Video transcript A principal’s perspective on creating an active school environment

Karen Wellington was initially skeptical of the offer to support her and Maoribank Primary School through a pilot called Play.Sport. With a roll of 80 students, and only five FTE staff, her first response was “we’re too busy to take on another professional development programme”.

Throughout the following year, Karen and her teachers were exposed to Play.Sport via the Principals’ cluster and the Upper Valley Primary School Sports Association, and discovered that it wasn’t just a programme, but a new way of looking at her school’s strategy – with HPE driving a schoolwide well-being approach.

Maoribank received support through workshops, teacher professional development and in-school initiatives like the Play Pod (watch more about that in this video).

As a result of this, Karen has seen a dramatic shift in both the ways her teachers develop their learners and themselves. They were pleased to see that what was delivered was in line with what she was initially promised: an internal support mechanism that didn’t dictate outcomes or timeframes.

In 2019, Maoribank school won an Outstanding Physical Education Award from Physical Education New Zealand – Te Ao Kori Aotearoa (PENZ) for all that they have achieved.

"As educators and as schools, we need to change what we do to meet the needs of our students."