More Northland kids are learning swimming and water safety skills after Far North lines company Top Energy renewed its sponsorship of Sport Northland's WaterSafe programme for another two years.
It has also increased the sponsorship amount, boosting the number of trainers and allowing an extra 4000 lessons a year.
Duringthe 2011-12 summer season 11 Sport Northland trainers ran 19,622 "swimmer lessons" (repeat or new students attending a lesson) and delivered 1364 individual training modules for poolside teachers.
"Each year we're asked to train more kids in vital swimming and water safety skills so we're stoked that Top Energy is not only continuing its involvement with the WaterSafe programme, but increasing its investment to help us keep pace with demand," Sport Northland chief executive Brent Eastwood said.
The programme had conducted 155,542 lessons in basic swimming and water-safety skills since 1998 and has won three national awards over the past five years. The programme aims to raise the swimming skills of school children and provide teachers with the confidence to deliver these skills.
Sponsorship means Sport Northland can deliver the programme free to children between Years 1 and 8.
Currently 51 Far North schools are signed up for the programme, based on the Swim and Survive modules developed by Australia's Royal Life Saving Society.
Schools without their own pools are catered for with a portable pool from PoolsinSchoolz that can be packed into a trailer and driven to where it's needed. It can be heated and used throughout winter.
