Manawatu¯ kids learning to be water wise
A new water safety programme in Manawatu¯ is designed to help children better survive in the water.
Water Skills for Life is being run by Kelly Sports Manawatu¯ owner Zac Topping to help pupils at schools where they haven’t had much safety training.
It originally started as Swim for Life, which Water Safety New Zealand was leading, to teach children how to better survive in water and reduce the drowning toll.
Low-decile schools without pools were originally targeted to give children swimming lessons, because for some, lessons were becoming a luxury they couldn’t afford. But then schools with pools asked for help, too.
Kelly Sports will this year give lessons to 1000 children from schools without pools and 1000 from schools with pools.
Teachers are also taught about water safety, including getting in and out of the water, submersion, buoyancy and propulsion.
Topping said swimming was a life skill children needed to learn.
‘‘We just want to try and get them as confident as we can in water. We want them to enjoy it. Obviously, safety is the most important thing to reduce those drownings numbers.’’
Topping said if you didn’t have good experience in water you’re not going to be able to play.
He said he had seen someone pulled away by a strong river current and that hit home to him what water could do.
Palmerston North’s Cloverlea School is one of the schools being taught water skills and principal Leiana Lambert said pupils and staff were excited about doing the programme for the first time.
Being safe in water was a positive message children needed to hear more than once, she said.
‘‘It sends a strong message to the children the pool is another place for learning. It’s great to have more time in the pool to focus on being as safe as you can.’’
Cloverlea pupil Isabelle Poucher, 8, said the important part was about learning how to stay safe when you’re in the deep part of the water. ‘‘I’ve liked the water ever since I was a baby, so I really like swimming.’’
Michael Weggery, 8, said he was learning about using his arms at the right time when swimming.
‘‘When you’re in deep and you don’t know, you have to use your arms.’’