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Down river from the busy Penlink worksite, students from Wairau Valley Special School (WVSS) are learning water safety skills on the Weiti River.
For some of these students, it’s their first experience with water activities. WVSS teacher and Waterwise programme leader Izelle Toerien said she finds it rewarding to watch a student progress through the programme – from hesitating at the river’s edge to enjoying their time on the water.
“I’ve even had teacher aides start out not wanting to enter the water, only to end up telling me they are going to buy a kayak after the programme,” Toerien said.
When Toerien, a Stillwater resident, founded the community Waterwise programme at Stillwater Boating Club eight years ago, she used kayaks from the community before the club fundraised to add paddleboards to their programme.
“We are the only centre that has paddleboards. There isn’t regular enough wind here for sailing, and we can only run sessions every second Sunday because of the tide,” Toerien said.
The programme has proved popular with the Sunday sessions attracting children from Dairy Flat School and Silverdale Primary, in addition to children from the Stillwater community. So much so that Toerien expanded it to students from WVSS where she teaches digitial technology.
WVSS has 10 satellites where students who attend local colleges are taught in a dedicated unit supported by a teacher and three teacher aides for every six to 10 students. Two of these satellites are on the Hibiscus Coast, at Ahutoetoe Primary and Whangaparaoa College. Toerien organised for intermediate-aged students through to older students (up to 21 years) to attend Waterwise sessions at the boat club during the week.
A spokesperson for the Stillwater Boat Club said it is important to promote water safety not just for members, but for all kids, which is why they opened the programme up to everyone.
“It’s very heart-warming to see new kids with barely any water confidence, become more confident in the water and start to learn to sail,” the club spokesperson said.
Waterwise relies on volunteers and parents to run community and school programmes. The programmes aim to develop children’s self-confidence and safety skills around water. Toerien said she didn’t start the Stillwater programme because she was a teacher. She started it in 2017 when she discovered there were no opportunities for children to learn the skills needed to stay safe in a tidal river.
“I just enjoy the fact that the students get to learn all the skills for water safety on the river or ocean, and not just in pools. But we would appreciate help and support from people willing to volunteer or train as an instructor. Many centres have closed down in the last year and that means children miss out.
Toerien said she was motivated by her love of being out on the water. When she moved to New Zealand, she started sailing in an effort to deal with the winters, which were a tough adjustment from South Africa.
“In South Africa I lived on a game farm, 900 kilometres away from the ocean, but I would go kayaking any opportunity I could get, on a dam or a river. I also ran a fishing lodge on the Zambezi River, but there I had to have guides help me navigate because they knew where the hippos and crocodiles were lurking.”
