Published on Thursday, 2 February 2023 at 12:43:11 PM
A lucky group of Year 3 kids from Leinster Community School flew to Perth late last year and enjoyed a history excursion to Beatty Park.
Leinster is a town in the northern Goldfields, 968km away from Perth. There are no big pools where they’re from, so flying to Perth to visit Beatty Park was super exciting!
In their history lessons, the students were discussing communities and how they change, so Beatty Park’s 60th year celebrations was perfect timing to look at how the centre has changed and stayed the same.
The kids learnt a lot about our history and what it takes to run a leisure centre. But more importantly, they had an awesome day playing in the pool!
Prior to moving to Leinster, Year 3 teacher Miss Ellie Busher worked in our Swim School as a swim instructor for 8 years, and still works at the Swim School desk during school holidays.
“I started at Beatty Park fresh out of high school, not knowing what I wanted to do. I loved swim teaching so decided to study teaching” says Miss Busher. “Beatty Park has been my second home for so long so wanted to bring my class here to see just how amazing it is but also show them the other life of Miss Busher when she's in Perth.”
After enjoying recess on the grass after their long journey, the students embarked on a grand tour of the centre with Operations Coordinator Jeff and Swim School Coordinator Rebecca. The students visited the heritage-listed part of the building and took in the views of the outdoor pools from the grandstands. Jeff also showed the students the plant room where they got to see all the hot and cold pipes that operate the pools.
After the tour, the kids had a swim! They all loved the giant tipping bucket and slides, and even got to do some bombies in the outdoor pool. “We did so much swimming my fingers went wrinkly” said one student.
The excursion came to an end after a lunch and a final swim. “When we flew back to Leinster Miss Busher surprised us with a chocolate and let us play on her Nintendo Switch. We sang our class song ‘I want it that way’. When I got home I fell asleep on the couch. It was the best day everrrrr!” said another student.
“To be able to show my class my 'life before Leinster' was a great feeling” said Miss Busher. “My class had the most amazing day at Beatty Park and I am very happy I got to share this with them and give them memories they will remember for a long time.”
Miss Busher is a big advocate for the inclusive nature of swimming. “Swimming is just about the only sport I can do with my physical disability, so swim teaching and working at Beatty Park was my saviour. More recently, in 2021 I had major knee surgery and had to have extended leave from swim teaching – almost 6 months on crutches. Beatty Park trained me up to work in the Swim School office whilst in recovery and if it wasn't for this work and being around my 'Beatty Park family', my recovery and overall positivity would have been very very different.”
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more feel-good stories.
Back to All News