Providing opportunities for students to learn aquatic skills
The Health and Physical Education Curriculum expects that all students will have had opportunities to learn basic aquatic skills by the end of year 6.
One way to provide these opportunities is by having a school pool. If your school does not have a pool, you can use a community pool or share the use and costs of a pool with another nearby school.
All schools receive the same amount of operational funding whether they have a pool or not. This is because schools that have pools must pay to keep their pool operational, and schools that do not have pools will have transport and/or other costs to use a shared-use pool.
Keeping people safe around your pool
If you have your own school pool, you must make sure everyone who is using it with your permission remains healthy and safe. This includes school community members who use the pool after school and in the holidays with your permission.
Water Safety New Zealand has lots of useful resources.
As part of managing your pool safely we recommend you review your school’s health and safety systems against the 11 key components of an effective health and safety system . This will help you meet the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 .
Establish procedures for day-to-day pool management and rules for pool users
You must have procedures in place for managing your pool day to day. Make sure that the people involved in managing the pool understand their role. The following are some examples of procedures to include.
- Regularly check the operation and effectiveness of the pool gates and locks. Replace any locks that stick or don’t close properly.
- Ensure the first aid kit is accessible to pool users and regularly checked.
- Lock pool chemicals away from the swimming pool and changing rooms. Store and dispose of them according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Put away pool equipment when not in use as it can be a potential hazard if left lying around. Do not store pool equipment in the same area as the pool chemicals, as this may mean students can access hazardous chemicals.
- Do not allow aquatics toys that are not designed for pool use, such as boogie boards, to be used in the pool.
- Manage water quality in compliance with current standards.
In addition, develop rules for the safe use of your pool. Display the rules where they can be read by all pool users, such as on a sign beside the gate. Some sample rules are:
- Nobody is to swim alone. There must always be at least one pool supervisor present when the pool is in use. Additional supervisors are required as the number of people swimming increases.
- Children under 8 must be actively supervised by someone who is at least 16, who can give immediate help.
- The pool supervisor must make sure the gate is always securely closed.
- Nobody is to swim while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- Check the depth of water before entering the pool.
- Check for hazards, such as steep slopes into deeper water.
- No running, jumping, or diving into the pool.
- Return pool equipment to the storeroom after use.
- Boogie boards, surf boards and kayaks are not to be used in the pool.
- The first aid kit is stored in the ...
- The closest telephone for emergencies is located at ...
Pool fencing and signage
Make sure people can’t access the pool when:
- there is no one to supervise, or
- they are uninvited, such as trespassers entering the pool outside school hours.
You must have fences and signage that meet the legal requirements and design standards set out in the:
To minimise unauthorised use, consider having a good security system in place.
Fences around school swimming pools must not have:
- barbed wire or razor wire
- spikes or arrow tips capable of causing serious injury
- broken glass set into mortar
- other accessories capable of causing serious injury to people.
Read more about fencing at schools
Managing your pool’s water quality
The New Zealand Standard NZS 5826:2010 ‘Pool water quality’ (Standards New Zealand website) classifies school pools as public pools.
The Standard aims to maintain safe levels of chemicals and microbiological substances in pool water. Having safe levels:
- protects pool users from unsafe bacteria
- safeguards pool users against chemical burns
- minimises the damage to the pool and associated equipment.
Therefore, you have to meet all the following requirements of the Standard.
- Avoid overuse of the pool, which degrades water quality. Water quality also degrades when chlorine is lost through high ultraviolet levels on a hot day. The Standard sets out the required levels of pool chemicals.
- Act quickly if faeces get into the pool or someone with diarrhoea uses it. Either event can introduce infectious bacteria such as giardia or cryptosporidium into pool water.
- Test the water regularly. This includes daily testing 3 times a day and monthly specialist microbiological monitoring .
- A suitably qualified person must do the water treatment. This person must have New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) unit standards in swimming pool water quality.
- The qualified person must have the management of the pool’s water quality under their continuous technical supervision. This person must be readily available when the pool is operating. This doesn’t mean the qualified person must be at the pool at all times – just available if needed. If they are not available, the pool cannot be used.
- The filtration system must be able to cope with the treatment regime in the Standard
- You must have systems in place for safely handling and storing potentially unstable and explosive pool chemicals. Go to hazardous substances for more information about managing dangerous substances.
You will be monitored to check that you are complying with the Standard. Agencies like the Ministry of Health and Worksafe NZ may test the swimming pool water quality on occasion to confirm that you are fulfillingStandard. An environmental health officer from your obligations.local council will probably do this monitoring.
Daily testing
A suitably qualified person must test your pool water 3 times a day: usually before school, at lunchtime and after school. This testing is to check the pool maintains the correct:
- pH
- alkalinity
- calcium hardness
- chlorine level
- features that make up the pool chemistry.
