Inclusion 2024 to host free school swimming and water safety training

A number of free online school swimming and water safety training sessions have been set up as part of the Inclusion 2024 programme.

The sessions have been specifically designed to create water safety training for people working with students with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities.

They’ll be run by the Youth Sport Trust – who have been working with Swim England to create the training – and will cover the importance of water safety, highlight resources available and offer advice and guidance for integrating pupils with SEND into school swimming lessons.

The training is targeted at teachers, teaching assistants, school swimming teachers and the wider school workforce to help them develop their knowledge in this hugely important area.

It comes as the Youth Sport Trust and Swim England look to expand the impact of the project and ensure everyone has access to high quality water safety education.

The training will be available in three webinars next month and aims to equip attendees with:

• An understanding of the importance of school swimming and water safety.
• Access to resources to adapt and profile within school programmes and maximise learning within school swimming.
• Advice and guidance for integrating pupils with SEND into school swimming lessons.

Speaking about the training, Lorna Goldie, Swim England’s school swimming and water safety development officer said: “We’re excited to offer these free water safety training sessions, specifically designed for those working with SEND students.

“It’s really important to us that all students, regardless of their abilities, can participate in aquatic activity and ensuring educators and teachers receive the knowledge and tools they need to support that is crucial.

“We are very proud of the resources generated through the collaborative work of the Inclusion 2024 project and this is just another example of that.

“Please sign up today to ensure more young people have the skills and knowledge to stay safe in, on and around water.”

The dates of the sessions and the links to sign up are below (all sessions will be delivered online).

• Monday 4 November, 3:15-4:45pm – Sign up here
• Wednesday 6 November, 3:30-5:00pm – Sign up here
• Friday 8 November, 12:30-2:00pm – Sign up here