I chose water safety.
Did you know that Waikato's Sunset Beach is the most dangerous beach in New Zealand with the most amount of rescues?
Do you think my letter is important?
Dear Jacinda
Dear Jacinda Ardern,
Did you realise, around 60 people each year loose their lives from
drowning! Those poor 60 families and friends grieving for that person
who could have been alive, married and enjoying life. Only if that person
knew how to swim and how to deal with the conditions.
But no, those 60 people did not get taught, because it was not
compulsory. Now, it is time to change.
At the moment, school children are getting a lesson on beach safety
once every 2nd year, that is 1 in 170 days of learning. And only in
Summer, do schools teach the children how to swim, and that is not even
proper swimming, just random techniques that will not last even 1 hour in
the rapid, washing machine water. That is not enough to prevent these
lives being taken away.
In New Zealand, we should have swimming teachers working at the schools. '
Plus, more pools for the schools to use.
Plus, more pools for the schools to use.
The swimming teacher can just work in the pool and teach all the
children how to swim.
In Winter, the swimming teacher could do lessons on technique and
speed. In Summer they could teach us beach and river safety in the pool.
Once or twice, for school trips, we should go to the beach and swim.
The pools should be a 25 metre pool, at 1 end it should be
for a 5 year olds height, and at the other end, 185cm deep.
This could work, to improve our swimming ability, plus on another
subject, get more New Zealand swimmers to the Olympics.
Are you in, to making a difference?
From Zara
@ Belfast School
Hi Zara I think your letter to Jacinda raised a very important point. The number of drownings in NZ is unacceptable and preventable and the only way to remedy it is by having basic swimming taught in all schools.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia this is compulsory from a young age because it is a country with a lot of water but then so do we,if not more.
Perhaps to make it more viable financially a swim coach could be employed across 2-3 schools. Children only need to be taught not to panic,to get to the side and how to manage if caught in a rip,and have refresher courses each year.
You have composed a very good letter which has covered a very important issue.
Gran
Kia ora Gran,
DeleteI really like your idea of sharing a swimming coach between 2-3 schools for financial reasons.
Though, maybe instead of just doing a refresher we could learn techniques too, like maybe when you are 10, you learn breaststroke and when you are 13, you learn butterfly.
When you were at school, did the school used to go swimming?
Thanks for commenting,
Zara
Hi Zara
ReplyDeleteGreat idea I am with you all the way on this cause. New Zealand is surrounded with water and so many of us grow up spending family holidays on or near water. We should all know how to swim to survive. Plus the life long health and well being benefits of exercising in water.
Well done.
From Angela
Kia ora Angela,
DeleteNew Zealand is surrounded completely with water, pretty much everywhere you go, there is some sort of water.
I also think that excising in water is a great activity to do too. I love doing lengths of a pool, but only if the pool is warm!
Have a great day,
Zara