LOCAL school students have been making a splash at the Nyah district swimming pool recently, keeping cool and learning water safety skills.
Tooleybuc Central School and Nyah District Primary School have undertaken swim school and family fun days at the community outdoor pool in the final weeks of the school year.
Nyah District Primary School teacher Pam Paynter described swim school as an important part of the school curriculum.
“Swimming is great fun, exercise and a lifelong skill,” Mrs Paynter said.
“We live in an environment where the weather is hot, we like to cool off in the water and we live close to the Murray River.”
Sixty Nyah District Primary School students from prep to grade six participated in the program, learning essential water safety skills from teachers who are AusSwim trained.
“They learn water confidence, water safety and stroke technique,” Mrs Paynter said.
“We aim to have the students in small groups with five or six kids in each group.”
Swim school is made possible at Nyah District Primary School from funding through Sporting Schools Australia.
“Sporting Schools is a really good federal government initiative for getting sport into schools,” Mrs Paynter said.
“Through Sporting Schools, we have not only funded the bus travel and the hire of the pool, but we’ve also brought our own equipment like flippers and noodles.
“Each term, you can choose to fund a sport that you are teaching and we always choose swimming.”
While swim school has now drawn to a close for the year, the outdoor pool is open everyday from 3pm to 7pm while the temperature is over 25 degrees.
In January, the VicSwim Summer Kidz program will be held at the Nyah pool, starting on January 6.
Lifeguard Jessica Paynter said VicSwim was a great way for children aged from four to 12 years to learn how to swim and stay safe around the water.
“The program will run for three weeks during school holidays and the lessons run for 30 minutes,” she said.
During extremely hot weather, the pool will be open until 8pm.
For further information about activities at the Nyah district swimming pool, visit their Facebook page or call 5030 2461.
