A primary school in Swinton, Rotherham, has installed a temporary swimming pool in its playground to improve pupils' water safety skills, saying it works out cheaper than transporting children to a local swimming centre. Brookfield Junior Academy's principal, Daisy Dunning, said the move, planned for months, took on added urgency after the recent drowning of 11-year-old Mackenzie Swift, a pupil at a nearby school who died after going missing in the River Don in Mexborough. The scheme aims to help more children meet the national expectation of swimming 25m unaided by age 11.

The marquee-housed pool measures 10m by 5m and is 1.2m deep, and will remain in place until the October half term, with costs shared with Kilnhurst St Thomas' Church of England Primary, whose pupils will also use it. It was installed in about a week through a partnership with Activ8 and Swim:ED. BBC research found 72% of Year 6 pupils in England could swim 25m by 2024-25, falling to 55% at schools with more disadvantaged pupils, and the school said recent pass rates on its traditional 12-week swimming programme had been low.