The safety of our members is our number one priority across all of our activities. For our nippers, in particular, this means ensuring that our junior members are confident and competent in the water.
Prior to any junior activities, Surf Life Saving Australia policies require that we assess each child’s proficiency in the water, according to standards that take account of their age group. You may hear these being referred to as Junior Activities Preliminary Skills Evaluations or PSEs.
The purpose of the PSEs is to evaluate each junior member’s own personal swimming and water survival ability for the information of the member, parent and their Age Manager.
Every junior member is required to participate in this evaluation prior to any junior activity training being undertaken. It includes a swim and a float which is progressively increased by age group and must be done as part of our club’s duty of care.
For those choosing to enter Junior Carnivals this year, there is an additional open water proficiency evaluation that must be completed prior to competition. Details of the requirements of the Preliminary Skills Evaluations can be found here.
If you have any concerns about the ability of your child to complete their Preliminary Skills Evaluation, please contact our Junior Activities Manager, Kayla Christie in the first instance.
If your child is unable to complete the PSE, it does not exclude them from nipper training, it just changes how the club provides water safety for your child until they are ready to complete the assessment.
Our PSEs will be held at Splash in Devonport at the following times.
You need only attend once. If you are unable to attend either of these dates, please advise Kayla Christie, who will be able to arrange an alternative date or process to evaluate your child.