Who is this programme for?

• Schools decile 7 and below 
• Schools and kura within the Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) region 
• Schools who registered there interest with us when we applied for funding

This is a completely funded programme, meaning that it is FREE. There will be no added costs to your school or kura before, during or after the event. If your school missed out on this round, see below for possible options.

What will it look like on the day?

Our Well-being programme will consist of three play sessions during learning time on the designated date booked. Each session will run for a maximum of 1.5 hrs, so students have greater opportunity to get fully engaged in their play.

Schools will choose a maximum of 100 students to attend each session, roughly 3-4 classes in each group. Each group of 100 students will have a mixture of year levels, to help support tuakana-teina and Ako. Where young and old play and learn collaboratively.

All our Well-being programmes will operate OUTDOORS on a field or open court area. If the weather is extremely wet or windy we will either reschedule, or move to a covered area if available.

Once groups arrive at the junk, we will have a very brief introduction to our Junky Monkey play coaches, a reminder of the 5 rules, and then students will be able to start playing!

Teachers will stay at the programme to observe students play, and at times play alongside them.

At the end of the session when all the junk has been brought back to the middle, the group will come back and reflect on how the play was for them, and our play coaches may identify how the play supported their well-being needs. 

Do we need to do anything to prepare?

Start with booking in a date above. Once this is done we will confirm that date, and be in touch closer to your booking to arrange a time to come and meet to talk through location, groupings, and how we can cater the programme to your well-being needs you identified in your registration form.

You will start receiving emails three weeks out from the booking with our Health and Safety policies, RAMS forms, and Info for families. 

The week prior to your booking you will receive a handout for adults attending about their role while kids play. You will also receive a short video to show your students before the scheduled event, highlighting the rules of the programme. It’s important that the children view this video before visiting Junky Monkeys. If you have younger students you can watch this video multiple times to reinforce the rules on the day.

As we are playing outdoors, we ask that students wear hats and sunscreen while they are playing.

Who will be supervising the play?  Is it safe?

In preparation for the session our team have completed a RAMS form, daily hazard check, laid out the loose parts and marked off an enclosed area for play with cones and flags. During our starting meeting you will hear our play coaches introducing themselves to students and reviewing the rules. You may also hear us identify and discuss specific hazards that apply to the area of play. 

At every session we will have 2-3 play coaches working alongside teachers and students. We ask that all teachers are present during their sessions as they have stronger relationships with the students, and can be a safe place for students to return to if feeling unsure or anxious.

Our Play coaches are all police vetted, and there will be at least one coach on every session who is first aid trained. 

Our play coaches will be communicating with walkie talkies to support each other in case of an emergency. You may hear us blow our whistle to stop the play if we see unsafe behaviour and students health is at risk.

You will hear and see our play coaches:

• interacting with students and forming relationships 
• standing back and observing students, allowing them to do the heaving thinking
• checking the conditions are safe for students play
• asking students ‘what’s your plan?’ if they see unsafe behaviour
• reinforcing our rules 
• listening and offering empathy to students if they are upset
• supporting students to find their own solutions to problems
• offering social and emotional coaching
• checking in with teachers about particular student behaviour and asking advice on how they address it

Can the teachers/leadership come along too?  

As mentioned, all teachers and teacher aides of the classes attending need to be present during their session.  We hope that this will be an opportunity for teachers to see students in a different environment and light. We encourage them to dance between standing back and observing, and modelling playful behaviour. Teachers will have opportunities to observe our play coaches in action, and ask them questions and discuss reflections throughout their sessions.

We highly recommend management making the time to come and observe and play with students.  We have seen principals being pulled down hills on sleds, and swinging on swings that kids have made. This all feeds into the information soup that students take away from this experience… that humans are playful creatures, and play feels good. 

‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.’ – George Bernard Shaw

We missed out on this round, can we still get the programme?

Please get in touch if you are interested in our Well-Being programme. If we see 300 students in a day it works out to be approx. $6 per student, or $1500+GST per day. This is an experience that the whole school LOVES and can operate with minimal stress for your kaiako.