Safer Swimming Practice Following Thame Drowning

SCHOOL swimming in Buckinghamshire should be a lot safer, following the introduction of new safety rules, drawn up after the drowning of a Stokenchurch pupil at Thame’s Jubilee pool in July, 2004.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of Buckinghamshire County Council was called in after the death of Nathan Matthews, and found that the trip had been properly organised and that the staff at the Thame pool were trained and qualified in teaching swimming and in lifeguarding.

However, after visiting the county’s school swimming pools, the HSE issued BCC with an Improvement Notice stating that the council’s safety requirements were less stringent than those at the leisure centre.

The new regulations are expected to be passed by the county council’s cabinet today, and all school pools re-opened next month.

The new regime will include that schools must be aware of how many teachers and helpers were needed for each class, that training needs must be assessed and provided for, and it will include the necessity for the water to be clear, so that any child on the bottom of the pool can be clearly seen. Caps or dark glasses will be required to be worn to ensure that glare from the water does not prevent helpers seeing what is happening at the bottom of the pool.

It has been reported elsewhere that Ian Park, the county council’s Physical Education Adviser, has said:
* that all teachers were trained and qualified in resuscitation and had attended courses in how to deal with risks and emergencies and what to do with the rest of the class if an accident occurred.

* If staff did not have the training, the pools could not open.

* “School swimming is safe. It was a high-risk activity but a vital life skill.” (Bucks Free Press)