Water Skills for Raukokere

Raukokere School has only 12 students. It’s nestled on the peninsula of Waihau Bay in the Bay of Plenty, where the famous movie ‘Boy’ was filmed. The school does not have its own pool so usually swimming lessons are taught in the nearby lagoon, but the drought last summer resulted in the lagoon drying up. The solution was a weeklong school camp in Whakatane with the focus being all things water.

The students worked with Swimming New Zealand Swim Safe Advisor Erin Fowler on swimming technique and water safety at the Whakatane Aquatic Centre. They also participated in Beach Ed at Ohope Surf Club, took part in the ‘Bubble Makers’ programme with Whakatane Sportsworld (snorkelling), and spent time at both the beach and the pool honing their new skills.

Merle Callaghan, the Principal and teacher at Raukokere School, loved the State Kiwi Swim Safe resources, especially the student certificates and classroom components. She is full of ideas on how to follow up the water camp in the classroom when they get back to school.

It was great to see a large number of whanau attending the water camp. Without their help the camp would not have been able to go ahead.