Get involved
Water Skills for Life provides easily accessible, freely available resources through an e-learning platform, designed to be integrated into any aquatic learning programme. Developed by Water Safety New Zealand for all of Aotearoa, these resources bring essential water skills to life in ways that are fun, engaging, and practical.
Schools & Kura
How to adopt Water Skills for Life: We provide simple steps for schools and kura to integrate the programme into their existing aquatic curriculum. Guidance on tailoring lessons to your specific environment — beach, river, lake, or pool. No matter your environment: Even if your school pool is small, or you’re far from open water, Water Skills for Life gives you the tools to teach essential water skills effectively.
Resources & Support for Teachers
- Ready-to-use content: Comprehensive materials that you can implement immediately.
- Contextual Materials and Lesson Plans: Designed to support effective teaching and learning, ensuring lessons are age-appropriate and relevant to real-world water situations.
- Assessment Tools: Tools to measure your students' achievements and track their progress.
- Teacher Training & E-Learning: Online modules and guidance to equip teachers with the skills and confidence to deliver the programme effectively.
- Step-by-step progression: Child afraid of water? Our age-appropriate modules help build confidence, not just skills, ensuring every student can progress safely.
- Ongoing support and advice to help teachers get the most out of WSFL resources.
Water Skills for Life focuses on essential, age-appropriate survival skills, preparing students for real-world water situations. With a structured curriculum and tailored guidance for each age group, teachers can ensure students achieve the necessary skills to stay safe, confident, and capable in any aquatic environment.
Swim schools
Saving lives starts with water survival. What if every child could move through water without fear? Because open water doesn’t wait — we prepare children for real-world risk.
Water Skills for Life offers swim school teachers freely available resources through an e-learning platform, designed to strengthen and extend your current programmes.
Key features include
- Ready-to-use Programme: Engaging videos that outline teaching points and ensure you’re instructing age-appropriate skills toy our students.
- Standardised Processes: Clear guidelines for assessing student achievement and tracking progress, making it easier to demonstrate outcomes and consistency.
- Real-world Focus: Content that goes beyond pool swimming to prepare tamariki for beaches, rivers, and lakes.
By embedding WSFL into your swim school, you’ll not only teach technique — you’ll give children the survival skills and confidence they need to thrive in any aquatic environment.
For parents & whānau
Water Skills for Life is a valuable resource for you and your whānau, whether you’re at the beach, river, lake, or pool.
When choosing a learn-to-swim school or provider, prioritise water survival, not just swimming technique. Look for swim schools that are Water Skills for Life approved — they teach essential survival skills that could significantly improve your child’s safety when things go wrong in open water.
What to ask for:
- Ask your child’s teacher if they are delivering Water Skills for Life as part of their programme.
- If not, encourage them to enquire about adopting it.
- When your child is learning WSFL, check in regularly — ask your child and their teacher about progress and what skills they’ve been working on
How to support at home
- Reinforce the skills your child is learning in fun, practical ways — at the pool, beach, or even through simple activities at home.
- For example, practise floating and safe entry/exit techniques in shallow water, or role-play “what if” safety scenarios as a family.
- Celebrate small milestones to help build your child’s confidence, especially if they are nervous around water.
- Make water safety a whānau activity — Water Skills for Life is designed to be engaging for all ages.
By asking the right questions and building on learning at home, you’re giving your child the best chance to become confident, capable, and safe in any water environment.
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