Council backs bid for water safety lessons

Council chiefs in County Durham have welcomed a bid to have water safety lessons in schools.

Durham County Council – which campaigns to raise awareness of the need to be safe around water – has welcomed an upcoming Parliamentary debate regarding plans to make water safety a part of school swimming lessons.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has been lobbying for youngsters to be taught about the dangers of going into cold water during swimming lessons or in their personal, social, health and economic lessons.

On Monday MPs will debate a 107,356-signature petition calling on the Government to “review and enhance curriculum content on water safety, so schools are required to ensure that all children know about and know how to deal with issues such as cold water shock and rip currents.”

Durham Counthy Council has led the Safe Durham Partnership’s Dying to be Cool campaign, which seeks to make youngsters aware of the risks involved in going into water.

Cllr John Shuttleworth, the council’s cabinet member for community safety, said: “Too many young people have lost their lives in the water all over the country including in

County Durham and that is why we have pushed so hard to raise awareness of the dangers.

“Anything which means that schoolchildren are given a greater understanding of the risks of going into the water and better equips them should they get into difficulty is to be welcomed.

"We hope that our local MPs are able to support what the petition is trying to achieve.”