Associate feature: The cost of not investing in school swimming

Whether children receive school swimming in Scotland is a postcode lottery with provision varying widely across the country.  This is the case despite the Scottish Government promoting school swimming as part of its Water Safety Scotland Action Plan and as a priority area for sportscotland. While local authorities battle budget deficits, school swimming is often seen as a soft target for cuts. How can this be the case when our drowning figures are more than double those of the UK? Apart from the tragic loss of life, one drowning is said to cost an estimated £1.7 million, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Euan Lowe, Scottish Swimming CEO commented, “Scottish Swimming has a solution to school swimming. A tried and tested National Primary School Swimming Framework piloted in 9 local authority areas is ready to roll out across Scotland. This would ensure that every Primary 5 pupil has the opportunity to experience water, learn basic swimming skills and gain essential water safety knowledge. But we need the Scottish Government to deliver on its own words around school swimming with action to provide the investment to make it a reality. Without it, we risk the safety and health of our children”.

For £6 million a year we could keep Scotland’s children safer, healthier and active. While safety is one aspect, the obesity crisis in children is another critical reason to introduce swimming at a young age through school swimming. A third of children aged 2 to 15 in 2022 were at risk of overweight and obesity – a figure which is the highest recorded since 2011. Swimming is one of few sports accessible to all regardless of fitness level, ability or background.

Some of our most prevalent diseases and health conditions – diabetes, cancer, heart disease and dementia can be prevented or managed through good diet and exercise habits which are best begun at school. For many children, school swimming is sadly the only access they receive to swimming and experiences in water.  A positive experience can introduce lifelong, healthy habits and open up a whole host of fun and safe water-based sports and opportunities.

Swimming has wider social benefits. A study by Swim England showed that swimming created social value savings of £2.4 billion in 2022 with impacts that include improved physical and mental health, reduced crime, improved social and community development, improved life satisfaction, improved educational attainment and enhanced skills. Too often school swimming provision is lost without considering its broader appeal and social impact. 

Primary Five is the right age to participate in school swimming. At around the age of 8, children can go swimming independently and anxieties around learning to swim have not usually come into play. Picking up swimming in the upper age groups at secondary school is fundamentally flawed. The stigma of not being able to swim at this age often precludes participation.

The Primary School Swimming Framework offers consistent, high quality school swimming guidance with flexible delivery models to suit different local authority requirements. Delivery models vary from targeted approaches which focus on the children who need swimming most, to universal models and tailored approaches which suit rural areas. 

The support is clear. A Scottish Swimming primary school survey showed that 98% of primary school headteachers support school swimming as part of their child’s curriculum education and 100% of local authorities would welcome a framework developed and supported by Scottish Swimming. 

What we now need is government commitment and investment to implement the framework across Scotland to ensure all children have fair and equal access to school swimming. The cost of not doing so could be catastrophic for those denied the opportunity to acquire this essential life skill.

This article is sponsored by Scottish Swimming. 

www.scottishswimming.com