What does the junior activities curriculum cover at each age?
- Australia
- Surf Life Saving Australia
- Nippers
- Under 6-Under 13
- 2026/27
- Age managers
- Volunteers
Surf Life Saving Australia's Nippers page summarises the learning for each age group:
- Under 6: getting around the club and beach, basic water safety (signalling for help, staying with the group, adult supervision), recognising lifesavers and safe swimming areas, sun safety.
- Under 7: identifying beach hazards, recognising when they are in trouble, using the "assistance required" signal.
- Under 8: sun-smart practices, beach ecosystems, emergencies and calling 000, red and yellow flags, basic body-board skills.
- Under 9: beach litter, hydration and fitness, wave types and tide dangers, beach signs, nipper board basics, sand running and flag diving.
- Under 10: how rips form and how to escape them, basic resuscitation, rescue and direction signals, nipper board wave skills, assisting a distressed swimmer with a body board.
- Under 11: coping with fear or bullying and seeking help, first aid (including DRSABCD and CPR), nipper board dismounts and relays, swimming through and parallel to surf.
- Under 12: the four rip current types and using them in rescues, body systems and first aid, rolling under waves on a board, using a board to support a conscious patient.
- Under 13: infection control in first aid and resuscitation, surf swimming with a rescue tube and tube rescues, beach running, surf swimming and board skills in an Ironman/Ironwoman event and a Cameron Relay.
The age awards are Surf Play 1 (Under 6), Surf Play 2 (Under 7), Surf Aware 1 and 2 (Under 8 and 9), Surf Safe 1 and 2 (Under 10 and 11), Surf Smart 1 and 2 (Under 12 and 13), and the Surf Rescue Certificate at Under 14 (SLSA factsheet, 2021/22 edition). The SLSA Junior Development Resource Kit is in the SLSA Members Area (members.sls.com.au, Document Library, Nippers).
Sources: https://sls.com.au/nippers/ ; https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/Age-Groups-Preliminary-and-Competitions-Evaluations-Factsheet.pdf ; https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Age-Managers-Assessment-Portfolio-V2.2-July-2024.pdf
Updated 24 Oct 2026