Brighton children learn about '˜safety by the sea' with RNLI

The organisation, which saves thousands of lives at sea off the coast of Britain, popped into Brighton College Pre Prep School to teach a group of four and five-year–old children about safety by the sea.

Teacher Katrina Williams said: “We invited in the RNLI to school as the children have been doing a topic called People Who Help. We have enjoyed talks from the emergency services previously and we feel it is particularly important that children in Brighton, who are never too far away from the sea, learn about how to treat it with respect. It was a great day for the children and Margaret pitched it just right for the age group, with lots of dressing up!”

The RNLI’s school liaison Margaret Kimber explained to the children about what the different coloured flags on beaches mean and carried out lots of role play exercises with the children.

Educating children about water safety is fundamental to saving lives at sea and a core part of the RNLI’s prevention work, the charity said. The organisation says the more young people it reaches with its water safety messages, the more lives it can save now and in the future.

The RNLI relies on volunteers and costs around £168 million to service each year. It said prevention work and ensuring that less people get into difficulty in the waters off the coastline significantly lowers costs.