Water Safety Oral Presentation Competition

The aims of the competition are to enhance oral presentation skills by providing an opportunity, a purpose and a challenge for those with a real flair in oral language, and to raise awareness of key water safety messages.

It will be held at the Edgar Centre on Wednesday 15 September at 7pm.  Schools can enter one student to represent them at the competition.  To enter click here.

City Of Dunedin Skills 2 Swim - Skills For Life For Dunedin Children

The goal for Skils 2 Swim (S2S)  is to meet the New Zealand Water Safety Council's 'Swim For Life' goal of: Every child by the age of 12 will be able to swim 200m confidently and competently with associated survival skills and understand the key water safety messages.

The project is a partnership between Sport Otago, Dunedin City Council (DCC), Surf Lifesaving New Zealand, Water Safety New Zealand, Swimming New Zealand, SPARC and the Otago Primary Principal's Association.

S2S is a trial project that will target approximately 10,000 primary school children from ages nine to eleven over a three year period.

There is significant financial assistance from the DCC for children in this target age group for pool access fees and swimming tuition costs.  Finance has been identified as one of the barriers to learning to swim, and the response from the schools to the support available has been very positive.

Support from the Community Trust of Otago has enabled Swimming New Zealand 'Swim Start' courses for teachers to be planned for teachers in all 70 Dunedin primary  schools, and further workshops for clusters of teachers to make a real difference in upskilling Dunedin's teachers in swimming tuition.  This will overcome the barrier of teachers not being trained in teaching swimming in recent years.

It is hoped that the skills and experience of all Dunedin's Swim Schools, teachers and the full use of all pool space and time can be fully utilised for our children.

There are a number of excellent water safety programmes and resources available to schools.  Schools are being encouraged to integrate key water safety messages in their programmes.

City Of Dunedin Skills 2 Swim has attracted nationwide attention to a schools based programme that provides positive, measurable benefits in improving sw imming skills.  Data on children's swimming skills and levels is being collated, with research by the University Of Otago and Water Safety New Zealand to help track the success of the programme.

This project represents a smart investment by all of those involved.  It is an investment in our future and an investment in our cities' children.  It is a unique collaboration and cooperative opportunity involving a range of partners that together can achieve something spectacular and lasting.

We look forward to the initiative delivering real opportunities for children, for the successful coordination of programmes and resources, and for the promotion of aquatic activities and water safety.

If you would like to know more about City Of Dunedin Skills 2 Swim contact Brent Ward on 03 474 474 6417 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it