Big achievements for Kwinana Recquatic SAIL students
Royal Life Saving WA continues to work with our Endorsed Swim School at Kwinana Recquatic to ensure children with special needs can access swimming and water safety lessons that are appropriate for their specific requirements. The SAIL (Special Access Inclusion Lessons) program has been running at Kwinana for a number of years, providing opportunities for hundreds of children who might otherwise have missed out on learning these vital skills.
The SAIL Program is offered to people of all ages with an intellectual, physical or behavioural issue or impairment who need individual attention or reduced distraction from other swimmers. It teaches basic water safety skills for those with special needs, and those who might require extra help to gain confidence in the water. Statistics show that of the children aged 0-14 years who drowned across Australia in the past decade, 15% had special needs.
During Term Four the program saw 46 children take part in either one-on-one or group lessons, thanks to funding from the Royal Life Saving Swim and Survive Fund and Principal Community Partner BHP. The Swim and Survive fund receives donations from everyday West Australians who want to contribute to assisting those with special needs, along with at-risk multicultural and Aboriginal children, and those in regional and remote areas with the opportunity to receive swimming and water safety education that would otherwise be out of their reach.
The swimming instructors who teach as part of Kwinana Recquatic’s SAIL program are specifically trained to deliver specialise swimming lessons and meet the needs of the children who have various levels of disabilities. These lessons not only provide vital swimming skills, but have also led to the formation of strong and lasting friendships between participants.
Kwinana Recquatic Swim School Coordinator Emma Lavery says the program has seen some very special achievements made this term by the children and their instructors pictured above - Aimee with Matthew (level 4), Mandy with Angus (level 3), and Melissa with Shruthi (level 2). “These students all have their lessons on Thursday nights at the same time. This term we have tried Angus and Matthew in the same class together to work them towards transitioning to group lessons in the future! Over the years all of these kids have become great friends and love seeing each other each week. They now even meet up outside of lessons and have a great friendship. It is so nice to see them swim and make friends at the same time. The social aspect for our SAIL kids is amazing!!”
You can read more about our swimming lessons for children with special needs at the link below.
If you would like to donate to our Swim and Survive Fund to help us make swimming lessons possible for children like these please click the button below.
