Bridgnorth school gets smart around water

St. Leonard's C of E Primary School is one of just two schools in the UK to be granted the water safety education initiative by national charity the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK).

The other school to be granted the accreditation was Burlish Park Primary School in Worcestershire.

Water Smart Schools has been designed especially for schools to help their students develop water safety skills for life in the classroom environment, in recognition of the fact that not all schools can access poolside safety education.

A cross-section of schools have recently piloted this new initiative and Shropshire’s St Leonard's C of E Primary School successfully achieved the Gold level of accreditation, the highest available.

Drowning is currently one of the leading causes of child trauma-related deaths in the UK and is largely avoidable through education and positive experiences around water.

Access to swimming tuition and water safety skills education differs across the UK and there is often disparity for those from low-income and ethnically diverse family groups.

The most recent data shared through the 2022 Active Lives Survey shows that only 34.7 per cent of children from low-affluence families are able swim 25 metres unaided, compared with 76.4 per cent children from high-income families.

RLSS UK’s Water Smart Schools accreditation aims to improve this by providing schools with a framework and all necessary resources to facilitate this vital learning.

Andy Lane, education manager at RLSS UK said, “With flexibility at the heart of the initiative; we are proud that the Water Smart Schools programme can be applied to any learning environment including further education and SEND settings.

"It is fantastic to see schools, such as St. Leonards C of E showing enthusiasm and ensuring children who attend the school have the vital water safety knowledge needed to stay safe in and around water.”

At St. Leonards C of E Primary School, 350 children came together to work towards their prestigious new accreditation; taking part in water safety assemblies, activities and making use of the free resources provided.

Year 1 teacher Nicola Carter-Rix 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.

“School council worked really hard to bring the award together giving them a sense of purpose and a great opportunity share work from across all year groups.

“The support given was fantastic and made it really easy to collect and collate our evidence.”

Other shcools interested in following in the footsteps of St Leonard's to become a Water Smart School, should email education@rlss.org.uk