IN anticipation of the upcoming holiday season, school children and adults alike are learning water skills and dangers at local open waterways.
Tyers, Thorpdale and Newborough primary schools, along with Latrobe English Language School and GippsTAFE students took part in Life Saving Victoria’s Open Water Learning Experience at Hazelwood Pondage on Thursday.
Tyers Primary School principal Peter Harrison said the program gave students water learning experiences in addition to their regular swimming lessons.
“Most of our children have swimming lessons, but they don’t have the application to actually take those skills in an open water situation like a dam or beach,” he said.
“We’re trying to give them experiences in the venues they actually swim in before the holidays, so they know how to be safe, what to look for and what the dangers are.”
Ten qualified lifesaving instructors equipped students with skills in a variety of water-safety sessions, such as DRSABCD (Danger, Response, Send for Help, Airway, Breathing, Compression, Defibrillate), danger awareness, body boarding, rescue and lifejacket skills.
LSV head lifesaving instructor Alex Buckley said the Gippsland program, with sessions also held in Lakes Entrance, Seaspray and Inverloch, got children to understand their local waterways and the associated dangers.
“It makes it more relevant to them,” he said.
“Hazelwood Pondage is an inland waterway, so you’re not dealing with the surf things like rips and tides, but it’s got its own dangers; it’s muddy and you can’t see the bottom.”
LSV aquatic education services coordinator Laura Perkins said the program provided students with invaluable safety skills just in time for summer.
“The program is a fantastic opportunity to get students out of the classroom and help them become familiar with their local open water environment in a fun and interactive way.”
