Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Territory local Donna Rousham has put a desperate call out for a swim teacher to join the Starfish Swim School for kids with disabilities

Transcript

Territory local Donna Rousham has put a desperate call out for a swim teacher to join the Starfish Swim School for kids with disabilities · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now, a well known
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: territory and the lovely Donna Rusham. Good morning to your Donna.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Morning Katie.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Now, I'm very well. I understand at the moment, I
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: know a lot of people will be aware of the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Starfish Swim Group, which is a learned to swim group
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: for kids with disabilities. I've had you on air before
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: and we've spoken about it. But Donna, at the moment,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: you are in need of a bit of help.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Aren't you. Absolutely, I'm reaching out and I'm reaching out
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: to you. I've tried desperately through channels that I know,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: different avenues, and I just can't seem to pick up
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: a person to get a person. Now, this is just
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: difinue it. This is a nationwide problem at the moment
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: with swims teachers. So I think to myself, well, yeah, okay,
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: we're behind the eight ball again, just even with off
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: swim teachers, just with the schools and whatever, they're really
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: short of teachers. I was talking to a lady in
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Melbourne the other day and they've been doing eighteen hour
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: ships trying to run all their classes down there. So
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: it is a national problem. But I know Darwin and
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: I know Darwin can dig deep and we can find
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: somebody and through that, I think you're the person that
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: needs to bring well Donna.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I was thinking to myself, I no longer have my
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: own swim qualification. I think it's expired.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Otherwise i'd be able to help you. I think you
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: could go back and get it. I'm sure if you've
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: got a Saturday morning, you could go back and.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Get Donna tell us exactly what you need, because hopefully
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: there is somebody out there listening this morning who is
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: able to help.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, okay, what we are, what we're after is a
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: teacher of infants and preschoolers, so the little one. So
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: it's a Saturday morning, it's run on the Saturday morning.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: We've got our other classes running, but the Saturday morning,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: so we got it's mums and bugs, infants and pre
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: up to preschoolers. So we've got six months. We start
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: with our first as a little group, so there's five
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: or six in a group, so six months to say
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: one and a half, and our next session is probably
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: one and a half to probably two and a half
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: somewhere there. Three then we've got a three four year
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: old and then a four or five, so there's four
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: different classes. Parents in the water, with the child, with
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: the teacher, and yeah, so it's a forty five minute session.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: But within that time, if your child only lasts for
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: thirty minutes, that's okay, that's understandable. But we just said
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: it a little bit of extra time. Sometimes they were running.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: You know, these are little kids, so they're unning a
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: bit late and the kids to get a bit cranky,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: they want to get out whatever. So it's every Saturday morning.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: We had a teacher last year, a most wonderful teacher,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: and she relocated to Melbourne, so we're all, you know,
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: I'm getting phone calls every day. We got somebody. I
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: tried desperately because especially you'd understand we've got these little
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: kids who have been coming every Saturday morning and now
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: since I think the second week of December, we've had
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: no lessons and this is just not good little kids
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: to be out of the water.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: No, And Donna, look, a lot of people listening this
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: morning will be thinking, hang on a second, Wilfi. You
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: don't usually do ads for different jobs, and I don't.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: We're talking about a wonderful group of little kids. They
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: are our Staffish swim group, which is that learn to
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: swim group for children with disabilities, and these swimming lessons
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: are so incredibly important for them, aren't they.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: It is now they don't have to have When I
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: go from like junior school six year old upwards, the
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: teachers then have to have their TAI, which is called
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Teacher of Accesses Inclusions, so they must have their disability training.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: But in this early stage group it's a little bit
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: more open. As long as they've got the teacher of
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: infants in preschool is qualification I swim qualification, they're right
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: to go with us.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Oh, Donna, I really hope that somebody out there listening
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: this morning has their old swim qualification and that they're
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: able to help out because, like I said, this this
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Starfish swim group, it does so much for the little ease.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: They just absolutely love being able to get out there
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: and go for a swim on a Saturday, don't they.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, If you got a chance here, I just
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: come any part any Saturday that you want to come.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's just amazing the kids that actually know,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: the little ones, the babies. We've actually got probably about
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: an eighteen months old that knows by mum's actions on
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Saturday morning that they're going swimming, and like they come
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: through the gate. There is a little pram stroller thing.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: They come through the gate and it's like, I'm not swimming,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: you know, the non verbal quite you know, with disabilities,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: but it's just their face just lightens up. To know.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: The hands go like, oh, I'm going to swimming lessons. Yeah,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I just somebody we think. We didn't think that somebody
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: might have got transferred. That we weren't panicking until this stage.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: So I wouldn't normally ring the radio station. I don't
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: agree in doing that, but in desperation, I've gone how
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: to we reach further out? Yeah, and other than the
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: ways that I've gone, So yeah.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I think it's fair enough. And Donna, you know, I'm
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: always always happy to try and help, particularly in a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: situation like this, because, as you know, I love my swimming,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: but I also think it's so incredibly important that our
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: little ones learn to swim. And when you're talking about
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: these little ones that do have disabilities, it is something
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: that they look forward to and that their families look
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: forward to and they really need.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well listen, and it's because they're a little small groups.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: It really is is catered for their needs rather than
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: be in a big group whatever. The teacher can go
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: around each you'll give an instruction. Then you'll go round
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: each of the parents with their child and show them
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: what that instruction is and see where they're up to.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: And so there's some individual within its little group session,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: so they're pretty they're well catered for in that group.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I really want to get this up and going.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: And hope somebody's arrived in town or he's on a
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: flight just flying into day and hear it and go.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, Well, Donna, what's the Is there a Facebook
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: page or is there a what's the best way for
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: them to contact you? Well, look, I'm.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Happy to get my mobile to you.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Oh well, we'll keep it here at the station and
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: if anybody wants to contact us for that number, we'll
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: pass it on. And then there's also a Facebook page.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: There is Starfish Variety NT Starfish Swim group, so they
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: can go on to there and they can see what
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: there's all the information about all our other groups and
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: everything on there. So and yeah, don't give me a
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: call or email or whatever they need to do, but
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: they want to ring you first, and then you can
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: pass the information onto them.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Well, Donna, I hope, I hope that we're able to
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: find a swim teacher for the Starfish swim group. It's
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: an amazing, amazing thing that you know, you guys do
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: for the Little East, So I think it's so important.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well they could all who's to know? They could
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: all go one day after you know, fifteen years and
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: be champions like Tarni.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: That's exactly right. I was going to say, you know
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: better than anyone. You are the mum of a daughter
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: who's a world champion, so you know better than anyone.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Good on your daughter. It started in the water when
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: she was three months old, so who's to know with
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: all these other.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Little Yeah, that's exactly right, Donna Rusham. It's always lovely
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: to talk to you. I will talk to you again
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: very soon.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Likewise, Katie, and thanks for your hair, TIMD no worries.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Thank you,