New era for National Park School pool

It’s not just the start of school swimming for National Park School this summer, but the beginning of a new era for their school and community pool.

Back in April last year, the pool was used as a storage place for junk, there were leaks in the roof, the garden was a jungle and the building facilities were in a state of disrepair. The pool, which had once been at the heart of the community, was in need of some serious TLC!

It was a call to action, and so the school set about restoring and fixing it up to get ready for swimming again.

A fascinating journey unfolded with lots of people coming to tell the school about their experiences as children learning to swim there. Looking into its history the pool had always been a community labour of love, with locals, including Roy Turner, fundraising to fully cover it many years ago.  Their family’s memorial plaque was even unearthed from the garden.

The pool is an amazing asset for the school and community and they are very proud that it didn’t become just another closed school pool.

While the school was working hard to get the pool back into shape for the summer swimming season they were also making sure they had the skills to help their students learn in the water.

As part of the Kiwi Swim Safe programme the school’s staff were able to take part in a personal development workshop in January with Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) Education Advisor Cecilie Elliot and one of the fathers also attended a SNZ Swim Teacher Award course to equip him with the skills to teach basic aquatic skills to students.

There were many supporters in getting the pool back into shape including the School’s Board of Trustees who substantially invested in relining the pool and kick started the work, Placemakers Ohakune and Turangi’s Project Tongariro who donated materials and supported with advice. 

The local community also played a huge role volunteering their skills, time, and donating money to help.

The school are now forming a pool committee to keep things going.