School holiday fun at Bidyadanga

As seven weeks of school holidays come to a close the children at Bidyadanga in our state's Kimberley region have wrapped up a fun, active holiday season at the remote aboriginal swimming pool in their community.

The holiday program ran for the full seven weeks on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and was open to children aged 8 and over with the aim being to teach these children vital swimming and water safety skills so that they can be safe once they're allowed to attend the pool without an adult supervising them from the age of 10.

Pool Manager Bernie Egan says there were a range of fun activities for the kids to enjoy! "Swimming with flippers was a favourite activity for all the kids who participated. We also swum laps, played water polo and volleyball, dived for pool torpedos and practiced our lifesaving skills amongst other games and play."

It wasn't just all about the swimming though, with children also enjoying a healthy feed thanks to the Healthway sponsored Go for 2 and 5 Swim for Fruit program. Bernie says the children loved helping out with cooking on the BBQ! "We all enjoyed a whole range of delicious goodies, including sausages with coleslaw, tacos, toasties, casseroles and wraps, before finishing up with some fruit - bananas being the favourite!"

According to Bernie the program has seen the Bidyadanga kids learn a whole range of skills. "Its good to see the kids swimming skills and sportsmanship improve over the holidays, but we've also been focusing on looking out for each other and looking after our equipment. The kids have done an amazing job!"

The remote aboriginal swimming pool program, supported bythe Housing Authority and BHP, aims to ensure that aboriginal children in remote areas of WA have an opportunity to learn vital swimming and lifesaving skills, with research showing that aboriginal children are 8.6 times more likely to drown that non-aboriginal children. 

You can find out more about the program at the link below.