North Cavan Students Jump into the Deep End

Grade three students at North Cavan headed to the Peterborough YMCA to receive swimming instruction which provides essential skills required to survive an unexpected fall into deep water. The students and their teacher travelled to the pool for three one-hour, in-water lessons in addition to the delivery of three in-class sessions water safety lessons linked to the Ontario curriculum to complete the training. Designed specifically for this age group, the program ensures students learned to roll into deep water, tread water for one minute and swim a distance of 50 metres to bring them to safety.

Funding for North Cavan School to participate in the Swim to Survive Program was made possible by the Township of Cavan Monaghan, Parks & Facilities Department through the “Healthy Kids Community Challenge Peterborough” program. The Cavan Monaghan Fire Department together with the Peterborough YMCA and Peterborough Risk Watch Network group organized the delivery of this safety and drowning prevention program to Mrs. Moncrief’s grade 3 class. The objective is to ensure students learn basic survival skills and could survive an unexpected fall into deep water. Learning to swim is a fundamental skill that benefits all students; however, many children may not have the opportunity for swimming lessons within or outside their instructional day at school. As a result, the program is designed to accommodate all abilities while reinforcing the essential survival skills.

The Lifesaving Society who designed the program believes that Swim to Survive is an important step to being safe around water. Through this educational program they are striving to reduce the number of drowning deaths in young children.

Tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply