Our Programme Goals.
Our Beach Ed course is designed to provide practical water skills in a real beach setting, to year 0 - 8 students, for groups between 30 and 100.
We teach young people how to be beach safe, using materials that align with the principle values and key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum and Water Skills for Life Competencies.
Our Beach & Coastal Fatal Drowning Rates Are Shocking.
During the last 10 years, New Zealand has had a 44% higher beach and coastal drowning rate per capita, compared to Australia! Sadly, over the last 10 years, 38% of beach and coastal drownings occurred at a surf beach in NZ. And last year, only 9% of Kiwis swam further than 50m in the ocean in 2021, while over one quarter have never swum this distance in the ocean. Nearly three in 10 Kiwis cannot swim or float in the ocean for more than a few minutes.
As an island nation with a coastline nearly 15,000 km in length (the ninth longest coastline of any nation in the world), we need to reverse these trends as every drowning has a catastrophic impact on families and communities.
The majority of fatal drownings are preventable. At Surf Life Saving NZ, we believe beach education is a vital preventative measure to reducing the drowning toll.
Beach Education
Beach Ed is a full day surf safety course delivered at the beach by surf lifeguards. Beach Ed is age-appropriate learning for school year levels 0-8 and is delivered at various surf lifesaving clubs for groups of between 30 and 100.
BEACH EDUCATION
SURF TO SCHOOL
Surf to School is an alternative to Beach Education for schools that have more difficulty getting their students to the beach. Delivered by Surf Lifeguards, this fun and interactive learning experience allows students to gain awareness of surf safety in their very own classroom.
SURF TO SCHOOL