Bay of Plenty primary school students learning water safety skills are sending ripples of knowledge out to those around them.

And the trust providing the lessons wants to reach more children in the district, so the life-saving water safety education flows even further out into the community.

The Aquatic Survival Skill Skills Trust, which delivers a water survival programme in the Bay of Plenty via schools, was founded in 2022 by Anne McLeod.

She launched the trust after realising there were several generations of New Zealanders who lacked basic water skills and understanding.

“We’ve found over the last 20 to 30 years is people who drown are often adults who are trying to save kids,” said McLeod.

Gaps

“They’ve been taught how to swim but there are gaps in their knowledge. We want to ensure children in our own backyard know how to survive in the water.”

In the last year the trust had received enough funding from the community to send educators into Year 5-6 classes at 20 schools around the Western Bay of Plenty, teaching water-safety fundamentals like what objects sink and what is hypothermia.

But relationship manager Ali Wieringa said more funding would enable the trust to extend the programme to Year 3-4 classes and into another 12 local schools.

“The classroom engagement is important so the teachers can work alongside us and continue our work in the pool. It focuses on ‘What happens if I end up in the water and I have to survive’,” she said.

Sponges

“Kids are little sponges. It has a ripple effect so if we’ve taught two classrooms, and they each talk to five others, suddenly 300 people have been taught about water safety.”

In fact, the team often finds that it’s kids advising their friends and family of potential danger when it comes to water-filled surroundings – whether in a pool, on a boat, at the beach, or by a river.

“They’ll remind them to swim between the flags or to check the depth in water holes before jumping in,” said Wieringa.

Influential

Trust operations manager Kent Horner said they’ve noticed that Years 5-6 are at a very influential age in life. “They go home and teach their parents and siblings what they’ve learned about making smart decisions in and around the water.”

Horner said the programme consists of five interactive sessions where students are given real life scenarios to consider – like how to put on a lifejacket and what to wear for a day fishing – then the school is left with additional teaching resources to further develop students’ water skills.

“We definitely need more financial support,” said Horner. “One barrier we’re trying to get through is schools without pools. We’re looking for help with transport to community facilities and we’d love to expand the programme into classrooms with younger students.”

To support the trust, email: info@aquaticsurvivalskills.nz or visit: www.aquaticsurvivalskills.nzBottom of Form