School Swimming - Returning to the Pool

As pupils prepare to return to classrooms across the country, Swim England published new guidance on 20 August 2020, for school swimming lessons. Swimming and water safety lessons are a compulsory part of the national curriculum yet around one in five children leave primary school unable to swim.

The 29-page Returning to the Pool Guidance for School Swimming has been developed by Swim England in cooperation with industry partners, including local authorities, leisure operators, the Department for Education and the Association for Physical Education (afPE). It shows how swimming lessons can be held safely and gives teachers the necessary information about booking procedures plus what to do before leaving the school, on arrival at the pool and in the water itself. Highlighted in the guidance are the continued requirements for social distancing and enhanced hygiene regimes, along with guidelines on how this will impact on the different experience the pool user will have.

PCC and Everyone Active are working closely with the PSSP to ensure that despite the closure of the Life Centre, schools will be able to offer a swimming programme.  Further details regarding this will follow shortly.