SNZ visits small Canterbury towns for education courses

Swim teachers from small communities in the Canterbury region have recently enjoyed attending Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) education courses in a location close to home.

Being situated out of main cities or towns where most swim teaching courses are held Twizel Swimming Club and Waimate Swimming Club approached SNZ about the possibility of hosting one in each of their communities.

For the Twizel Swimming Club making sure their community knows how to be safe in and around the water is very important to them especially as they are surrounded by lakes, rivers, canals and hydro dams.

Though the volunteers from the club all have many years of experience in swim teaching, beach education and safety near water, they were keen to make sure they are providing the best standard of teaching they could.

While their target market is teaching children there were many discussions around water safety at salmon farms, large group management (schools), temperature of the local lakes and life jackets.

The course held in Waimate proved popular as it prompted the nearby Waitaki District Council to make the most of having a course being run close to home by sending a group of their new instructors along to the course too.

In Twizel to also accommodate for the fact that these volunteers worked full time the course was held over two nights instead of the usual one day.

The SNZ STA is a nationally recognised training programme and on completion of the course requirements, participants also receive the National Certificate in Recreation and Sport – Aquatics (Swim Education) and 43 Level 3 NCEA credits.

If your swim school, club, or school is in a small town and you would like to know of the possibility of holding a course in your area please contact your SNZ Education Advisor.

CAPTION: Top row - Swim teachers from Waimate take part in SNZ STA Course. Bottom row - Swim teachers from Twizel take part in the SNZ STA Course.