Embedding values to strengthen whānau voice and learning

Paraparaumu Beach School began working with Healthy Active Learning in 2022. While kaiako already valued health and physical education (HPE) and physical activity as part of student wellbeing, competing priorities, heavy workloads and low whānau engagement made it difficult to embed this consistently.

With support from a Healthy Active Learning facilitator from Nuku Ora, the school refreshed its strategic direction. Leadership and kaiako aligned the school’s vision and systems around 3 core priorities: growing community, building a growth mindset and achieving personal excellence. This ensured wellbeing, physical activity and learning were embedded across strategic documents, rather than treated as add‑ons.

A major focus was improving how the school gathered and responded to whānau voice. This led to the development of opportunities for whānau to share their knowledge and interests through school events and physical activities. These initiatives are helping reconnect the school with its community and better reflect whānau aspirations in learning experiences. Evaluation shows that 80% of teachers at the school say physical activity now reflected whānau interests, a significant increase from 29%. Teachers also describe feeling more supported and less stretched, with clearer systems and shared direction reducing individual workload.