A coroner is concerned that primary schools are not fulfilling their statutory duty to offer swimming lessons following the drowning of a teenage boy. Alex Crook, 15, died while paddling with friends at a lake known as Scotsman鈥檚 Flash, in Wigan, during warm weather last September. He was paddling at the edge and reportedly slipped into deeper water 鈥 but was unable to swim. Following an inquest last month, coroner John Pollard has issued a prevention of future deaths report to Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. 鈥淸Alex] did not have statutory swimming lessons at key stage 1 or 2 and I am informed that three schools in the Wigan area are still in breach of their statutory duty to deliver such lessons,鈥 said Pollard in his report. Primaries have swimming lesson duty The national curriculum says all primary schools 鈥渕ust provide swimming instruction either in key stage 1 or key stage 2鈥. Pupils must be taught to swim 鈥渃ompetently, confidently and proficiently鈥 over a distance of at least 25 metres. They should be able to 鈥渦se a range of strokes effectively鈥 and to 鈥減erform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations鈥. But a survey of more than 3,000 primary school teachers last August found 22 per cent said that swimming was not offered by their school. Figures from Sport England鈥檚 Active Lives Children and Young People Survey show that, in 2023, 71 per cent of year 7s were able to swim 25m unaided. This was down from 77 per cent five years earlier. The number of child drowning deaths in England has doubled in four years to 41 in 2023, Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) figures show. Schools 鈥榓llowed to slip through net鈥 鈥淲ith [swimming] being in the national curriculum, it should be 100 per cent of kids,鈥 Alex鈥檚 father Neil Crook, who now campaigns for better water safety, told聽Schools Week. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something they need to be acting on straight away.聽 鈥淭he schools all over the country that aren鈥檛 [providing swimming lessons], they are allowed to slip through the net. It鈥檚 not being looked at properly and they are just letting it pass.鈥 Alex Crook Crook said schools should make swimming lessons a priority, while the government should be doing more to ensure schools are fulfilling their statutory duty. The Sport England study found teachers at 36 per cent of state primaries said their schools offered fewer than 10 lessons per pupil. Five years earlier, that figure was around 28 per cent. Philip Brownlie at , the national governing body for swimming, said budgetary constraints were 鈥渦ndoubtedly a factor鈥 in the falling rate of swimming proficiency. The cost of swimming pool entry and transport has also increased. But he added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely no exaggeration, sadly, to say this can be a matter of life and death.鈥 Budget impacts and closing pools Brownlie continued: 鈥淒rowning is one of the most common causes of accidental death in England still and, for many children, particularly from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, school could be the only opportunity they have to learn that. The stakes are huge.鈥 Swim England鈥檚 2023 report highlighted 鈥減ersistent inequalities鈥 in swimming proficiency. Just over half of black and Asian pupils could swim 25m unaided by the time they left primary school. Meanwhile, many local pools are closing. Swim England鈥檚 report revealed that more than a thousand public pools, including 450 council-owned pools, have shut since 2010. Philip Brownlie Brownlie said a 鈥渇undamental problem鈥 was also the 鈥渞eal lack of data and accountability鈥 on which schools are fulfilling their statutory duty. 鈥淲ho鈥檚 monitoring if a school isn鈥檛 doing it? What is the comeuppance?鈥 This is 鈥渘ot about finger-pointing鈥 but 鈥渟aying this is a really big issue鈥 and seeing what support can be provided [to boost swimming] where needed.鈥 Some progress does appear to have been made on accountability. From this academic year, primary schools are required to publish attainment levels for curriculum requirements to the DfE. Brownlie stressed that the government must take action, once figures paint a clearer picture of swimming attainment. Swim England believes Ofsted should be 鈥渃hecking on school swimming and water safety much more frequently than [they are] currently鈥 to ensure that schools are fulfilling their requirements. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council said that, since the coroner issued his report, a letter has 鈥渂een sent to all schools to remind them of their duties in relation to providing swimming lessons鈥. The authority 鈥渨ill be following this up with individual schools where required鈥. Ofsted and the DfE have been approached for comment. 鈥淲e will never get over losing Alex and we don鈥檛 want another family to have to go through this pain,鈥 Crook said.
Jan 15 February 2025 It truly sad that s young man has lost his life but the parent pointing the finger at schools isn’t really on. Yes swimming is on the national curriculum and most children get a weekly half an hour lesson for twelve months. However, as parent it is also your responsibility to keep your own children safe. We taught our children to swim, paid for lessons and ensured they practiced. My parents taught me to swim and made sure I had time to practice and warned me about the dangers of open water. It is impossible to ensure that every child in a primary school will learn to swim to the required standard, just as not all children will leave high school with the same amount of GCSE’s at the same grade.
Sarah James 16 February 2025 My school had it’s own small pool, suitable for KS1. We couldn’t afford the repairs and upkeep. It’s been sold. We can’t afford Teaching Assistants, the only support staff is one nursery nurse and LSAs who support pupils with SEND. I used to love teaching swimming, and am concerned about the impact on children. Unless the Government and Third sectors start to find schools properly, swimming will continue to be a low priority on the curriculum.