Royal Life Saving Society – Drowning Prevention Week

As you will be aware, Great Marlow School is very close to open water. Due to this fact, it is imperative that all parents, carers and students are aware of the risks and how to keep safe. This is applicable not only during the summer but at any time in the future. As a school and a community, we have suffered the loss of students drowning in open water.

Tragically, around 400 people needlessly drown in the UK every year and thousands more suffer injury, some are life changing through near-drowning experiences. Putting this into context, one person dies every 20 hours in the UK. Drowning is also the third highest cause of accidental death of children in the UK.

This year’s Drowning Prevention Week will take place between 17–24 June. We would like to share the RLSS website to proactively raise awareness of water safety ahead of the summer season. RLSS UK has a range of free resources available on their website, which you can view. In addition, this year Thames Valley Police have been working with Bucks Fire & Rescue, Bucks Council and the Environment Agency to create more awareness with regard to water safety. They have created a water safety video with the support of Tom Dean (Double Olympic Swimming Champion).