Teaching basic swimming, water safety and rescue skills is recommended by the World Health Organization for all school-aged children. However, there is a lack of evidence on effective pedagogies to develop swimming competency and the success of swimming lessons as a drowning prevention intervention. This study used a self-report questionnaire and practical testing procedures to examine the effectiveness of a 10-week student-centred aquatic programme designed for children aged 10–12 years. The study also determined whether the non-traditional swimming programme was accepted by swim teachers, school teachers and principals, and parents from a range of schools from different geographical regions in Victoria, Australia. A total of 204 students were enrolled in the programme. The pre-programme results indicated a good level of swimming, water safety and aquatic knowledge, but low swimming ability. Swimming ability significantly improved from pre-programme to post-programme, with no significant post-programme ability differences between male and female children or for participants from different programmes. Qualitative feedback collected through questionnaires, interviews and/or focus groups from students (n = 73) and parents (n = 69), school teachers and principals (n = 14), swim teachers and swim school managers (n = 21) indicated strong support from principals and swim teachers for the student-centred pedagogy, and all stakeholders valued the focus on survival swimming competencies. This research highlights the importance of including stakeholders when designing and implementing aquatics programmes. The study has resulted in a well-founded, effective programme with tailored resources and instructional materials that are available for swim centres and schools that would enable schools globally to adopt and implement this programme.

世界卫生组织建议向所有学龄儿童教授基本的游泳，水安全和救援技能。然而，缺乏有效的教学法来发展游泳能力的证据以及作为预防溺水干预措施的游泳课程的成功方面缺乏证据。这项研究使用了一份自我报告调查表和实际测试程序来检验针对10至12岁儿童设计的为期10周的以学生为中心的水生计划的有效性。该研究还确定了非传统游泳计划是否被澳大利亚维多利亚州不同地理区域的一系列学校的游泳老师，学校老师和校长以及家长接受。共有204名学生参加了该计划。计划前的结果表明游泳水平很高，水安全和水生知识，但游泳能力低。从计划前到计划后，游泳能力显着提高，男女之间或来自不同计划的参与者之间的计划后能力没有显着差异。通过问卷调查，访谈和/或焦点小组从学生那里收集的定性反馈（n = 73），父母（n = 69），学校老师和校长（n = 14），游泳老师和游泳学校经理（n = 21）表示，校长和游泳老师对以学生为中心的教学法给予了大力支持，利益相关者重视对生存游泳能力的关注。这项研究突出了设计和实施水产养殖计划时包括利益相关者的重要性。这项研究产生了一个有充分基础的有效计划，其中包含针对游泳中心和学校的量身定制的资源和指导材料，使全球的学校都可以采用和实施该计划。