As it is getting to that time of year when we start to open up the school pool for both school lessons and private hire, you need to ensure that you have all the correct systems in place to avoid any accidents or incidents.
You can find helpful information on the Somerset Council’s Health and Safety website to help and guide you:
Swimming Pool Guidance for schools (updated June 2025) Guidance for schools
Swimming Normal Operating Procedure Appendix 1 Swimming NOP
Swimming Emergency Action Plan Appendix 2 Swimming EAP
It is important to ensure that you have completed a Risk Assessment on EEC for the pool which must include (this list is not exhaustive):
- Levels of supervision, which is dependent on number and age of the users and the size and depth of the pool
- Amount of users at any one time
- Processes in place for the size of the pool
- Chemical control, including dosing and monitoring (including automatic dosing systems)
- Responsibilities of the school during school hours and when hired out
- Responsibilities of the Hirer – hire agreement in place and the competence of the hirer
- Communication
- First aid provision and a First aid needs assessment
We have updated and clarified this part of the Swimming Pool Guidance:
Teacher to Pupil Ratio
Please note that irrespective of the ratios below, there must always be at least 2 qualified* members of school staff present at the poolside during the swimming lesson.
*You do not necessarily need to be a fully qualified lifeguard, however there does need to be an assessment of competence. It is down to the school to assess the ability of the competent person; are they able to enter the water to rescue a child and are they able to perform first aid if needed (relevant to the sort of situations that may occur in a swimming pool)?
This would also be affected by the size, shape and depth of the pool and the type of occupants, which would need to be considered to determine the sort of competence required. A 15m x 10m pool with a max depth of 1.2m and a minimum child age of 8, it is likely that if a child gets into difficulty, an adult could wade out to them and help them to stand up or pull them to the side without any specialist training. This would not be the case in a 25m pool with a depth of 1.4m to 2.0m with children of a similar age. At this point you want someone who has been trained to carry out a water rescue.
The number of adults supervising needs to have similar consideration to the size, depth and occupancy of the pool, but generally for a small pool with a small number of able bodied children aged 8 or above, you should 2 competent adults; one to deal with a situation and one to call for help and control the rest of the pool occupants.
For further help or advice please contact the Health and Safety Service: chsu@somerset.gov.uk
