Ngaruawahia kids safety day

A community group in Ngaruawahia are working to get their town thinking and acting safely in and around the water.

The Ngaruawahia Community Safety Group was established earlier this year in response to unsafe behaviour in the town around the road, rail and water.

Last week Swimming New Zealand was invited to be involved in the first Ngaruawahia Kids Safety Day which saw around 400 year 5 to year 10 students from the area take part.

With resources provided by Water Safety New Zealand and teachings by Swimming New Zealand Education Advisor Wendy Smith and Sport Waikato SportsForce Waka Ama Development officer Paul Roozendaal the students were engaged in interactive water safety sessions.

As a community that spends a lot of time swimming in the local rivers this was a large focus of the day.

Activities on the day involved looking at the river and identifying possible hazards including eddies and trees and branches in the river; not being able to see the bottom and what problems this may cause; what to check before jumping off bridges and survival strokes whilst in the water.

Schools in the area are also doing their bit in helping to educate their students about water safety with all schools, apart from the high school, part of the Swimming New Zealand Kiwi Swim Safe programme.

The schools also have an emphasis on river safety within their learn to swim programmes with a focus on skills like floating on backs and sculling.

The community safety day provided a great opportunity to reinforce what the students have learnt in the classroom and a chance for some active learning.

Swimming New Zealand has now committed to being part of this great initiative on an annual basis.

Wendy said that it “was a rewarding day interacting with so many different students and teachers from the local schools.

“They participated well and answered questions sensibly and maturely. I hope the messages we delivered are put into practice and they keep safe around the river.”