Curriculum Corner

At Glen Waverley Primary School our Water Safety curriculum equips students with the skills and knowledge to be safe in and around swimming pools and bodies of water. 

Swimming Program at Swim World, Glen Waverley

Over the past two weeks our Years Four to Six have undertaken six comprehensive lessons teaching water safety skills, inclusive of swimming skills, rescue techniques and providing situational strategies to prepare for water emergencies such as falling in the pool fully clothed. Our students should be proud of the way they approached each challenge and developed new strategies to further their swimming and water safety skill set. 

What our learners thought of their swimming experience:

Vedanth- “The swimming teachers made learning the techniques easy, but there were challenges before you could fully achieve the technique. For example learning the skill of diving. For standing fives your fingers needed to enter the water first, but this was a challenge for most of us. I was able to be successful and learn the technique.”

William- “I had to take a risk and try something new, which was diving. I learnt that you never use force because you can slip and do a belly flop- which hurts a lot. Instead I had to just carefully lean forward and slide into the water.”

Non-Swimmers- Water Safety Program 

The children who do not participate in the swimming lessons, they complete a very comprehensive water safety program at school.  

Along with learning resuscitation information and promoting water safety, our in school non-swimmers program gives students the chance to develop their STEAM and digital learning skills while problem solving global issues relating to water safety.  They use a data centred approach to build a deeper understanding of particular trends and factors in certain situations such as drowning, water transport accidents and peer pressure. Students also gained real life experiences from our water safety curriculum and have increased curiosity and awareness of strategies learners can use if they find themselves in a tricky situation in or around the water.   

What our learners thought about our Water Safety program:

Senupa- "We had to solve the problem of people falling or injuring themselves in the water. I had to find solutions that had not been done before or were different. I chose to design a safety belt, which has a tracking device so that it will send a message for someone to save you. It also allows the person to float."

Sihath- "They key learning for me was in understanding how safety measures have grown between the 19th century till now. Our ships need more features for natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes and rain. We created ships that are going to withstand all natural disasters during non swimming learning."

Jaik- "Comparing the Yarra River and the Maribyrnong River’s features and the importance of the rivers. It was cool to learn how some waterways in Victoria are safe to swim and for some animals to live in, but how other parts of the river are contaminated and you need to be aware of the quality of water before swimming in some places. I could transfer this to other areas of learning by thinking about being safe."

To find out more and further enhance your family’s safety around the water, please follow this link to more information from the Royal Lifesaving Australia Website- https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/about/campaigns-and-programs/Water-Safety. 

I look forward to sharing the progress of our Prep to Year Three water safety experience in the next newsletter. 

Wishing you a wonderful fortnight ahead.