The SLSNSW Member Training and Education Standard Operating Procedures (‘SLSNSW Education SOPs’) outline the key policies and procedures relevant to delivering SLS member training and education in NSW.

They contain valuable information on:

  • The TAF Endorsement process (how to become a TAF)
  • The TAF Supervisory framework
  • Training delivery and assessment procedures
  • Complaints and Grievances
  • TAF Uniforms
  • Training and Education administration processes

If you have any questions about or feedback on the SLSNSW Education SOPs, please let the SLSNSW Training and Education Team know so they can help.

Education Administration FAQs

  • Credit Transfers Requests – Processed weekly by SLSNSW. Members can use this SLSNSW Credit Transfer Request Form to submit a request to the SLSNSW Training and Education Team.
  • Powercraft licences – printed at the start of each month at SLSNSW. Allow 1-2 weeks for them to arrive by mail.
  • Service awards – processed and printed at SLSNSW during the third week of the month. Allow 1-2 weeks for them to arrive by mail. More information about Service awards is available here.
  • Recognition awards – processed and printed at SLSNSW during the fourth week of the month. Allow 1-2 weeks for them to arrive by mail. More information about Recognition awards is available here.
  • Junior and Member awards – processed weekly then printed and engraved in bulk at the end of each month. Allow 2+ weeks for certificates and medallions to arrive by mail.

To avoid delays in receiving your certificates, avoid selecting ‘all members available’ when completing an assessment request because not all will be within the respective age group (as per their date of birth).

After surf education has been completed: 

For each age group, complete a new Proficiency Assessment Request for a Preliminary Skills Evaluation and another assessment request for the Surf Education award.

Complete before 31st December to meet junior surf sport competition requirements:

For each age group, complete a new Proficiency Assessment Request for a Competition Skills Evaluation if they are to compete at a branch or state surf sports event.

Also, ensure that a new Award Assessment Request for their respective Junior Surf Award is entered into SurfGuard and approved by 31st December each year.

Remember to allow up to 2 months to receive the certificates via the club’s preferred delivery method as awards are processed within 4-6 weeks.

More information about junior awards is available on the SLSNSW Junior Activities (‘Nippers’) webpage.

The following steps summarise those contained within SLSA Circular 46/21-22 Transitioning from Surf Rescue Certificate to Bronze Medallion:

  1. Receive an SRC to BM Transition Application Form from the course participant to confirm their eligibility to complete the transition program and note which SurfGuard assessment request pathway they need to achieve the Certificate II Public Safety (Aquatic Rescue).
  2. Raise new assessment request types in SurfGuard as appropriate to the individual member’s pathway:

For members who completed their SRC during or after  2020 and already hold some units of competency:

Part A

Raise a new assessment ID to recognise that the member meets the eligibility criteria and has kept their prior learning current through at least 10 hours on patrol within the last 12 months:

  • Assessment Type = RCC/RPL
  • Award Type = AQFT
  • Award = SRC to BM RPL module.

 

Part B

Raise a new assessment ID to assess the remaining units of competency, PUA20119 Certificate and SLS Bronze Medallion.

  • Assessment Type = Award
  • Award Type = SLSA Education
  • Award = Bronze Medallion
  • Units of competency selected = Remove PUASAR012 + PUASAR013 + PUAOPE013
  • Comments (example) = SRC to BM Transition Part A Assessment ID is XXXXXX

These members must satisfactorily complete the following BM/Cert II assessment tasks to achieve competency:

  • 1 (Part 4-10)
  • 4-5
  • 8-10

For members who completed the SRC before 2020 and have no units of competency:

  • Assessment Type = Award
  • Award Type = All Award Types
  • Award = Bronze Medallion (equivalent award PUA20119)
  • Units of competency selected = All

These members must satisfactorily complete all BM/Cert II assessment tasks to achieve competency.

Note: Some scheduled courses may include no members who completed their SRC before 2020.

SLS First Aid award course

For members not eligible for a subsidised HLTAID011 Provide First Aid certificate, raise an SLS First Aid award which will have the usual SLS certification fees for the SLS award and its aligned units of competency:

  • Assessment Type = Award
  • Award Type = SLSA Education
  • Award = First Aid
  • Units of competency selected = Add HLTAID010 and HLTAID009

SLSNSW Subsidised HLTAID011 Provide First Aid certificate course

The following steps summarise those contained within the SLSNSW Delivery of First Aid Training in NSW document for volunteer SLS First Aid Facilitator-delivered courses in SLSNSW Clubs and/or branches.

