Child Safety
WATER SAFETY
We are about to enter the Summer season, a time when many Australians access water to cool down and relax. Whether it is a pool, beach, river or lake, there are specific rules you should teach your child/children so that they can be alert to the dangers of water environments. These conversations do not just happen once you arrive at a place near water; they should be happening regularly and be built upon as the child grows and develops.
Life Saving Victoria states:
To ensure water safety for kids, always supervise them closely, eliminate water hazards at home, teach them water safety skills and have an emergency plan in place. Key practices include staying within arm's reach of young children, using pool fences, and learning CPR. When out and about, choose patrolled beaches with lifeguards and swim between red and yellow flags, always obeying rules and listening to adults.
It is commonplace that parents take their younger children to swimming lessons up until around Year Two. The lessons might then stop as there is a feeling that the child has some confidence in water. The other reason is that often a child wants to pursue a different sport, so one 'has to go'. Swimming is actually one of those skills which we need to keep doing, similar to reading and writing and driving. We get better at the skills and understanding the more we do it. The text can change, the car can change, but we have a built up level of skills which does make us more likely to be able to know what to do in a new or particular situation.
Swimming is part of the Victorian Curriculum. The following skills are expected to be mastered by the end of Year Six, so that a student is considered 'capable' in secondary school and in saving themself or someone else in water. This is one key reason for the expansion of our Swimming program at St Martin's - we want our students to be safe, skilled and prepared. The lessons at school will not be enough, but they are an excellent building block.
The Victorian Water Safety Certificate is a Victorian Government initiative, which describes specific competencies that should be achieved by the time students reach the end of primary school. The certificate describes specific competencies that focus on water safety knowledge, rescue skills, a survival sequence and the ability to swim a continuous distance of 50 metres. The certificate is designed to supplement existing swimming and water safety programs delivered by schools and learn-to-swim providers.
- Water Safety Knowledge
- Answer questions relating to safety rules for a range of aquatic environments.
- Swim
- Swim continuously for 50 metres.
- Under Water
- Surface dive, swim underwater and search to recover an object from deep water.
- Lifesaving
- Respond to an emergency by demonstrating DRSAB and the recovery position.
- Rescue Skills
- Rescue a person using non-swimming rescue techniques:
- Reach rescue using a non-rigid aid.
- Throw rescue using a weighted rope.
- Throw rescue using a buoyant object and unweighted rope.
- Survival Sequence
- Perform a survival sequence wearing light clothing:
- Enter the water safely.
- Scull, float and tread water for 2 minutes; signalling for help intermittently.
- Swim survival strokes slowly for 3 minutes.
- Exit the water safely.
If you are looking to boost your child's knowledge and skills this summer, there are a huge number of options and programs on offer through pools, LSV eg Nippers, and Open Water programs.
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The following documents provide information regarding Child Safety:
**Child Safety Standards for Parents - https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/resources/Information-for-Parents-and-Carers-about-the-Child-Safe-Standards.pdf
**Child Safe Standards - CCYP
https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/
** Working With Children Check Application