RESPONSE TO SCHOOL TRIPS MANIFESTO
30.11.2006
Education Secretary Alan Johnson has this week announced that the Government is putting learning outside the classroom at the heart of the curriculum. In response, STA Chief Executive, Roger Millward, says:
“One of the biggest causes for concern for teachers is swimming activities. There has certainly been a decline in swimming activities in schools in recent years, which may be attributed to the potential liability of teachers, particularly for ‘off site activities’. Indeed, recent research by STA shows that teachers and support staff are being put off supervising swimming sessions because they feel they lack specialist skills, or else feel vulnerable within the pool environment.
“Therefore the government’s ‘learning outside the classroom’ manifesto must address the need for more specialist pool safety training for teachers, to ensure that Headteachers are not being placed in a position where they have to compromise the safety and health of their pupils.
“The need for specialist training is beyond question, indeed even Baalpe, in ‘Safe Practice in Physical Education and School Sport’ state that “it is recommended that swimming teachers and school staff responsible for classes hold appropriate UK teaching and life saving awards”. There are, however, no mandatory requirements for life saving qualifications for teachers or sector staff; and many undergraduate student teachers completing their teaching degree are leaving College and University with limited swimming and water rescue skills.
“Swimming is without doubt an essential – and life saving – skill, and yet drowning is still the third largest cause of accidental death to children in the UK. In addition, one in thirteen schools don’t offer swimming at all and the situation is worse in inner-city areas, and more than 100,000 children leave school each year without mastering basic swimming skills. A TES Survey released in September 2006 went even further and highlighted that more than a third of children left primary school this year without having basic swimming skills. In 2003 one in six primary school leavers could not swim at all, and the TES Survey suggests that this figure has risen to one in five, or approximately 110,000.
“To address this issue STA has developed a new Pool Safety Award, which is the first programme of its kind to have been designed specifically with the school staff in mind, and is aimed at addressing this skills and knowledge gap, to alleviate teachers concerns for supervising swimming activities.
“Even basic swimming skills can save lives, so at STA we saw it as imperative to work with teachers and support staff to develop a fit-for-purpose award, which could raise water safety awareness and raise teachers’ competence in the context of rescue skills. The new Pool Safety Award was developed twelve months ago and has been through a rigorous trial and testing process, which included consultation with the Association of Physical Education, and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to ensure it exactly matches the needs of both teachers and support staff.
“The Pool Safety Award assists teachers, support staff, and schools themselves to meet the increasing need to demonstrate adherence to safe practices and standards on a continuous basis, and to comply with their duty of care requirements. It also allows compliance with recommendations and guidance within leading publications such as: ‘Safe Practice in Physical Education and School Sport’ Baalpe, ‘Managing Health & Safety in Swimming Pools’ HSE 2003, BSi PAS 81:2005 ‘Specification for the Management and Operation of Swimming Schools’ BSi, and ‘Safety and Risk in Primary School Physical Education’ Servers and Routledge 2003.
“The Pool Safety Award provides a specialist, nationally accredited qualification, which demonstrates compliance with the very latest recommendations for the supervision of swimming activities in school pools, and gives parents and carers the confidence that the school maintains the highest standards of care for its students and staff.
“The announcement of the ‘learning outside the classroom’ manifesto is welcomed, however the government must give serious consideration to enforcing compulsory pool safety training for teachers and staff involved in pool activities.”
