Winter doesn’t need to put a halt on swimming lessons. Photo: NSW Government.
Parents are encouraged to dive into the NSW swimming voucher program to avoid children losing their skills over the cooler months.
The First Lap and Active Kids vouchers are now available through the Service NSW app.
The First Lap voucher program provides $100 to parents, guardians and carers to use towards the cost of swimming lessons for their children aged three to six years who are not enrolled in school.
The Active Kids program provides $100 each year to parents, guardians and carers to use towards sports and active recreation costs for their school-enrolled children.
The vouchers are valid from July to December.
Oasis Aquatic Centre programs supervisor Lauren Attwood said swimming is an important life skill.
She added that the vouchers are an excellent opportunity for parents to get their children started on their learn-to-swim journey.
“Everyone deserves to learn to swim,” she said.
“A lot of kids have missed out on swimming lessons in their younger years due to COVID shutdowns and we’re aware that swimming skills are not where they need to be for a lot of children in our community.
“We have a lot of parents and caregivers who think of swimming as life insurance for their kids.”
Ms Attwood explained parents and caregivers keep their children enrolled throughout the year to ensure their children are going to be sage swimming by themselves.
“It only takes seconds for a child to drown and drowning is often quite silent,” she said.
“Ensuring your child learns to be confident in the water will give you peace of mind.”
Oasis programs supervisor Lauren Attwood and Learn to Swim team leader Breanna Wendt are encouraging parents and caregivers to enrol their children in swimming lessons over the cooler months to avoid losing progress towards the important skill. Photo: Wagga City Council.
The program’s supervisor said if children only swim over the summer, it will take them longer to progress as they have to rebuild their confidence and skills each time.
“If they’re only swimming over summer, they’re having a very stop-start learning experience, which we’d prefer to avoid,” she said.
“We are working on their confidence and building their skills.
“Consistency is important when learning to swim – and it’s a skill that could actually save your life.”
Ms Atwood said the children that keep moving up the levels each term are practising their skills year-round.
Learn to Swim team leader Breanna Wendt said swimming lessons start from six months old and knows the benefits of learning to swim early in life.
“We want to get babies and children used to the water and able to swim confidently,” she said.
“If anything ever happened, for example, if they fell into a pool, we teach children to be able to safely turn onto their back, float to the edge and find their way to the exit.
“We want children to be confident and enjoy swimming because when it gets hot, everyone likes to swim – especially down at the river. If kids can’t swim, more accidents can happen.”
The Oasis team ensures the aquatic centre and the pool are heated during the cooler months and parents do not have to worry about their children getting cold.
Ms Attwood said the centre is so warm that people start shedding layers as soon as they arrive.
“The program pool, which the small children swim in, is normally 34 C and our 25-metre pool is heated to about 28 C,” she said.
“The best way to stay warm is to have a hot shower here after your lesson, dry off then rug up before you head out.”
For more details and to enrol click here.
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