Britain is failing children on water safety and it's costing lives - we must start teaching outdoor learning

Though the national curriculum does require some practical training, just 74% of children today leave school able to swim 25 metres. That is significantly down from before the pandemic.

Among those in less affluent areas, the figures are even worse. Only 35% of children from low-income families can swim 25 metres, compared to 76% from affluent backgrounds. As one colleague put it plainly, this means children from more deprived areas are twice as likely to drown.

Though this is concerning, I imagine some may baulk at classifying this as a national crisis. But here is the thing: this is not just about learning to swim, it is about knowing what to do when someone panics, when cold-water shock sets in and every second counts. In other words, it is about having the knowledge to deal with a life-or-death situation.

May’s heatwave tragically exposed the current knowledge gap, with multiple people drowning, most of them kids. The locations are also revealing. Though a handful occurred at sea, the majority happened in rivers or lakes where the water is much lower. Even when the temperature hits new heights, rivers rarely rise above 16C, which can still trigger cold-water shock.

Countries like Australia treat water safety as a national priority, so why should the UK be any different? Sadly, though, this is typical of our education system which places academic attainment above vital life skills.

While May’s heatwave highlighted a lack of water safety skills, the sad truth is that the scale of the knowledge gap is far broader. In recent years, we have witnessed an unprecedented decline in the amount of time children spend outdoors.

Within a single generation, it has dropped by 50%. And among those in the most deprived parts of the country, a fifth of children never visit the natural environment or spend meaningful time outdoors.

Spending time indoors, away from nature, often glued to a screen, has a devastating impact on a child’s mental health. Repeated research has shown that being in nature makes children happy and that children who spend time outside care more about nature.

So, it is no coincidence that we are facing a young people’s mental health crisis in this country – with roughly 1 in 10 children now being referred to mental health treatment in England – as the time they spend outside declines.

We have got to act, and that is why I presented a Bill to parliament last week on Outdoor Education – to require children spend at least 30 minutes a day outdoors, that schools provide a minimum of one lesson of teaching outdoors each week, and that all children are offered the opportunity of an outdoor experience at primary and secondary school.

This Bill is about improving the lives of our children and young people – and, by using outdoor learning, raising a generation of people who will care more about nature.

It’s time we prioritised outdoor learning for every child, and by building their confidence in the outdoors, we are instilling a respect for and understanding of nature, which is crucial as we face the challenges a changing climate will bring.

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Caroline Voaden is the Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon.

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