The campaigning family of Alexandria youngster Ava Gray - who lost her life in the Leven - have welcomed a bold new approach to water safety in schools, piloted in West Dunbartonshire, which they hope will save lives.
Since the tragedy her family have devoted themselves to improving water safety and were at the forefront of new pioneering education programme, introduced by West Dunbartonshire Council and other agencies. The new National Primary School Swimming Framework – a partnership between Scottish Water and Scottish Swimming - was launched at Balloch Park last week, aiming to ensure that primary school children across Scotland will learn basic water safety and drowning prevention skills to help them be safer and more confident in, on and around water.
Over 9,200 youngsters took part in two phases of pilots which were carried out across nine local authorities across Scotland, with the framework now accessible for all local authorities and pools. “The confidence we’ve witnessed in students is remarkable - they are building a foundation of knowledge and abilities that will serve them for life.”