Schools Challenge
The Swim For Life School Challenge was introduced 4 years ago as a way for schools to encourage participation and achievement towards students learning to swim and survive. Over this time hundreds of schools and literally thousands of pupils have had a go at the Challenge, achieved the 200m swim and received personalised certificates of achievement from Water Safety New Zealand.
This year Water Safety New Zealand has introduced a new resource for young New Zealanders learning to swim - The Sealord Swim For Life Passport, which is available free of charge to schools for use with their students. The Passport concept was first trialled with the popular children’s TV show What Now? in 2009 and was a great success. The resource was valued by parents, teachers and children as it provides a visible record of each students achievements as they progress their swim and survive skills.
The School Challenge proved to be a successful initiative, however with the introduction of the Passport we are conscious of not creating confusion among schools or duplicating our efforts. For this reason we have elected to withdraw the Schools Challenge for 2011.
For those schools who want to retain a similar type event for their pupils use of the Passport will facilitate this. The Passport lists 9 skills or steps for pupils learning to swim to aim for and achieve. It starts out with basic skills like floating and submersion and builds towards the final skill, which like the Schools Challenge, is a 200m swim. Once this is achieved WSNZ will provide a personalised certificate of achievement.
Important Note: The Passport supports any quality learn to swim programme and does not require that schools change, in any way, the programme they deliver to students.
Passports are FREE and available NOW! Register your class or school to receive Passports at www.swimforlife.org.nz by clicking on the Starters and Strategies icon and following the instructions provided.
Thank you for your past involvement with the Schools Challenge and we hope that you will take advantage of the offer to utilise the Sealord Swim For Life Passport to encourage and support your students as they learn to swim and survive.
Kind Regards
Roger Scott || Regional Manager
Water Safety New Zealand
PO Box 10 126, Wellington, 6143 New Zealand
T | 64 4 801 9600 M | 027 248 0644 F | 64 4 801 9599
E | roger@watersafety.org.nz W | www.watersafety.org.nz