  1. Confirm each member’s eligibility for a subsidised HLTAID011 Provide First Aid certificate with your SLSNSW Branch First Aid Course Coordinator.
  2. Raise a Provide First Aid [2021] assessment in SurfGuard for eligible members:
  • Assessment Type = Award
  • Award Type = AQFT Module
  • Award = Provide First Aid [2021]
  • Units of competency selected = Add HLTAID010
  • Comments (example) = Subsidised HLTAID011 for [No] eligible members. ART/HLTAID015 course scheduled for members.

Note:

  • SLSNSW Branches are only allocated a select number of subsidised HLTAID011 course placements each year as SLS advanced resuscitation operators transition to the current ART version by June 2024.
  • All members in a subsidised HLTAID011 course should be eligible for subsidy. Non-eligible members should enrol in a separate SLS First Aid course/Assessment ID.

HLTAID011/First Aid Award Credit Transfers

Members can use this SLSNSW Credit Transfer Request Form to submit a request to the SLSNSW Training and Education Team. Allow up to one week for the credit transfer record to appear in SurfGuard.

If course participants or a TAF do not appear when creating a new assessment, check that they meet the SurfGuard prerequisites to be included in an assessment and/or allocated an award.

You can do this by selecting  Check from the Education menu in SurfGuard.

If a participant or TAF still cannot be added after checking the cause,  advise your Club Chief Training Officer or Branch Director of Education who can assist you to investigate the matter further.

Note:

  • Names of TAFs and Participants in the assessment comments box cannot be approved by SLSNSW within SurfGuard.
  • A Facilitator can be added to both the trainer and the assessor fields in SurfGuard.

If you would like more information, please click here to be directed to the SurfGuard User Guide.

There are currently three different versions of SLS Advanced Resuscitation awards held by members on patrol.

By June 2024, all members patrolling in the role of an Advanced Resuscitation Operator will transition to hold the latest version, which aligns with HTLAID015.

New/Current version issued upon completion of ART training:

  • Assessment Type = Award
  • Award Type = SLSA Education
  • Award = Advanced Resuscitation Techniques
  • Aligns with HLTAID015 released 2021
  • Use the SLSA Assessing app or SLS skills maintenance cards to renew

Old version that can only be renewed through skills maintenance till the 2023/24 season:

  • Assessment Type = Bulk Proficiency
  • Award Type = SLSA Education
  • Award = Advanced Resuscitation Techniques [Aid]
  • Aligns with HLTAID007 which retired in 2020
  • Use the SLSA Assessing app or SLS skills maintenance cards to renew

Archived version that can only be renewed through skills maintenance till the 2023/24 season:

  • Assessment Type = Bulk Proficiency
  • Award Type = SLSA Education
  • Award = Advanced Resuscitation Techniques Certificate
  • Aligns with HLTFA404 which retired in 2013
  • Use SLS skills maintenance cards to renew

SLSNSW recommends selecting the below SurfGuard Custom Report column options to download data into an Excel® format, THEN filtering and manipulating the data in Excel® to obtain answers to your questions:

1. General Details:

  • Member ID:
  • First Name:
  • Last Name:

2. Email Address:

  • Email Address 1:

3. Organisation Membership Details:

  • Branch:
  • Organisation:
  • Registered for season:

4. Awards:

  • Award allocation type:  This will tell you if the member achieved the award through a training course, RPL Assessment or Credit Transfer pathway.
  • Award Name: SLSNSW recommends selecting one award per report and then collating and manipulating report data in Excel® though you can hold the Ctrl button to select multiple awards at the same time.
  • Award Date: This is the date of their proposed assessment
  • Award Expiry Date: This is the date a SLS award will expire, usually 31st December of any year. A unit of competency will not have an expiry date in SurfGuard, e.g., HLTAID units.
  • Award Allocation Date: This is the date that the member was allocated the award by SLSNSW, e.g., the date a HLTAID011 unit was allocated.

5. Organisation General Details:

  • Organisation type. Recommend using “SLS Organisation” as the selection criteria for club member reports

6. Mode of Delivery:

  • Enter Mode of Delivery, e.g., Display report here, Send report via email
  • Recurring type, e.g., recurring weekly, fortnightly, monthly or on a scheduled date
  • Display type, e.g., Downloadable CSV (Excel Format) – Recommended
  • Create template: tick if you want to run this report again and save it as a template

The following are examples of comments that you may see within the Assessment Comments in SurfGuard:

  • Communications from SLSNSW informing members why an Assessment ID is pending approval in SurfGuard, e.g., name of Trainer or Assessor TBC, waiting on documentation to be provided.
  • The name of any Probationary TAF
  • The name of any TAF Mentor
  • An Assessment ID related to a SRC to BM Transition Module assessment request
  • Any indication of SLSNSW course subsidisation
  • Any comments that the TAF requested to be noted

Sometimes returning members may have a Bronze Medallion yet no Cert II Public Safety (Aquatic Rescue).

