The national curriculum does not teach children enough about getting out of difficulty in open water, a headteacher has said.
Bilston Church of England Primary School is one of dozens of schools in the Black Country that has implemented new water safety training, aimed at reducing drowning deaths.
The programme, aimed at pupils in Year 5 and 6, offers lessons in and out of the water in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Gary Gentle, the school’s head, said the current curriculum “does not place enough emphasis on self-safe rescue.”