School trips to the beach

At some schools it is a tradition to take their learners to the beach as an educational outing. For many learners this is an opportunity of a lifetime to visit a beach and to feel the ocean on their feet and sometimes to swim.When schools do this it is critical to take the learners to a beach that has lifeguards on duty and if the learners are going to swim in the sea, or even wade in what appears to be shallow water - they should be told that the only safe place to do this is between the lifeguard flags.As part of the educational beach trip the learners should spend time researching rip currents (our website page https://www.nsri.org.za/2018/06/beware-of-rip-currents/ is one example that can be studied)For the safety of children and teachers during a school outing to the beach there should always be lifeguards on duty to make sure that the learners do not get into difficulty in the sea which can happen even when someone is only ankle deep.