Providing lifesaving lessons at the borough’s leisure centres

Primary school children in the borough have attended swimming lessons over 27,000 times in the past 12 months, with a huge focus given on water safety.

When it comes to our leisure offering in Blackburn with Darwen, swimming is a key priority, especially for those who need lessons.

In fact, over the last 12 months, 12,000 30-minute swim lessons were provided to children from across the borough by our 14 strong team of swimming teachers, in Blackburn and Darwen.

They follow the Learn to Swim Programme by Swim England, which is a world leading syllabus to support children and adults to learn to swim, offering awards as and when they progress.

Many of those that attend our lessons are children attending with their school. A staggering 43 primary schools currently have swimming lessons with us. The rest are private lessons, which are held in the evenings or on weekends.

All lessons cover lifesaving information about water safety, which is part of the National Curriculum.

In these lessons, our swimming teachers show children what to do if they get into difficulty with ‘Float to Live’. This includes:

1. Tilting your head back, submerging your ears.
2. Relaxing and trying to control your breathing.
3. Moving your hands and legs to help keep you afloat.

Figures released in May by National Water Safety Forum (NWSF) stated that 193 accidentally died in water-related fatalities in 2024, with the majority of them happening in rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs and quarries. By teaching this information to children when they need it, our swimming teachers can ensure that it’s second nature to them if they do get into difficulty.

Also covered in the lessons is the Water Safety Code which includes floating, sculling, treading water and how to attract help if in difficulty in the water.

Councillor Julie Gunn, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education said:

Teaching water safety to children is invaluable for any circumstances they or their friends may come up against in future.

I’m so glad that so many children across the borough take part in swimming lessons and hope their enthusiasm to do so continues.

Councillor Jim Smith, Executive Member for Environment and Communities said:

I’m really proud of our leisure team for offering such a key service to the children of the borough in high quantity, but also high quality.

It’s vital that we make the most of the amenities we have on our doorstep and with the addition of ‘Total Splash Out’ at Darwen Leisure Centre there’s a chance for our children to experience playtime as well as learning key lifesaving lessons.

Not only do our leisure staff inspire the next generation on how to swim safely, but they also encourage the teachers of the future too.

Over the next two weeks, they’re hosting a Swim England Level 2 swimming teachers course, with learners from across the midlands and northwest attending.

To find out about future opportunities such as this or to get your child into swimming lessons, visit BwD Leisure.