Water Safety Community 

Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) has undertaken a strategic refresh to get greater cut through with its Water Skills for Life aquatic education programme for children aged five to 13. Water Skills for Life is delivered to children in New Zealand primary schools. It is linked into the national education curriculum and gives children in years 1... Keep Reading

Staff at the Dudley Park Swimming Pool have made it their mission to provide every primary school aged child in the North Canterbury region with the opportunity to participate in swimming and water safety lessons with qualified instructors, who are passionate about what they are teaching. The staff were tasked with making a difference to the... Keep Reading

Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) is investing $2.5 million in water safety interventions through its 2020/21 annual Funding Round. WSNZ is also very pleased to announce a new major partnership with ACC as the naming partner for its national standard for aquatic education, Water Skills for Life. WSNZ CEO Jonty Mills says working... Keep Reading

Kia Ora, I am writing to advise that after much consideration, I’ll be moving on from Water Safety New Zealand at the end of December 2020. Water Safety New Zealand is repositioning itself for the future, refreshing its strategic direction, and aligning with the pending launch of a new collective Water Safety Sector Strategy for the next... Keep Reading

Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) has published final preventable drowning fatality and hospitalisation data in the Drowning Report 2019, as it considers the impact of COVID-19 on water safety.  Drowning is the leading cause of recreational death and the third highest cause of accidental death in New Zealand. In 2019 there were 82... Keep Reading

We speak to Clare about the journey she is on with her daughter to learn how to be safe around water: My child is 2 years 8 months old and in regard to water awareness and skills, we are taking a ‘games’ orientated approach to her learning to survive in water. She is very happy around water. She has little fear of it, and this is sometimes a... Keep Reading

Sport Northland have been a stand out in terms of the delivery of Water Skills for Life (WSFL) into the region and a great example for the rest of the country in terms of reach and coverage.  The Northland WaterSafe Programme provides Water Skills for Life education to Northland schools with year 1 to 8 students, free, along with support... Keep Reading

Mana Moana Tiaki Dive Programme This program focuses on traditional tikanga related to kai gathering for marae events to participants in the Ngati Wai rohe in Northland. Participants receive basic water safety knowledge while enriching their Matauranga Maori through interactions with the moana. Since the start of October 2019 66 people have... Keep Reading

School pools provide valuable access to aquatic education for New Zealand children, but the cost of running them is a challenge for many. About 55 percent of all primary schools in New Zealand have pools (about 1100 schools) resulting in many children missing out on vital water safety skills training at school. Keep Reading

Drowning is the respiratory impairment of lungs due to submersion / immersion in liquid. It can be fatal (mortality), or non-fatal (morbidity) resulting in a stay in hospital of 24 hours or longer. In 2017 there were 88 recreational (intending to be in the water) and non-recreational (no intention of being in the water) preventable drowning... Keep Reading