Religious and Cultural Issues with School Swimming

A number of religious and cultural issues need consideration for school swimming such as:

• wearing certain items of clothing and/or religious artefacts; e.g. some faiths will have issues with unacceptable exposure of the body; pupils may be expected to wear religious adornments,
• single or mixed gender groupings for school swimming,
• Religious/cultural festivals such as Ramadan, and the implications of these; e.g. fasting during Ramadan may result in low energy levels; a risk of dehydration and lower concentration levels,
• cultural expectations in PE and School Swimming,
• EAL pupils - ensuring understanding of all safety procedures and task requirements.

 What should schools put in place?

• Hold ongoing discussions with local faith leaders and parents so they understand school policies around school swimming,
• Ensure that safe practice is followed but accommodate adjustments to swimming attire (e.g. allow long costumes or legging whilst ensuring clothing is not heavy or likely to flap),
• Provide acceptable levels of privacy to take into account any mixed-gender issues,
• Where required and if practical and feasible build single-sex teaching into the swimming programme,
• Ensure EAL pupils are supported to ensure they understand key safety signals and phrases identified through the Risk Assessment such as ‘STOP’; support staff can attract and maintain their attention in the event of an emergency; consider using a Buddy system.