Selwyn School students receive free water safety messages

Water Safety NZ, NZ Post and TVNZ teamed up with Rotorua Aquatic Centre to bring the water safety message to Rotorua children who might otherwise miss out.

They joined forces today [Wednesday 14 December] to deliver a free 'Our Way of Life' day for year 5 and 6 students from Selwyn Primary School. The students experienced a range of water based activities and learnt valuable tips and tricks from trained educators.

Aquatic Centre Learn to Swim Coordinator Katrina Allen said they worked with schools to include kids who might otherwise miss out on water safety education, including children with special needs, at-risk youth, and others who are not accessing swimming programmes through their schools.

“They’re great kids but missing out on water safety skills could make them very vulnerable if they get into difficulty near water. Simply avoiding the water isn’t an option for these kids. Half the drownings that occur in New Zealand each year involve people who weren’t even intending to be in the water at the time."

Katrina said the students were also given lots of swimming aides, such as flutter boards, bags, rash shirts, goggles and swimming caps so they left the ‘Our Way of Life’ water safety day with more than just a smile on their face.