Laurie Lawrence is still passionate about aquatics after 50 years in the industry
Laurie Lawrence brings life and learning to Swim Teacher PD
On 22 August, Royal Life Saving WA put on a professional development (PD) session for swim teachers with two very special guests – Laurie and Emma Lawrence!
The dynamic father-daughter duo facilitated the PD at Aqualife Centre in East Victoria Park, covering Stages 3-5 of our Swim and Survive curriculum as well as the Infant Aquatics program.
All attendees were engaged and eager to learn from the veteran Australian swimming coach who has over 50 years' experience in aquatics.
Laurie's vivacious nature was contagious, showing how much passion he has for the industry even all these years later, encouraging anyone to join the industry, even retirees!
"You'll never work a day in your life, so get out there and get your accreditation. It's fun and you can do it at any age," he says.
The day was filled with education, networking and collaboration, not to mention a delicious afternoon tea – a necessity to refuel everyone's brains and stave off those 2pm sugar cravings!
Over the course of two practical sessions, participants were upskilled in preliminary skills such as survival sculling and freestyle breathing, as well as water awareness and sense.
It is imperative all swim teachers understand the importance of educating their students about what it means to be water safe, focusing on the need to breathe and float whilst coordinating your actions.
Some key takeaways from the session included encouraging exploratory learning and enforcing the show, practice method, teach what's in front of you and how to build good habits without force or fear, just respect and consistency.
Both Emma and Laurie preach about the rewarding aspects of their chosen profession. However, even with all their learned experience, Emma says they still have so much to learn, "it's never enough - Dad's always reading and improving past learnings."
If you would like to keep upskilling your skills as a Swim Teacher, enrol in our next PD by following the link below.
