Puggles Swim

Following a resolution of Council at the 28 November 2023 Council meeting, Council funded six Learn to Swim staff members at the Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre (RALC) to complete the Puggles Swim training module.

Puggles Swim is Australia’s first nationally endorsed learn to swim program that supports the communication needs of deaf and hard of hearing children. The training teaches Auslan signs and deaf awareness. The aim of the course is to provide tools and skills to overlay current learn to swim classes with deaf friendly tactics, allowing swim teachers and swim schools to include deaf or hard of hearing children in swim classes, thereby removing barriers to participation for these children.

Our RALC Staff now have the skills to confidently include deaf and hard of hearing children in their mainstream Learn to Swim classes.

It’s not just deaf and hard of hearing children who have benefited from this course but other children in mainstream classes, pools can be a difficult environment for many people to speak and hear.