The weather is heating up again and in turn so does the lure of a swim in cool water.
The cases of deaths in rivers seem to be growing, only last week a 13 year old boy died in the River Tyne after taking a swim. In Shrewsbury there have been 2 deaths and multiple incidents involving the river this year alone!
Education seems to be the only way forward.
In Northumberland councillor Angie Scott is working with schools and youth groups to improve safety awareness and the dangers of the river. After having a personal experience herself and learning of the dangers of the same river, she is now working with the emergency services and young people to create an educational package that can be rolled out to school children.
In Shrewsbury local businesses took to the river bank to be taught life-saving river safety skills which was organised by the Shrewsbury BID and The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Services. The first course attracted over 20 people with another course planned for the near future.
But what about our children?
Since 1994, swimming and water safety has been a statutory element of the national curriculum for physical education in England.
This means that every 11-year old child should leave primary school with the skills to keep themselves safe while enjoying swimming with friends and family.
Swimming is the only sport to be included within the national curriculum physical education programme of study. All primary schools must provide swimming and water safety lessons in either Key Stage 1 or 2.
Each pupil is required to be able to do the following:
- Perform safe self-rescue in different water based situations
- Swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
- Use a range of strokes effectively, for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke.
However, research has consistently shown that only half of pupils meet the required standards.
Another way that we are being educated is through frequent exposure, you may have seen the advert created by the RNLI for sea side safety, with its catchy tune, you are subconsciously taking in important safety information.