Skills 2 Swim is a positive Initiative for Dunedin’s children.

The project has as its goal, to meet the New Zealand Water Safety Council’s ‘Swim for Life’ goal of ‘Every New Zealand 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’.

In conjunction with the partners: Dunedin City Council, Surf Life Saving Otago / New Zealand, Water Safety New Zealand, Swimming New Zealand, Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC), Otago Primary Principals’ Association, Sport Otago is taking this goal and applying it to Dunedin.

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

There is significant financial assistance from the Dunedin City Council 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 schools to the support available has been very positive.  Schools have been quick to sign up their interest and commitment to the programme.

Support from the Otago Community Trust 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.  An Education Expo on Water Safety highlighting resources and programmes was organised for Dunedin Schools.  Schools are being encouraged to integrate key water safety messages in their programmes.

The Dunedin based ‘Skills 2 Swim’ initiative has attracted nationwide attention to what is a schools based programme that provides positive, measurable benefits in improving swimming skills.  Data on children’s swimming skills and levels is being collated, with research by the University of Otago and Water safety New Zealand helping to track the success of the programme.

This project represents a ‘smart investment’ by all those involved.  It is an investment in our future, an investment in our cities’ children.

It is a unique collaborative 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.