More than 70 per cent of Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty primary and intermediate schools are signed up to Swimming New Zealand's State Kiwi Swim Safe Programme giving teachers the tools to teach swim and survive skills to students.

The swim safe programme, supported by State Insurance, is being delivered to schools throughout the country with already more than 70 per cent of all Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty primary and intermediate schools signing up.

Senior students at Te Matai School with Erin Fowler holding their new certificates in Te Reo. Photo supplied.

Swim safe advisor Erin Fowler has been working with school teachers around the country, including Tauranga and the WBOP, to add more knowledge to their swimming toolbox and to assist the children's swimming and water safety skills.

Erin's role provides professional development and on-going support to primary and intermediate schools with their aquatic environments.

She has worked with more than 600 primary school teachers and also works with Bethlehem Tertiary Institute students studying Waikato University and Te Wanaga o Aotearoa teaching programmes.

'We have received positive feedback from the Bay of Plenty Schools that are on board with the programme and we are pleased to see how it has enabled teachers to grow in confidence and their ability to teach learn to swim and survive skills to their students.”

Te Matai School, south of Te Puke, is the first school in the Bay of Plenty to receive the newest certificates from the swim safe programme.

The school, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Matai, became a State Kiwi Swim Safe School in term one this year.

The certificates are all in Te Reo Maori and are the newest addition to the growing resources that schools delivering the swim safe programme can receive from Swimming NZ.

The certificates, written in Te Reo, come after Swimming NZ received requests from schools asking for the certificates to be in Te Reo to meet the needs of Maori children – particularly those in Kura's and bilingual units.

Erin says the swim safe programme is especially important for Te Matai School as the Kaituna River runs behind the school boundary and many of the students swim in the river throughout the summer.

Other schools currently using the programme and using Erin's assistance at the poolside are Te Puke Primary, Fairhaven School, Rangiuru School, Te Ranga School and Paengaroa School.