Year 6 Aquatics
Student Article
Aquatics was one of the main highlights for the year 6’s so far! It was so fun everyone was having a great time learning about water safety and participating in fun yet interactive activities at West Lakes!
All the staff were super kind and thoughtful. We did three activities which were canoeing, Kayaking and Sail Boating. Each one had its own charms which were special and fun!
Canoeing was great but also pretty scary especially when the canoe would rock. The staff taught us everything we needed to know such as what the names and abilities of the different parts of the canoe were, how to get on safely without capsizing, how to paddle and finally why we should always start against the wind instead of with the wind.
Kayaking was definitely a big highlight for many. We got to pick a partner and paddle across the lake with our team. Once we hit a mark, we all got together and held our kayaks close to each other. Our leader taught us why it's so important to stick together when you get lost or during a storm. Once we had been taught a few things we all got the chance to stand up to prove how sturdy the kayaks really were. After that we headed back to shore, hopped off and got ready for the last activity.
We also went sailing. Sailing had to be our favourite and for others too. We got to go with our instructor as we learnt how to control a sailboat and got to steer it too but also not forgetting how we got to control the jib by losing one rope by pulling up and tightening the other by pulling down! Not forgetting the boat leaning super far to the side when you were turning which was super scary! Our instructors kept us safe and gave us the chance to lean over and feel the water in our hands whilst keeping the boat afloat and making sure we get the full experience
Acronyms:
Some acronyms that we learnt to keep us safe were:
W.E.T.T. - Weather, Emergency, Tell, Take - Check the Weather. Know what to do in case of an Emergency, Tell someone where you are going, Take someone with you so you're not alone!
H.E.L.P. - Hazards, Exits / Entries, Landmarks, Plan - Check for hazards and be safe, make sure you know where to enter and exit, Look for landmarks and make them stand out so you know where to go, have a plan make sure you know what to do
S.T.A.Y. = Signal, Talk,
Closing paragraph:
Written by students- Bianca B and Armaan S
