The Scottish Government is to fully fund swimming lessons for P4 and 5 school children in Scotland.
Children will be given the chance to learn the essential life skill with Scottish Swimming’s National Primary School Swimming Framework, and the funding from The Scottish Government.
The Minister for Sport said on Thursday morning that the government is providing £6 million of funding. This is part of a £40m package of measures to get Scots more active this year, inspired by the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Minister for Sport
Maree Todd, Minister for Sport, was at Craigroyston Community High School on Thursday morning watching on as pupils from Pirniehill Primary School were put through their paces in the 25 metre pool.
The Minister told Deadline News about her own experience of learning to swim – at the pool in Dingwall where her father took her and some friends each Sunday – even though he was the one who could not swim and wore arm bands in the pool.
She said: “I am a lousy swimmer but that is because I was taught to swim by a non-swimmer. I think it is phenomenal that every single child the length and breadth of Scotland will have the opportunity to learn this vital life skill.
She continued: “We want there to be no barriers. We see this as an essential life skill, that it’s sport, it’s physical exercise, it’s really good for you, but it’s also life saving and it’s confidence building.
“So, we are absolutely delighted to be here this morning, seeing this wonderful class of primary four- or five-year-olds, learning to swim, learning confidence in the water. This is life saving stuff.
“We’ve piloted the school swimming framework. We know how much it would cost to deliver a lesson to every child, so a suite of 10 lessons, 45 minutes, to every child in primary five in Scotland.
“And we are fully funding this initiative. It really is transformative.”
Scottish Swimming
Scottish Swimming Chief Executive, John Lunn, said: “The School Swimming Framework is our plan. We engaged with local authorities and they said they would like a national framework to deliver against.
“We are the national governing body for swimming so naturally we wanted to develop that on their behalf. The plan is for P4 and P5 children but it is pretty flexible.
“We would want to give them all the opportunity to be safe and confident in and around water. Whether they can all swim at the end of that is a different thing.
“But our ambition is that at the end of it, they’ve got a much better understanding of water and how they can be safe around it.”
Mr Lunn learned to swim at school and then went on to become a member of a swimming club. He said that while he did not swim at a very high level himself he did swim with some people who took part in the Commonwealth Games and Olympics.
He said: “I had a great time and ended up teaching and coaching swimming for several years. It has been a massive influence on me beyond just the skill of being able to swim.”
National Primary School Swimming Framework
The rollout of the National Primary School Swimming Framework, a universal offer to primary aged children, is part of a package of measures to get people more active, inspired by the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and the Scotland men’s team playing in the FIFA World Cup finals.
An additional £40m for sport has been allocated in the 2026-27 Budget, with £2m for the swimming initiative in its first year, with plans to expand the offer in future years.
