When I was young, my mother told me about losing her two brothers in a sailing accident. She never got over it. And she made sure I knew how to be safe in the water, because she understood what happens when you aren't.

That's why I became a swimming instructor 15 years ago, and now work alongside my mum and my sisters - to ensure that children learn how to stay safe and what to do if they get into difficulty.

That knowledge is life-saving. But most kids never get it.

236,000 people drown every year globally, according to the World Health Organisation. In the UK, 17 people died in open water during last month's heatwave, seven of them children.

It's one of the leading causes of accidental death, and most of those deaths are preventable. Yet water safety isn't taught in our schools. Not as standard. Not reliably. Not at all in many places.

I'm calling on the Department for Education to make water safety a mandatory part of the curriculum in every primary and secondary school.

That means teaching children the risks of different water environments, basic lifesaving techniques including CPR, and what to do in an emergency.

We teach maths. We teach science. We should teach children how to stay alive near water.

Sign this petition and help make it happen.