Queensland state primary schools are required to offer a water safety and swimming program. Participation in these programs by students is not compulsory and parents can choose for their students not to participate.
The Department of Education has developed a water safety and swimming education program (WSSEP) for Prep to Year 10. Eight lessons of instruction and skill development support a whole-school approach to water safety and swimming education.
The program includes:
- Classroom prior learning — preliminary water safety knowledge and learning which can be delivered in a range of ways to suit the learning context, but is best delivered before students undertake the water location component
- Water location learning — focused survival swimming and rescue knowledge and skills designed to be delivered by school based staff (in line with Curriculum Activity Risk Assessment (CARA) guidelines) and/or qualified external swimming providers.
- The program is aligned to the draft National swimming and water safety framework and the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education.
- The program outlines a developmental sequence of competencies for each band of years and is grouped into categories: Entries and exits, Buoyancy, Submergence, Swimming for survival, Survival sequence, Rescue and lifesaving and Water safety knowledge.