Your club’s CTO will support their member in obtaining the Cert II Public Safety (Aquatic Rescue). Depending on how long ago they completed their BM, they may have the option to achieve the qualification through an assessment-only pathway.

Within SurfGuard, two assessments will need to be raised:

One for the SLSA Bronze Medallion

  • Assessment type = Proficiency
  • Award type = SLSA Education
  • Award = Bronze Medallion

Another for the PUA20119 Cert II Public Safety (Aquatic Rescue)

  • Assessment type = Award (or RCC/RPL)*
  • Award type = AQTF Qualification
  • Award = Certificate II Public Safety (Aquatic Rescue) PUA20119

*If the PUA20119 was achieved via an assessment-only pathway, the Assessment Type in SurfGuard must be ‘RCC/RPL’.

Send a request to the SLSNSW Training and Education Team who will be able to email you another copy.

education@surflifesaving.com.au

SLSNSW Trainers, Assessors and Facilitators with a current ‘LMS Access’ award in SurfGuard can view the SLS eLearning Platform’s Report Menu.

SLS Clubs and Branches can allocate this award in SurfGuard (or extend its 12-month proficiency) by raising the appropriate assessment request in SurfGuard.

CTOs have automatic administration access to the eLearning portal. All other members of a SLSC Education Team require authorisation from their CTOs for member privacy.

First-time allocation:

Assessment type: Award

Assessment type: Other

Award: LMS Access

Extension:

Assessment type: Proficiency (or Bulk Proficiency)

Assessment type: Other

Award: LMS Access

To learn more about the different SLS eLearning report options, please refer to the latest SLSA eLearning User Guide v11 Jan 2020

SLS eLearning Platform

The SLSA Publications app houses the latest version of the PSAR35 training manual used for SLSA aquatic rescue, emergency care and beach management awards. A PDF copy is also available in the SLSA Members Area Document Library for TAFs to share with any course participants who prefer/request this version.

Accessing the Publications App

The Publications App is available to download from the Apple App Store (Link) and the Google Play Store (Link).

The app may be viewed on your mobile digital device, the latest Mac computers, and on a desktop using an android app emulator.

 

The following steps can be followed by participants to purchase the PSAR35 training manual:

  1. Login to the SLSA Members Area with your unique username and password – Link
  2. Click on the “Memberships” tab
  3. Select “Member Store” from the dropdown menu
  4. Select “The Members Online Shop”
  5. Click on the PSAR35 Public Safety & Aquatic Rescue Training Manual 35th Edition (E-Book)
  6. Click the “Add to Cart” button
  7. Click the “Proceed to Checkout” button
  8. Scroll down to enter your billing information
  9. Scroll down to enter and “apply” a coupon discount to your order if one was provided to you by your club (this will result in a $0 payment for step 12). If you do not have a coupon, skip this step.
  10. Click “Review order”
  11. Click “Submit Order”
  12. Enter your payment details (if you did not use a club coupon)
  13. Click “Next”
  14. Confirm purchase.

After your purchase is confirmed:

  1. Install the SLSA Publications App to your mobile device
  2. Log into the app using your unique SLSA Members Area username and password – Link

If you cannot see the PSAR35 manual straight away:

  1. Tap on the three white lines at the top right of the screen to view the app menu
  2. Tap on “Change” to change which publication you are viewing
  3. Tap on the Public Safety and Aquatic Rescue training manual

Note:

CTOs and TAFs can speak to their club’s Online Store Administrator to obtain discount codes to share with course participants.

 

Returning members who are completing their BM again should have their assessment entered in as a proficiency, however at times this is not the case, and they end up with a duplicate Bronze Medallion which isn’t picked up through the usual approval processes in place.

This duplicate BM award needs to be deleted as it may cause issues with the members’ skills maintenance and surf sport competition records.

For instructions on how to run a custom SurfGuard report and then create a pivot table in Excel® to find out who has got a duplicate BM in SurfGuard, click the links below.

  1.  Instructions – How to Find Members with Duplicate Bronze Medallion Awards
  2. SLSA Custom SurfGuard Report (in SLS Members Area Document Library)

If you require any further support to identify and remove duplicate BM awards, please contact the SLSNSW Training and Education Team (education@surflifesaving.com.au).

IT SYSTEMS FEEDBACK AND ENHANCEMENT SUGGESTIONS

Our IT systems are continuously improving based on member feedback and enhancement suggestions. No matter how big or small your idea is, we’d love to hear from you by completing the SLSNSW IT Enhancement Suggestion Form below.

SUBMIT YOUR IT ENHANCEMENT SUGGESTION FORM

Suggestions are reviewed each month by SLSNSW Digital Working Group members who help prioritise suggestions for development. They also support the review of suggestions in conjunction with national IT committee and working group members if required.

Please note that any IT enhancement suggestion that progresses through to development may take at least 4 months to implement.