STA and Swim England Work Collaboratively to Ensure School Swimming Standards are Clearly Defined

The two leading swimming bodies in England, STA and Swim England, have joined forces to clarify the outcomes set out in the national curriculum on swimming and water safety; specifically, to define the final outcome that reads ‘perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations’.

In June 2022, the Department for Education made it clear there is currently no intention to amend or change the National Curriculum in the short term, and while the outcomes, swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres and use a range of strokes effectively [for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke], are clearly defined, the remaining outcome and arguably the most important for a child to learn, ‘perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations’, remains vague.

Both swimming organisations strongly believe that it is important to provide clarity and consistency on what is expected from this ‘self-rescue’ outcome in order to allow accurate benchmarking, ensure the desired protective effect is met, aid effective education of workforce and enable communication to parents of pupil’s ability.

Read more via STA HERE or via Swim England HERE.