A new Play Pod for West Spreydon School - Students champion wellbeing through play

Play has been put at the top of Te Ara Koropiko – West Spreydon School’s agenda with the arrival of a new Play Pod.

The Play Pod is filled with tools, tricks and inspiration to keep classmates engaged, moving, motivated and healthier in trying times. It’s the result of a collaboration between Healthy Active Learning, Healthy Families Ōtautahi, West Spreydon students known as Physical Activity Leaders (PALs), teachers and Sport Canterbury. The Play Pod is the first of nine to be allocated across the region.

West Spreydon students have been training as PALs to better understand the role of play in wellbeing and the position they are in, to help take positive messages to their peers. They have become champions for the value of play and physical activity to wellbeing and resilience.

Sport NZ’s Strategic Plan recognises the importance of play and its positive effects on tamariki. Celia Fleck, Healthy Active Learning Capability Consultant at Sport NZ says, “Play is super important to our young people. It provides them with opportunities to be creative, to express their individuality, and how they connect with their spaces. They take ownership of how they want to play and how they want to engage with each other and their environment.

“A critical success factor with the Play Pod was including the tamariki in the decision making and design process; they decided what equipment they needed and wanted to activate play opportunities in their school.”