School missed ‘red flag’ in drowned student Jaden Chhayrann’s swimming self-assessment form

Jaden Chhayrann drowned during a school trip to Waihī Beach in February 2020. Photo / Supplied

A student who drowned while on a school geography field trip had altered his unsigned swimming self-assessment form from “not confident” to “confident” and indicated he “could float”.

This should have been a “red flag” for teaching staff and closer supervision of him should have taken place, Coroner Matthew Bates wrote in his just-released findings into the death of Jaden Chhayrann.

The 17-year-old student of the now-closed Melville High School drowned on February 21, 2020, while on a two-day geography field trip at Waihī Beach attended by 27 students and three teachers.

According to the findings, that day the students finished their schoolwork activities and it was decided they would go for a swim at Waihī Beach before returning to Hamilton.

About 11.30am, the group arrived at the beach and the teachers selected a place at the northern end of the beach about 100m from the ridgeline, where the surf lifesaving club was.

Although the beach was not patrolled by lifeguards at the time, three off-duty lifeguards were in the clubhouse.

A local surfing instructor at the beach described the conditions that day as “wild with strong swells and big surges that could knock you off your feet”.

A lifeguard said the sea conditions were rough and described “huge” 3m swells.

His evidence was that the area the school group had selected for swimming was unsafe due to the conditions and a permanent rip running along the area.

However, a teacher reported the conditions as mild for swimming with no signs of a rip or current of concern.

About 100m from the area where the school group was swimming was a Department of Conservation sign warning: “The coastline can be dangerous during onshore sea conditions.”

Jaden Chhayrann was a Year 13 student at Melville High School on a geography field trip at the time.

But the findings said the sign was not obvious to casual observers and no other information was visible to the public regarding dangers known to residents, in particular the almost-permanent rip current.

The teachers used two poles, positioned 20m apart, and four cones to act as a guide for where the students were able to swim.

They were instructed to swim only if they felt confident and to stay waist deep. All three teachers remained at the beach to supervise the students.

A group of 17 students headed into the water, with Chhayrann, one of his friends and six others who went out further than the rest of the group.

The friend reported they were in waist-deep water when they got knocked down by a wave.

He and Chhayrann were pulled away from shore and caught in a rip current.

The friend tried to calm Chhayrann who was panicking and calling out for help. He told him to ride the waves out.

As the water became deeper the boys had to bounce off the seabed to keep their heads above water. They were struck by more waves and became separated.

“Help me ... I can’t swim very well,” the friend recalled Chhayrann calling out to him.

They both went under and when the friend resurfaced, he could no longer see Chhayrann.

Teachers were alerted to what was unfolding and one cleared the rest of the group out of the water and made his way to the friend to help him get out.

The teacher then started to search for Chhayrann, but could not locate him.

The teachers onshore scoured the water for signs of Chhayrann and alerted emergency services and the surf lifesaving club.

Lifeguards battled rough conditions during their search for Jaden Chhayrann. Photo / George Novak

A lifeguard immediately ran to the scene with a surfboard and searched the water for about 30 minutes, until more lifeguards and emergency services arrived.

A full-scale search for Chhayrann commenced and included the efforts of Coastguard, surf club and a rescue helicopter. At 6pm the search was suspended and resumed early the next morning.

On March 1, after extensive search efforts, his body was found on a private beach near Waihī Whangamata Rd north of Whiritoa Beach.

‘Red flag’

Chhayrann’s death was the subject of a WorkSafe investigation, which found Melville High School Board of Trustees (MHSBOT) had breached several provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

Coroner Bates noted WorkSafe’s final investigation report found the school’s education outside of the classroom (EOTC) procedures in place at the time predated the good practice documents made available to schools in 2018.

Parent permission slips for the field trip had been completed, but were not the latest version in line with best EOTC practice. They did not contain risk disclosure information, and that meant parents were unable to give fully informed consent.

Students had also completed a swimming self-assessment form and 14 were considered high risk or needing close monitoring.

“This should have triggered a realisation that a detailed swimming supervision plan was required to ensure the safety of all students.”

Chhayrann’s form was not signed or dated. It had also been altered from “not confident” to “confident”. It appears he had written “I can float” under the additional comments section, raising uncertainty about his swimming ability.

Coroner Bates found this should have been a “red flag” for teaching staff and closer supervision of him should have taken place.

One of the teachers was also mistakenly believed to have been a trained lifeguard, but independent inquiries into his competence were not completed by MHSBOT.

A recommendation was made by WorkSafe to prosecute MHSBOT, but an application for an Enforceable Undertaking was then proposed by the school as an alternative and accepted by WorkSafe.

It set out several actions the school was to complete, including reviewing and improving its EOTC documents and procedures, professional development for all staff to align with EOTC best practice guidelines, and making financial amends to Chhayrann’s family. NZME has previously reported more than $100,000 was paid.

Coroner Bates said MHSBOT complied with the enforceable undertaking and no prosecution was advanced.

He found the school had taken appropriate steps following Chhayrann’s death and had adopted a “robust” EOTC Safety Management Plan.

“Had Melville High School continued to exist as an entity, there would be no need for me to make recommendations directed at MHSBOT, other than to remain current with any ‘best practice’ guidance.”

The high school closed in December after a directive by the Minister of Education.

However, Coroner Bates made several other recommendations in his findings, including ongoing wider publication of current examples of EOTC Safety Management Plans, and that all school boards should ensure their EOTC systems are regularly reviewed.

He also recommended the Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the Waihī Beach Community Board put up warning signs at Waihī Beach to alert beachgoers of the permanent rip.

The recommendation was backed by Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ), which said previous coronial inquests had also made a call for the signage.

“Had suitable signs been erected warning the school of the permanent rip current when surf is present, this may have prevented this fatal drowning,” SLSNZ told Coroner Bates.

According to the findings, the council has confirmed new signage and rescue equipment will be in place for the 2024-25 summer season.

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.