The Islamic School of Canberra has secured a government grant and worked with Deakin Pool to develop a culturally sensitive program to help its students gain confidence in swimming.
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Aware many of his students were fearful of water, principal David Johns implemented the program after a spate of drowning deaths in New South Wales.
About 80 per cent of the school's students from kindergarten to year 7 travelled to Deakin during term one to participate in the gender segregated lessons.
"We've got a fair few families from the Middle East and obviously access to water and being near the coast is not on their list of experiences ... [and] Pakistan, India and Bangladesh in areas where it's not a priority," Mr Johns said.
"Here, families often find it difficult to learn to swim because of the language barrier.
"There's also cultural and religious issues in learning to swim with people of the opposite gender in a space where they couldn't control how many males or females were present."
The students had quickly picked up the basics and many were now happily jumping into the water, Mr Johns said.
The focus will shift to athletics and teaching students skills in throwing and running in term two.
In the fourth week of term two, the week before Ramadan, the school will host a celebratory carnival for students to show off their new skills to their parents.
Since opening the school to swimming students have been visited by the Weston Creek Football Club and Canberra Raiders and will soon participate in an AFL skills workshop.
Mr Johns said parents were keen to instil their children with strong Islamic values but knew it was similarly important for them to be able to connect with people outside of that community. Participating in popular sports helped in that aim, he said.
"The kids have loved it," Mr Johns said.
