Royal Life Saving NSW has teamed up with the NSW Government and Local Western and South Western Sydney Governments to provide complimentary swimming lessons to preschool children who are unable to access swimming lessons.
Key points
- Scheduled to take place between April and July 2024, the lessons will take children through a series of exercises.
- Parents, guardians and carers can apply for a $50 First Lap voucher, to help pay for swimming lessons.
- At the end of the sessions, each child will be assessed against the six-year-old national benchmark.
As a collaborative initiative, Project Harmony aims to provide 10 free lessons to underprivileged children, as part of their goal to prevent drowning across NSW.
Scheduled to take place between April and July 2024, the lessons will take children through a series of exercises, teaching swimming as well as survival skills which align to the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework.
Eligibility
Here are the guidelines for applying for free swimming lessons as part of this initiative.
Children must be:
- aged between 3-6 years
- not yet attending school
- haven’t yet done any swimming lessons
- based in Blacktown, Liverpool, Cumberland, Parramatta, Georges River, Camden or the Hills Shire
- haven’t yet used the $50 First Lap voucher – or are willing to pay $50 towards lessons (this equates to $5 per lesson)
Parents, guardians and carers can apply for a $50 First Lap voucher, to help pay for swimming lessons.
First Lap vouchers
Parents, guardians and carers can apply for a $50 First Lap voucher, to help pay for swimming lessons. Present this voucher when applying for Project Harmony.
First Lap vouchers can be downloaded from Service NSW and will expire on June 30, 2024.
Getting a good start in the water
Skills learned by students include:
- safe behaviour around water
- entering and exiting shallow water safely
- going underwater
- floating on their front and back
- how to get help in an emergency
- getting into a safe position if they accidentally fall into the water
- moving through the water on their front and back
At the end of the sessions, each child will be assessed against the six-year-old national benchmark.
At the end of the sessions, each child will be assessed against the six-year-old national benchmark.
For more information on Projecct Harmony, visit drowningprevention.org.au/harmony
Feature image: Photo by CanvaPro