Summer Safety Advice

Summer Safety Information and Advice

For Children and Families Ahead of the Summer Holidays

Water Safety for pupils

The BBC news on Monday night about water safety follows a number of recent drownings in UK rivers and at the coast.

You will remember the local tragedy of two summers ago when 14 year old Brian Sasu drowned in the River Thames at Hampton. 

Please remind your sons and daughters of the dangers of swimming and share this advice with them. Although the weather is fairly mild right now, on hot days the river is very tempting, especially to our young people.

Richmond Council water safety advice video:

"Float to Live" advice from the London Fire Brigade

Float to Live

General Summer Safety 

For teenagers and sixth form young people, advice from Getting it On is below. It covers advice around parties, alcohol, drugs and relationships/sex.

Getting it On: Get Summer Ready!

For Parents/Carers of Year 7s and Up

This short film about about local drug use has been really well received and has had a measurable impact already, since its launch in March 2024.  We are sharing it with parents and carers to raise awareness about the importance of talking to teenagers and understanding their lived experience and the protective role that parents/carers can play. It is locally made, featuring real local people, schools and Headteachers, and so far has been seen by 18,000 local parents and carers. 

For Parents/Carers of  Children of All Ages

Window safety

There have recently been a number of incidents of children tragically dying after falling out of windows or from height across London.  In addition to this the London Ambulance Service have provided the data below:

During the period January 2019 through to January 2022, London Ambulance Service recorded:

• 85 incidents of children falling from heights
• Six of these children died at the scene.
• 16.5% of these children were identified as having a learning disability

With the summer fast approaching and windows more likely to be open, window safety is a key area that multi-agency practitioners, such as schools, should raise awareness of with their families.

1. Make sure that children cannot reach windows, and that they are kept locked(but easy to open in an emergency)
2. If opening a window, make sure children are supervised
3. Don't keep furniture near windows that could be climbed upon

For more information...

Free from Falls