Make a splash ...

World of Swimming, a Hampshire headquartered swim school with pools across Wiltshire, Dorset, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Sussex, will be making school swimming more accessible by removing transport barriers – made possible through its new partnership with bus and coach operator XelaGroup.

With schools broken up for the summer holidays, families across the region are spending more time near open water - making water confidence and safety awareness more important than ever. As part of the new partnership, and in the lead up to the new academic term, a World of Swimming XelaGroup coach has been touring events and family destinations across the South throughout the summer, helping spread the water safety message as widely as possible ahead of September's return to school.

Swimming and water safety are already part of the National Curriculum for PE in England, but from September 2026, the updated RSHE guidance will place water safety within wider personal safety learning - Sitting alongside the existing National Curriculum requirement for primary schools to teach swimming and self-rescue. Many schools cite transport as one of the biggest barriers to delivering this provision, and that's the gap this partnership is designed to close.

Together, the two businesses aim to get more than 900 children through their National Curriculum swimming lessons every year for the next three years by providing a much-needed transport solution, helping ensure more young people leave primary school able to swim confidently - and stay safe in and around water long after the lessons end.

Chris Rees, Founder and Director of World of Swimming, said: "Every summer we see the same pattern – as soon as the holidays begin, families are out enjoying open water, and every year we're reminded how vital it is that children have real water confidence and safety skills, not just the ability to swim a length of the pool. With water safety being placed within wider personal safety learning in schools from September, there's never been a more important time to bring practical swimming and safety education together. Too many schools want to give their pupils that grounding but are held back by the logistics of getting them to the pool. This partnership removes that barrier and means we can reach hundreds more children each year with lessons that could genuinely save their lives."

Philip Blair, Commercial Manager at XelaGroup, said: “Cost and transport are consistently the biggest barriers preventing schools from giving children access to swimming lessons, and that's exactly the challenge we’re looking to solve. We’re proud to be working with World of Swimming to provide an affordable, reliable transport solution. The summer bus tour has already helped raise awareness of water safety with thousands of families ahead of the new school year, and we’re looking forward to working with schools come September."

Schools interested in arranging curriculum swimming transport or swimming lessons can find out more by visiting https://www.worldofswimming.co.uk.

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