The Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS UK) has launched its new Water Smart Schools Accreditation, which aims to help schools teach children how to stay safe in and around water.
It follows a pilot of the accreditation, with three of the schools taking part having achieved the Gold level of accreditation, due to an ‘exceptional’ level of commitment.
According to RLSS, drowning is currently one of the leading causes of child trauma-related deaths in the UK, but is largely avoidable through education and positive experiences around water.
However, it says access to swimming tuition and water safety education differs across the UK and there is often disparity for those from low-income and ethnically diverse family groups.
Water Smart Schools accreditation aims to improve this by providing schools with a framework and resources to enable this.
Nicole Carter-Rix, Year 1 teacher at St Leonards Primary School in Bridgnorth, which took part in the pilot, said, ‘As a school we really enjoyed taking part in the RLSS UK awards.
‘It gave children of all ages from nursery to Year 6 the opportunity to work collaboratively. The resources were engaging and easy to use and the children can now confidently talk about water safety.’
RLSS UK’s education manager Andy Lane said, ‘We are excited to get even more schools on board to ensure more children have the much needed knowledge around water safety.’
- If you are interested in taking part to become a Water Smart School, please email education@rlss.org.uk