Learning to swim - schools (Research)

A study recently commissioned by WSNZ set off alarm bells. Carried out by the New Zealand Council for Education Research it found only around a quarter of schools (27%) provided a minimum acceptable combination of eight or more lessons of 26-30 minutes duration per year.

In 2015, the New Zealand Water Safety Sector Strategy 2020 was launched. This strategy – the water safety sector’s collaborative approach to bringing New Zealand’s high drowning toll down to zero – includes a goal that every New Zealander receives the opportunity to develop water safety knowledge and skills. 

The Health and Physical Education learning area, states that ‘it is expected that all students will have had opportunities to learn basic aquatic skills by the end of Year 6’. This includes gender, all ethnicities and disabled students. (New Zealand curriculum, 2007).

Between 2005 and 2007, 300 schools across the nation stopped funding their pools and with it, the place where many Kiwi kids learnt to take their first strokes closed their doors for the final time.

Wellington is among one of the worst regions. A mere 11 of the 48 school pools that were readily used 20 years ago are still used today.

Schools have limited time and money. With the closure of school pools, the next best option was to seek professional lessons elsewhere. However, this is no cheap venture. By the time transport costs are added, schools will walk to save money - cutting into curriculum learning time.

HUTT CITY COUNCIL

Learn To Swim programme

Age: 6 months to adult

Price: ?

WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL

SwimWell

Age: 5 months to 14 years old

Price: Starting at $10.80 per lesson