Fitness, Technique and Lifesaving Classes
Aquastarz are very popular fun and exciting classes that combine fitness, technique improvement, personal survival and incorporates the RLSS Rookies Lifesaving Awards.
The classes are aimed at children who have competent swimming ability and are interested in building competitive swimming and fitness knowledge along with lifeguarding and lifesaving skills. In addition the class promotes organisational, social and team building skills through fun challenges.
Living on or close to the coast this class also offers invaluable key life skills to local children.
There are 3 Awards to the RLSS Rookie Lifeguard Programme, Bronze, Silver and Gold, with 3 stages to pass each award fully. Other special badges can be gained throughout the programme that lead into Bronze Medallion and ultimately Pool and beach Lifeguarding.
For more information on the Royal Lifesaving Society UK Rookie Lifeguard Programme, please see: www.lifesavers.org.uk/rookie
Classes are 1 hour, and run on the following times and days.
Tuesdays 7-8pm at Bournemouth Collegiate School, Southbourne, Bournemouth, Dorset.
For more information, please call 07891 859375
What is Rookie Lifeguard and why is it of importance to me?
Thousands of children across the UK are set to learn how to become lifesavers as a result of a new scheme Rookie Lifeguard Programme being launched as part of the National Plan for Swimming. The Rookie Lifeguard programme is aimed primarily at children from eight years old and above. The course, which has been designed by water safety specialists at RLSS UK, is designed to ensure that every child in the country has essential water skills to keep themselves safe and knowledge of what to do in an emergency. The programme features swimming and lifesaving skills supported by water safety education, allowing participants to enjoy swimming as an activity and, vitally, to protect their lives should an accident occur in or out of the water.
We have worked in partnership with colleagues at the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) for the National Plan for Teaching Swimming. The plan – a new framework designed to support teachers – will bring all swimming lessons to a high standard, up to and beyond the national curriculum at Key Stage Two. Currently although the national curriculum states that by the end of primary school every pupil should be able to swim 25 metres and possess water safety knowledge, research shows that as many as one in five leave school without these skills. This means that hundreds of thousands of children are unable to protect themselves if they get into difficulty in water. These are particularly worrying statistics given that drowning is the third most common cause of accidental death among youngsters under the age of 16, with at least 60 children losing their lives every year.
What benefit do the children get?
Youngsters who take part in the awards will fulfill all of the requirements set out in the National Curriculum. It is hoped that Rookie Lifeguard will help produce a new generation of children who can not only swim competently but also have a strong awareness of water safety and rescue principles. The awards have been mapped against the Lifesaving model for a Long Term Lifesaving Development programme to ensure the appropriate activity is matched to the age of the participant.
Crucially, fledgling swimmers are given the opportunity to progress at their own speed, not that of their peers. The fluid nature of the course allows children to spend as much time as they need to become confident within the water. This will mean that individuals can all develop at different speeds – and cut down on children who are left with feelings of inadequacy or even worse, a fear of water as a result of failing to progress at the same rate as their classmates.
Rookie Lifeguards will work towards a bronze, silver and gold award. With in each of the bronze, silver and gold award’s there are three levels to work through. Theory-based lessons to back up practical skills can take place in the classroom and be delivered by the school or teacher using a specially designed pack. This allows teachers to deliver water safety knowledge that fits easily within the requirements of the National Curriculum.
If children wish to progress into Lifesaving, we run in line with the Royal Lifesaving Society a Rookies class. To take part in this class you must be able to swim 100m and be competent in deep water.