It’s the end of another busy week and I have once again enjoyed my lessons teaching in Key Stage Two. We have been learning about our locality and in particular how we can see the water cycle in action in our local fells, rivers and sea.

The children have learnt a great deal about their locality following local rivers from their sources in fells and lakes to the Irish Sea. The River Ehen flows around the bottom of Thornhill and we have looked at how it meanders from Ennerdale Water all the way to its mouth at Sellafield. We are immensely lucky to have such beautiful places on our doorstep but we do need to be mindful of the dangers too. As the weather gets better, people do like to enjoy a paddle or swim in local lakes and rivers but every year, young people lose their lives when they get into trouble in this way.

The dangers of water include:

• it is very cold- even on a hot day

• there may be hidden currents

• it can be difficult to get out (steep slimy banks)

• it can be deep

• there may be hidden rubbish, e.g. shopping trolleys, broken glass

• there are no lifeguards

• it is difficult to estimate depth

• it may be polluted and may make you ill

We hope to do all we can to help your child to perform self-rescue which is why all school-aged children are encouraged to do yearly swimming lessons. Why don’t you see how well your child is doing by taking them swimming in the coming weekend?