This year’s Drowning Prevention Week (DPW) campaign aims to educate families, carers, teachers, and children about water safety.
In 2022, the UK saw a 46% increase in the number of child drownings compared to the 5-year average, with 119 children accidentally drowning in the past five years. No child should drown, and with the right water safety education, accidental drownings are preventable. Therefore, Drowning Prevention Week is critical in raising awareness and encouraging the public to enjoy water safely.
Activity sheets for pupils to use in class or at home:
Pupils attending school swimming lessons will be taught how to stay safe in, on, and around water. They will experience swimming in clothes and learn safe self-rescue techniques in different water-based situations. However, it is important to continue educating children and families, especially with the summer months approaching.
Additionally, with the summer holidays approaching, the Royal Lifesaving Society is backing a new campaign, On The Beach Holidays, to help more families enjoy water safely this summer. On The Beach Holidays highlights the benefits of children wearing brightly coloured swimwear.
Research by The Holiday Campaign revealed that 2 in 3 children wear blue, white, or grey swimwear, making them harder to spot underwater. By changing to bright colours, children are easier to spot when submerged, making it simpler to keep them under constant supervision while playing and swimming in water.
Let’s keep our children safe in water this summer.