The portable pools have been a valuable asset to schools which allows water safety delivery to schools that do not have access to a pool, an initiative that has been in place for the past 11 years.  The pools are on loan to Sport Northland from the Adam Browns Water Safety Trust based in Auckland.

The maintenance and upkeep of the pools is a community effort with local businesses supporting the efforts to keep their communities safer in, on and around water through everything from building platforms, storing equipment, repairing, towing and servicing the pools and trailers.  Schools invest their time and cover the costs of running the pools whilst the pool is on their school site. The pools are getting older and it’s a constant battle to maintain them for schools and without the community support we would not be able to continue offering the pools. 

One school that utilises the portable pool to its maximum, nearly missed out on the opportunity this term.  Manaia View School has been a regular user of the portable pool and for the first time it was completely erected by the team at Manaia View, led by Ben Spiers and Sonya Poutai-Struginski.  The only thing left to do was to connect the pipework and fill it with water and it would have been ready to go for term four.  Unfortunately, the plant trailer was stolen, and crashed it causing unrepairable damage.  Obviously, the school were horrified at the incident and even more upsetting was that their tamariki would not be receiving the WaterSafe Programme and learning the essential life skills of water safety due to circumstances out of their control.

However, where there is a will there is a way and Manaia View decided that the tamariki missing out on their swimming was not an option.   Ben took up the reigns and began liaising with TOLL Group where the second portable pool is stored and had it delivered and unloaded to utilise the plant with the pool they had previously already set up.  Now the Northland WaterSafe Programme can continue and the tamariki can enjoy their time in the pool learning how to be safer in, on, and around water.

Ben Spiers and Sonya Struginski reflect “Sonz and I thought that there are so many parties that would be affected if we didn't go through with it. Swim school instructors timetable/work is affected, teachers term focus and unit plans are affected. All the effort from volunteers to set the pool up would have been a waste of time, let alone the demoralising task of packing down the empty unused pool. More importantly, the kids don't get taught how to swim. After some time, we have now got a running pool set up for the term. Albeit behind schedule but, better late than never”.  

“I guess we have always felt extremely grateful as a school whānau to have the opportunity to have the portable pool. When the trailer was stolen and damaged it sent shock waves through our school community as our tamariki faced the possibility of missing out on much-needed water safety lessons in preparation for their summer. We are thankful to receive continued support from the Northland WaterSafe Programme, that our tamariki will not miss out now that we have a replacement filter /pump.”

A big mihi to Ben, Sonya, and all the team at Manaia View School for keeping the option alive for the tamariki to learn essential water safety skills.

Adam Brown Water Safety Trust

Teaching water safety to kids at an early age is important, as drownings and other water-related accidents are a serious problem. However, the number of primary schools with swimming pools is rapidly declining and fewer kids are learning to swim at school.

Our mission is to ensure that the lack of access to a swimming pool doesn’t hinder primary schools from teaching water safety. We supply heated and covered portable pools free of charge (each pool rotates between 4 schools in a year) and fund water safety education.

Please support by donating towards the purchase of portable pools and water safety education, or by volunteering your time. For more information visit - https://www.poolsinschoolz.com/

 is an initiative of the Adam Brown Water Safety Trust, a charity registered under the Charities Act 2005 (CC46532). In New Zealand, donations from individuals are eligible for a tax credit and donations from companies and corporates are tax-deductible.