RLSS Rookie Lifeguard Programme
Our popular rookies programme (7-15 year olds) will be running as usual this winter. The rookies programme offers the opportunity to follow a structured RLSS lifesaving skills programme, including Water Safety, Rescue, Self Rescue and Emergency Responses. The aims of Rookies is to:
- Teach Lifesaving Skills
- Increase Swimming Competence
- Develop Survival Skills in Water
- Develop Confidence, Initiative and Judgement
- Develop Teamwork and Leadership
There are 3 levels of awards: Bronze, Silver & Gold for the groms to work their way through. A great, fun way for the groms to learn essential skills to keep themselves (and others) safe in the water and at the end they receive an RLSS rookie lifeguard award (certificate, badge and sticker).
The programme runs for 10 weeks on Saturdays from 7-8pm in the Penzance Leisure Centre pool and costs £25 for the whole course. Due to swimming galas in the Penzance pool we have split the course into 2 parts, the first 3 weeks running from 3rd – 17th January, then the final 7 weeks from 14th March – 25th April.
We have had a lot of interest so are recommending that you book your child a place if they would like to join in so we can guarantee them a place. You can do this by emailing, posting on our facebook page or phoning (Sadie – 872685).
RLSS Beach Survive & Save
This award is for groms (12+) progressing from the Rookies programme, or their parents who would like to learn basic lifesaving techniques. Survive and Save awards teach lifesaving rescue, self-rescue, survival, and lifesaving skills, and also develop swimming ability and fitness, the programme we run is a beach survive and save so additional beach specific lifesaving & first aid skills will be covered.
The programme is taught both in the pool and on the beach. The pool sessions run over 10 weeks (dates as above for rookies), first aid sessions will be held on the Saturday evenings between 24th January – 7th March when we cannot have the pool due to swimming galas and the beach sessions will be confirmed later. The whole programme is £50 which includes the RLSS award applcation costs, all your training & pool costs and the award certificate.
Booking a place on this course is advised as we have limited spaces available.
RLSS NBLQ (Lifeguard) & Assistant Lifeguard Programme
The Beach Lifeguard & Assistant Beach Lifeguard training programmes are running again this year and we welcome groms of over 14 and adults. Bear in mind that these awards are quite demanding and do require a commitment in terms of time (both for the club and to achieve the award).
The programme consists of 10 pool sessions (dates as above for the rookie lifeguard award), 10 first aid / theory sessions and 6 beach sessions (incl 6 clubhouse briefings). The cost of both of these awards is £75 which includes the RLSS exam fees, all your training & pool costs and your award certificate. 7 of the first aid sessions will be held on the Saturday evenings between 24th January – 7th March when we cannot have the pool due to swimming galas and will be held at the Penzance Leisure Centre.
NBLQ manuals are £25 – lifeguards will need to have access to one in order to be able to read through some of the important topics covered there (it is recommended that all full lifeguards have their own copy).
For those doing the full NBLQ award (not assistants) who are not currently actively volunteering with the club there will be an additional £100 training cost applied, payable before the exam (half refunded each year that 10 weeks are volunteered with the club). The typical cost of this award is £250+ so this is still a good saving on the programme, but protects the club as there are quite a number of costs involved in running a programme like this and we need our lifeguards to attend sessions in order to enable the club to run!
In order to complete the award you will need to have the training hours logged so it is important that you note the dates above, you will likely need to swim outside of the Saturday evening sessions in order to achieve the minimum pool swim time (400 metres in 8 minutes for the full award and 200 metres in 4 minutes for the assistant award) and commit some time to at-home learning from the manual.
If you are interested in these awards please contact me (email, facebook or call me on 872685) as soon as possible as we are commencing the beach sessions immediately in order to complete most of the work whilst the temperatures are still warm! Booking a place on this course is advised as we have limited spaces available.
Qualified lifeguards are vital to the continuation of the club so please do consider giving it a go.