A TEN-year-old from Stoke Climsland successfully completed her Swimming Teachers Association Junior Lifeguard Academy President’s Seal award after nearly two years of classroom and pool learning.

Jessica Turner, from Stoke Climsland Primary School, along with three other youngsters from Cornwall, spent an hour a week most weeks for two years attending the Phoenix Leisure Centre in Launceston, where they learned a wide range of personal survival, lifesaving, first aid and health and well being skills. The teacher for most of their learning was Richard Harrison, a former member of the Tempus Leisure swimming teachers’ team at Launceston.

The youngsters started on their journey knowing that the programme required them to learn and demonstrate hundreds of skills across a wide range of missions, achieving them at their own pace, but in a supportive, challenging and competitive environment.

The President’s Seal Award is the highest award in the STA Junior Lifeguard programme.

Jessica’s father John Turner said: ‘I genuinely believe that teaching swimming and lifesaving provides such valuable life skills and that my daughter Jessica and all the other youngsters on the training programme have grown through this learning experience.

‘As parents we recognise that the children now have some of the skills to help others needing basic first aid and also sufficient knowledge to keep themselves safe, while performing resuscitation, until trained medics arrive. But we also recognise that this achievement is just the first of many more steps before they become fully competent pool or surf lifeguards.’

Ryan Hall, duty manager at the leisure centre, said: ‘The four of them have done exceptionally well to pass such a diverse and inclusive qualification. Hopefully this will be the start of many future successes here at the centre. I will be watching in anticipation for their CVs arriving on my desk in the future!’