8 July 2013

The ASA is delighted that the Department for Education has shown their commitment to school swimming by including swimming and water safety in the revised national curriculum for schools in England announced today.

All schools must provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively such as front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

David Sparkes, ASA Chief Executive, said, “I am delighted that swimming will remain a key part of the national curriculum. School swimming is vital in ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to learn this life saving skill. It also engages children in an exercise that will help keep them fit and healthy for the rest of their lives.

“I also welcome the inclusion of the water safety outcomes. School swimming is the single most effective way of teaching children how to be safe in and around water and the additional self-rescue elements will only enhance this.”