Durie Hill School embraces Swim Safe programme

This month Swim Safe Advisor Cecilie Elliott was able to visit Durie Hill School in Wanganui again after their staff completed a Professional Development workshop in 2013, this time getting a chance to work alongside the teacher’s poolside.

The school has two outdoor pools; a 30.5 metre pool and a smaller learning pool. Throughout the first term students swim every day, providing them with a great opportunity to increase their swimming skills.

During Cecilie’s recent visit, approximately 40 students also completed the Water Safety 200m Swim Challenge in their lunch hour.  It was great to see so many students attempt to swim this distance with the support and encouragement of their parents and staff.

Due to the cooler weather that day, the school purchased State Kiwi Swim Safe caps that were given to the students to keep them a little warmer and to enable them to achieve this distance. After completing the 200m swim, each swimmer was given a BBQ sausage and a warm milo.

The day finished with a follow-up workshop with staff, with a couple of teachers in the water.

The school is now looking at aligning their whole aquatic programme with the State Kiwi Swim Safe programme. It’s great to see the staff enthusiastic about teaching swim and survive skills to their students and also the students really enjoying their swimming sessions at school.

Durie Hill School, located on the eastern side of the Wanganui River, has a roll of approximately 250 students.  The school’s mission is to ensure each child achieves their potential and to motivate a desire for ongoing learning.