General Description of Program

The Port Augusta Aquatic Centre is funded by the SA Government’s Department for Education to run Water Safety programs for South Australian school students and is one of 9 aquatic centres in South Australia.

The Aquatics Program delivers aquatics to students in year levels’ 6-12. The Government provides all State Government students with instructional hours to access aquatics as follows:

• Year 6-9 – 6 hours General Aquatics
• Year 10, 11 & 12 – 12 Hours SACE or 18 Hours SACE
• Students with Disabilities – Extended Water Safety Program 7.5 hours per Term

Non-Government schools may also access the Aquatics program, on a User Pays basis.

We run the following programmes at the Port Augusta Aquatic Centre:

General Aquatics
We teach basic Sailing, Kayaking, Canoeing, Windsurfing, Stand Up Paddle Boarding, Sit on Top Kayaks, Snorkelling, Fishing and Small Boat Handling to year’s 6-9s. The Centre is also approved to provide land based programmes including Orienteering and Cycling when water based activities are not deemed suitable. Unless specifically negotiated, students enrolled in General Aquatics will experience a rotation of 4 activities (1.5 hours per activity), depending on the weather and tide conditions.

SACE Practicals
The Centre also offers SACE programs to year 10, 11 and 12 students in Kayaking, Sailing and Windsurfing. SACE students participate in a learning program generally centred around 1 activity. Students are marked by instructors using a pre-determined scoresheet. Their score forms part of their school result. Informal theory sessions are used to supplement the “on water” training, in Sailing and Windsurfing.

Students with Disabilities
We also offer modified programs for students with disabilities, whereby students experience a modified program to accommodate students with special needs.

For more information about the Department for Education’s Water Safety program, please refer to https://www.decd.sa.gov.au/teaching/projects-and-programs/swimming-and-aquatics/swimming-and-aquatics-programs-schools/aquatics-program