South Norfolk children taught life-saving water skills

Children from the centre’s popular Swim School and numerous school groups are taking part in the Royal Life Saving Society’s (RLSS) Drowning Prevention week, which runs until 24 June.

South Norfolk Cabinet Member for Healthy & Active Lifestyles, Councillor Kim Carsok, said:

“We want children to be comfortable and confident in the water. It’s never too early to learn the basics of water safety and we aim to provide children with the knowledge they need to enjoy a lifetime of fun in the water.”

Diss Leisure Centre takes part in Drowning Prevention Week every year, educating children through fun and engaging lessons, while improving their confidence in the water.

Lessons include advice about beach safety and what the flags mean, riptides, and how to identify hazards while out and about near open water. In the pool, the centre’s instructors – certified by Swim England – keep the lessons fun and engaging with games, demonstrate the difference types of safe self-rescue and deliver the RNLI’s key message of ‘Float to Live’.

School children will also get the chance to design a t-shirt about water safety for a competition and the winner will have their design printed onto a t-shirt to keep as their prize. All the entries will be displayed around the leisure centre’s pool to spread the message about water safety.

Taking part in Drowning Prevention Week is not the only way Diss Leisure Centre promotes water safety. It teaches water safety as part of its ongoing Swim England Learn To Swim scheme and during its Summer Holiday Activities Programme which will also offer Rookie Lifeguard taster sessions for older children.