand for lessons increasing in the lead up to the summer holidays. We have a huge responsibility to ensure these children get all the skills they need to be safe in and around water.
Being able to swim is an important skill that could one day save your life or the life of someone you are with. According to research by the RLSS UK, 71% of UK child drownings occur between May and August, with 84% of those happening in inland waters, such as rivers, lakes and canals.
No child should drown, and with the right water safety education – such as knowledge of the Water Safety Code – accidental drownings are preventable.
Swimming lessons are an important life skill
We always teach water safety in our swimming lessons, but in June there is a greater focus on this.
This month our lessons will consist of additional teaching practises relating to drowning prevention. We will make sure that children understand those rules relating to swimming such as never swimming alone and not using inflatables in the sea (save that inflatable unicorn for a pool!).
Our swimming teachers are highly trained and will teach physical skills such as treading water and how to float if you get into difficulty in the water.
We don’t just stop there though – we make sure these skills are practiced time and time again, so children become confident about what to do in an emergency. We also hope that children will go home after their swimming lessons and talk about the skills they have learnt with their family.
Check out the Free Water Safety Resources on the Royal Life Saving Society's website, here, which are a great way of having the water safety conversation with your children.
We are here to help
Many adults in the UK won’t have received any drowning prevention education and so our role is so much bigger than just teaching the children. In a survey carried out by RLSS UK, more than 55% of parents said they would not be confident their child would know what to do if they fell into open water.
We all have a part to play in delivering drowning prevention education. Our ultimate goal is for there to be no further drownings. Whilst progress has been made in recent years, on average 304 UK and Irish citizens drown each year. This is still a horrifying number.
At the More Swimming Academy we will continue to work hard in our goal to educate as many people as possible in drowning prevention.
Our swimming lessons
We offer swimming lessons for children of all ages and abilities. Our high quality swimming lessons are delivered in a relaxed, fun environment, with fully-qualified instructors.
Swimming is not just a life-saving skill, it is also fantastic for a child’s mental wellbeing, helping them to develop self-esteem as well as strength, flexibility and balance.
Find out more about our Swimming Lessons today.