Wollongong City Council’s staff will be instructing international Tafe students on the importance of beach safety today, Wednesday, 15 December in the lead up to the summer holidays.

The important beach safety lesson will start at 11am at North Wollongong Beach, where students can learn all areas of beach safety and participate in a simulated dry land rescue.

Participating international students will then be able to identify signage and flags and understand the role of lifeguards and our city’s lifesavers.

Ways to identifying rips will also be taught to participants, as will the correct procedure if you find yourself in trouble whilst in the water.

At the end of the course students will be given handouts outlining beach safety tips and identifying patrolled beach locations, which are available in various languages.

Council’s Beach Services Coordinator, Jason Foye said that it is an important time of year for everyone to be reminded of the significance of beach safety and awareness.

“This is a great initiative for Council to work with the international Tafe students to ensure they can have a fun and safe summer at the beach. Educating students in beach awareness can prevent tragedy at our local beaches and allow for the information to be passed on to family and friends.”

“We want to encourage all international guests to our local area to understand the importance of beach safety, as the summer school holidays can put lifeguards and lifesavers under immense pressure that is why we want to get the beach safety tips out there.”

“It is important for the entire community to remember the three golden rules in beach safety, ‘No Flags, No Swim,’ ‘Stay Calm, Raise your Arm’ and ‘Slip Slop, Slap and Wrap.’”