Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that the risks of (a) cold water, (b) open water and (c) drowning are covered in the national curriculum.

Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill and that is why pupils are taught to swim and how to be safe in and around water at primary school. Swimming and water safety are compulsory elements of the primary physical education (PE) curriculum at key stages 1 and 2. It includes teaching on how to perform safe-self rescue in different water-based situations.

The department also supports schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons through teacher training and resources and the PE and Sport Premium for top-up lessons.

Schools also have the flexibility to include content on water safety as part of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) or personal, social, health and economic education, to equip pupils with an understanding of the risks and enable them to make informed decisions. The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum, including looking at whether additional content on water safety should be added.