The person doing this testing:
- is usually someone at the school, such as the caretaker – they need to hold an appropriate unit standard from NZQA
- may be someone from your local council, if you arrange for the council to provide testing services.
Becoming qualified to do daily pool water testing
Unit Standard 20046 (NZQA website) is the recommended minimum training to meet NZS 5826:2010. It has been designed for school caretakers.
A number of training providers offer training in the appropriate unit standards. Search the internet for providers or go to the NZQA list of education organisations (NZQA website) .
Most courses are one or 2 days. We suggest that you cluster with other schools to arrange training.
Monthly microbiological monitoring of pool water
You must arrange for monthly microbiological monitoring of the pool water. For this testing, pool water samples are sent to laboratories that specialise in water treatment.
Contact your local council to:
- find out about environmental health testing services
- ask where the nearest testing laboratory is.
Filtering your pool
The standard recommends a 2-hour water turnover rate. If your current filtration system cannot do this, you need to upgrade your filtration system. To find out about:
Paying for the costs of running your pool
Use operational funding to pay for the costs of:
- pool chemicals
- water charges
- heating charges
- water testing charges
- the salary and training of the person responsible for maintaining pool hygiene and maintenance, such as the caretaker.
Paying for the costs of maintaining your pool
Which funding you use to maintain your school pool depends on whether it involves capital or operational work.
For more information about the difference between capital and maintenance costs, go to the 10 Year Property Plan (10YPP) page.
Operational maintenance work
Operational maintenance work may include:
- painting the pool and surrounds
- fence repairs
- repairing and servicing the filtration plant
- caring for ancillary buildings like changing rooms, storage sheds and roofing structures
- repairing pool covers.
Pay for such work out of your Property Maintenance Grant (PMG) funding. This funding is calculated on the actual square metres of the pool.
Capital maintenance work
Capital work will improve the value of an asset. For example, it may involve:
- resurfacing the pool
- major upgrading of fences and ancillary buildings
- building new plant and facilities.
Pay for the capital maintenance work using either:
A swimming pool maintenance upgrade is generally a priority 4 project. For more information about funding priorities, go to the 10 Year Property Plan (10YPP) page. You must include any capital work planned for your pool in your 10YPP.
We will not usually agree to a 10YPP that includes capital work to upgrade a pool that has come to the end of its economic life. We might make an exception based on your individual circumstances such as:
- extreme geographical remoteness
- how close you are to other school pools or local authority pools.
Contact your local Ministry office for more information about applying for a exemption to upgrade an older pool.
Paying to repair damage to your pool
Swimming pools are not an entitlement under the School Property Guide (SPG). For this reason, the Ministry’s School Building Insurance Funding Programme does not cover damage to swimming pools, their surrounds or associated facilities.
If your swimming pool is damaged, you must pay for repairs using board funding, PMG or 5YA, depending on the type and extent of the damage. If you do not have enough funding for this, other Ministry funds may be available. Talk to your local Ministry office .
Building, renovating and replacing a pool and facilities
New Zealand Standard requirements
When building or upgrading a school pool, you must meet the requirements of NZS 4441:2008 ‘Swimming Pool Design’ Standard . This Standard covers:
- the design and construction of swimming pools
- water treatment facilities
- contracting requirements for designing and constructing swimming pools
- requirements for safety and good operational management.
Recommended pool sizes
The Ministry’s recommended school pool sizes are:
- for primary/composite schools, 25 by 6 metres
- for intermediate/secondary schools, 33.3 by 12 metres.
Changing rooms, toilets and showers
You must provide changing rooms for pool users. These must provide:
- adequate privacy for pool users to change, giving regard to the gender, cultural or religious requirements of the school community
- adequate lighting, ventilation and drainage
- dry places to store belongings.
When upgrading your facilities, you must also ensure there are toilets within the pool enclosure.
Showers, preferably warm, are recommended but are not mandatory.
Paying for a new or replacement swimming pool
There is no Ministry funding for building or replacing a school pool. A pool is not a School Property Guide (SPG) entitlement .
However, you can use board funding such as grants and fundraising for this purpose. This funding will need to cover all associated facilities.
Find out more about using board-raised funding for property projects .
Paying to remove a swimming pool
Capital expenses of removing a school pool are likely to include:
- demolishing the pool
- re-filling the hole
- landscaping the area.
You can pay for these costs using either:
- 5YA funding, or
- board funding.
You must include the project in your school’s 10YPP and balance it against the other priorities of your school.
We sometimes have a rationalisation funding programme to pay for removal and demolition of school buildings and facilities. Talk to your property advisor to find out if this is an option.
Caption "I really like my new classroom because it has lots of cool furniture and I enjoy working with my friends." - Jade, student
