Coromandel school get creative in teaching water safety

Te Wharekura o Manaia School, on the west side of the Coromandel peninsula, is very proactive and creative in making sure their pupils are able to get the knowledge to be safe in and around the water.

Without a school pool they have worked hard to find ways their students can get access to the water to gain water safety skills and feel confident in the water.

The school has in the past had access to the Poolz in Schoolz pool and now bus their pupils the 12km journey to the Coromandel Township where they are able to use the community pool.

Swimming New Zealand Education Advisor Wendy Smith recently visited the school to run a Kiwi Swim Safe training and went along to another of their swimming locations at the local waterhole.

At the waterhole the students were able to practice the same skills that they would do in a pool setting; starfish float, kicking practise, freestyle arms.

They were also able to practise the techniques that they went through in Wendy’s visit practising feet first sculling which is a water safety technique that is valuable to learn when swimming in rivers.