Dear Lorne S.L.S.C. Members,

The 2021/22 season is now fast approaching and that means it is time again for the annual Skills Maintenance and requalification of your LSV awards. However, as some of you would have experienced last year, due to COVID-19 precautions, this year will look quite different from what we have been used to in the past.

This year we can only permit groups of 20 to complete their requal at a time (subject to change as we get closer to the season but this is the current rules as of this point in time). This is a significant change to the large groups we usually get for requal in previous years. To ensure our large member base has adequate opportunity to complete their skills maintenance or ‘requal’, there will be an increase in the number of sessions available. The usual main requal session hosted on the last Saturday of November will now occur over the last two weekends of November. Please find below a full list of skills maintenance opportunities available in November:

– 20 November 2021 – 1 x hour sessions from 10:00am – 1:00pm
– 21 November 2021 – 1 x hour sessions from 10:00am – 1:00pm
– 27 November 2021 – 1 x hour sessions from 10:00am – 1:00pm
– 28 November 2021 – 1 x hour sessions from 10:00am – 1:00pm
– December – TBD
– January – TBD

These sessions are slowly being approved now with a majority already posted for you to book into them. If you do not find them right away, they will be appearing very soon. We are also offering some requal dates in December and January but these will be quite limited. It is highly preferred that you attend a skills maintenance in November.

A reminder that anyone who received an award or did the skill maintenance last season needs to attend the skills maintenance this year to get themselves requalified for this season. However, if you are attending any of this year’s courses then you do not need to requal those awards.

Please ensure that you have paid your membership fees, information on how to do this can be found through the following link:

http://lornesurflifes.wpenginepowered.com/members-home/membership-and-payments/

Please also ensure that your Working with Children’s Check is valid and if you have just turned 18, ensure you apply for a card.
Once you have paid for your membership, you will need to complete the online theory components and book yourself into a session. Both can be done through LSV’s new training portal:

https://mt.lsv.com.au/

Your login details are the same details you use for the SLSA Members area, so when you go to renew your membership the log in details you used for that will be the same for this system.
Once you have logged in, follow these steps to enrol yourself in a Skills Maintenance session:

1. Select the Skills Maintenance tile at the top of the screen. (Selected red in the image below)
2. Select the yellow enrol button next to all the awards you hold and are requalifying
3. Once enrolled, select the new blue launch button next to those awards you enrolled in and complete the content and theory assessment.
4. Once you have completed the theory, there should be a green complete button next to the award. This indicates that you have completed your theory assessment for the award and you can book into a session. Please Note: Your Bronze Medallion may not come back as complete, this is a bug that LSV is working on fixing.
5. Between the Skills Maintenance tile and the list of awards, you will see a progress bar, select step 2 and select the ‘book practical’ button next to the award you wish to requalify.
6. You will be redirected to a new page where you can search for a skills maintenance session.
7. In the dropbox labelled ‘Select Skills to maintain’ select all the awards that you currently hold, select the date that you are looking to equal on (28th or 29th November) and press the search button on the far right. Alternatively, you can use the search bar below the ‘Select
   skills to maintain’ and search for Lorne. Please Note: There are also Lifeguard requal sessions planned to be hosted in Lorne, DO NOT enrol in these sessions, they are identified as ‘Lifeguard Update’
8. Simply scroll through the list until you find an available Lorne session you can attend and book into that. You can register for a different club if you wish, however, this is not recommended and should only be done if you cannot attend any of Lorne’s sessions. Please Note: Not all Skills Maintenance sessions for the season will be released at once, due to the fluid nature of COVID there is a possibility of changes as we approach the patrolling season. As such, I am keeping options open for now to embrace those changes so you may need to wait for more sessions to be released. I will release sessions on a fortnightly basis and will notify all members via Facebook when more courses are available.
9. This is the session that you must attend, due to COVID requirements you will not be allowed to attend a session without pre-enrolling and your assessor will send you away if they do not have you listed.
10. There are also significant changes to how requal will be conducted. Due to COVID requirements, the below changes have been applied:

Bronze/SRC

This year you will be shown by your assessor how to perform CPR and the adjustments required for COVID-19. You will not physically demonstrate CPR on a manikin.
You will not need to complete a board/tube rescue but will be talked through the correct cleaning process for the equipment.
You will not need to conduct a spinal extraction from the water – once again this will be discussed with your assessor
You will complete your run-swim-run, so make sure you bring your wetsuit and goggles. This will be conducted in pairs with each pair staggered apart from the pair before them.

Advanced Resuscitation Techniques
Similar to bronze/SRC, all components of this award will be performed by your assessor for you to watch and ask questions.

IRB crew/drivers

There are no practical assessment tasks for this award. If your award was current last season and you have completed your online theory for this year, then your award will automatically be updated. You will need to show your assessor you have completed the online theory and drivers will need to show their current boat licence.

All changes will be outlined to you at the start of your Skills Maintenance session. If you have any questions please ask your assessor and follow their instructions.

Please also be aware of the current rules regarding access to the club, at this point, you will not be able to use any of the club’s facilities unless you’re fully vaccinated and have sent through your certificate to the Club administrator. As always, ensure you follow us on our social media pages or check the website regularly for updates.

If you have any questions regarding the Skills Maintenance weekends, please contact the Training and Assessing team – training@lornesurfclub.com.au

See you between the flags!

Nicholas Tsekouras
Vice-President of Training & Assessment
Lorne S.L.S.C.