Rookie Lifeguards
The Rookie Lifeguard Programme is a fun and exciting lifesaving awards scheme, teaching self-rescue, survival, rescue and lifesaving sport skills, for children aged 8 – 12 years. It provides participants with the skills they need to be confident in the pool or the sea and enjoy water safely. Each stage of the Rookie Lifeguard programme has been divided into three levels (see below) and each stage runs roughly for five or six weeks. Following the completion of each stage, Rookie Lifeguards will receive a certificate and badge. Children participating must be able to swim at least 50 metres and tread water. Please bring along an old t-shirt to wear over your swimwear in the water.
We aim to create a pathway for children to become junior lifeguards when they achieve a sufficient level of competence and to then move on to opportunities to advance their training further and become part of our professional team of lifeguards. Call us on 01983 752168 or email info@westwight.org.uk to enquire about course dates!
Bronze Stages 1, 2 and 3 Criteria:
- Enter shallow water safely and confidently and wade
- Tread water and signal for help
- Swim continuously in clothing for 50m
- Swim Lifesaving Backstroke
- Scull head and feet first
- Hold the ‘HELP’ position
- Demonstrate a non-swimmer, weak swimmer and an unconscious casualty
- Demonstrate a ‘Shout and Signal’ rescue
- Throw an aid
- Demonstrate a reach rescue
- Enter deep water safely and confidently
- Perform a feet first surface dive and swim underwater
- Climb out in deep water without using the steps
Silver Stages 1, 2 and 3 Criteria:
- Swim continuously in clothing for 200m on your front and back
- Demonstrate a reaching rescue
- Throw a buoyant aid to a casualty 8m away
- Enter shallow water and wade to a casualty
- Using a throwing aid, instruct the casualty what to do
- Using a rigid aid instruct the casualty what to do
- The support position
- Tread water for 3 minutes
- Swimming, surface dives and object recovery
- Shallow turn and rescue an ‘unconscious casualty’
- Coil and throw a rope to a casualty 10m away and pull to the side in less than 45 seconds
- Enter deep water using a straddle jump
- Demonstrate a fall-in entry into clear deep water
- Swim 20m continuously with your head out of the water on your front
Gold Stages 1, 2 and 3 Criteria:
- Coil and throw a rope to a casualty and pull to the side
- Swim 400m continuously in clothing
- Demonstrate Lifesaving Backstroke, Sidestroke, Breaststroke or Front Crawl
- Tread water, removing clothing then swim 50m
- Climb out of deep water unaided
- Demonstrate fall-in, compact jump or shallow dive
- Demonstrate a Reverse
- Demonstrate a Standoff
- Rescue an unconscious casualty at depth in less than 2 minutes 30 seconds
- Demonstrate supported rescue breathing whilst waiting for help
- Demonstrate the support position
- Demonstrate non-contact rescues
- Treat for shock
- Hand signals
- Using any recognised competitive stroke, swim 400m continuously, in less than 12 minutes