Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to educate pupils on the potential danger of open water swimming.

Water safety is a vital life skill, which is why swimming and water safety is a compulsory part of the PE and Sport National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2. Pupils should be taught how to perform safe self rescue in a variety of water based situations, including open water.

Schools can also use the Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum to equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge necessary to make safe and informed decisions, which is a vital part of water safety.​

​The Department is working in partnership with members of the National Water Safety Forum, in particular the Royal Life Saving Society UK, Swim England, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Together with the Department, these organisations are supporting more schools to teach primary and secondary pupils important aspects of water safety, such as cold water shock, rip tides and keeping safe near frozen water.​ New resources for pupils in Key Stages 1 to 3 have been provided by the National Water Safety Forum, supporting teachers to deliver water safety in a classroom environment.