School Pool Safety

Pupils at Underhill Junior School entered a competition to design a poster warning of the dangers of using the school's swimming pool out of school hours. The winning designs were chosen by Mike Higgs, a Boscawen Lifeguard. First was prize went to Ryan Biles with Richard Sharpe and Emily Bullin as runners up.
Although the school's teaching pool is surrounded by a 2 metre high fence, it has been plagued by visits from youngsters using the pool in evenings and at weekends.  Worried nieighbours have had to call the police on several occasions.
As a teaching pool the water is only 1 metre deep but headteacher Mr.A. McKechan is worried that someone diving or jumping into such shallow water could suffer a serious head or spinal injury. Another worry is vandalism and, recently, pupils were very disappointed to have to miss a day's swimming lessons whilst the pool was repaired after one such incident.
An added danger during the summer holidays is polluted water. The pool is closed down when the children break up and the water is no longer purified. Chemicals are also added to the water and anyone using the water over the school holidays risks disease from dirty water or harm from chemicals.