Our KICKSTARTER programme consists of three steps:

Step 1 – Before 

Schools will start by being asked to commit to establishing their own loose parts play offering.  They will then be asked to gather a core group of kaiako together, who will receive a 35min online webinar to watch as a team about how to start their own loose parts offering. Finally they will  complete an online survey unpacking their vision of what they want to create. 

Step 2. During

All schools will receive 1 full day of loose parts play within their own environment. (See more details about this below)

Step 3. After

Following their day of play the core team will partake in a face to face workshop from 3.30-4.30pm with our play coach. Here they will start to make an action plan with some achievable next steps.

Following this they will be offered a second coaching session at their own cost. Along with a FREE membership to an online group who meet once a term to talk through challenges and celebrations.

This programme is for:

• Schools who are looking to activate their own loose parts offering
• Schools and kura within the Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) region 
• Schools who registered there interest with us when we applied for funding in Aug 2023

To BOOK IN please click here and enter the code that was emailed to you.

What will our day of play look like for the students?

Generally we we will see three to four sessions over the day. Each session will run for a minimum of 1hr and maximum of 1.5 hrs.

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.

Ideally our programme 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.

Prior to coming to the programme students would have watched our rules video, and teachers would have been given a hand out to review as a team about their role on the day. Both these steps are extremely important, as they will influence both students and teachers receptiveness to the programme on the day. 

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 with the junk in an open ended way. No direct instructions are given in how to use the junk, as we want students to explore their own ideas and creativity. 

Teachers will stay at the programme to observe and support students’ play. They may even play alongside if they are invited in. The art here is for teachers to not take over, and know when to step away and let the students lead the learning.

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 the benefits of being active and the learning that emerges in the play.

What will supervision look like?

In preparation for the session you would have received our health and safety policies and our completed RAMS form. On the day we will complete a daily hazard check, checked the junk for broken parts, spread out the loose parts, and an designated an enclosed area for play with cones and flags. During our meeting with the group 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. 

To ensure clear communication between play coaches as we will be playing over a large area, you will see our play coaches communicating with walkie talkies to support. You may hear us blow our whistle to stop the play if we see unsafe behaviour and students safety 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