Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Pool a tool in battle to reduce Maori drownings

By Genevieve Helliwell
Bay of Plenty Times·
8 May, 2013 08:03 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A portable pool has been established in the Bay of Plenty for the first time in a bid to reduce the number of Maori drownings by teaching water survival skills to young rural-based Maori.

Educators at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Kura Kokiri in Welcome Bay welcomed the pool and said it had significant benefits for the 200 local students and wider community members who would use the pool this term.

The portable pool, brought to the kura by Water Safety New Zealand in partnership with New Zealand Post's ActivePost, can be used by 15 students at one time. It measured 10m by 5m, held 50,000 litres of water and took about nine hours to assemble and fill yesterday.

Deputy principal Ripeka Martin said the pool would have a life changing impact on the school's 80 students.

"This means a lot for us and the wider community. From the school's point of view it means the children have the opportunity to learn valuable water safety skills, gain water confidence and have more appreciation for Tangaroa (god of the sea).

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Kia Maanu, Kia Ora (Stay Afloat, Stay Alive) initiative, saw the pool first set up at the end of last year in Port Waikato.The pool will operate at no cost to the school - ActivePost will cover heating and operating costs with Tauranga City Council providing the water and Downer transporting the water to the school. Water Safety New Zealand Maori project manager Cory Sweeney said Maori were over-represented in drowning statistics.

He said figures showed Maori made up 38 per cent of drownings on average but made up 17 per cent of the total New Zealand population.

Mr Sweeney said the pool would be shared between the school and two other local schools - Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Otepou and Te aka ki Tawhaki, and it will be open to the wider community outside school hours.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'It was unreal': Orca pod amazes Tauranga jetskier near Whangamatā

08 Jul 04:03 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

08 Jul 01:36 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Boat in perilous position in Tauranga Harbour

08 Jul 01:04 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'It was unreal': Orca pod amazes Tauranga jetskier near Whangamatā

'It was unreal': Orca pod amazes Tauranga jetskier near Whangamatā

08 Jul 04:03 AM

The pod, including a large male, circled him and his group for about half an hour.

BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

08 Jul 01:36 AM
Boat in perilous position in Tauranga Harbour

Boat in perilous position in Tauranga Harbour

08 Jul 01:04 AM
'Risk to the public': Police search for wanted man

'Risk to the public': Police search for wanted man

07 Jul 11:57 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP