Message from NSW/ACT CEO
Tuesday, 20 Dec 2022
These past couple of years, our children and young people have navigated through a turbulent period of uncertainty, both locally and globally. We have seen some extraordinary events in recent times with floods affecting significant areas of New South Wales, and our communities continuing to operate throughout the pandemic.
It has been a great privilege to work alongside our schools and families in supporting the health and wellbeing of students. In 2022, Life Ed delivered the program to over 240,000 children and young people across NSW and the ACT.
Our passionate team of 55 specialist Educators engaged and inspired learners, empowering children with the knowledge, skills and strategies needed to make informed decisions around the complex issues they face today.
In 2022, we launched a suite of new initiatives to enable more children to experience life-changing, memorable and vital health and wellbeing strategies designed to build agency and empowerment:
- The addition of our third Outdoor Pop-up Classroom, enabled us to visit over 4,400 country students in regional and remote communities, increasing equitable access to the Life Ed program.
- Over 31,000 children aged 3-5 learned about online safety, healthy lifestyles, and the importance of friendships, with the launch of our new-look Early Years Learning Program, equipping them with the social, cognitive and emotional foundations for future success, at a pivotal time in their development.
- Life Ed launched the ‘Guide to Thrive’, a free evidence-based program, specially designed for teachers and families to assist Year 6 students take the big leap into secondary school.
- The continuation of our Virtual Classrooms saw us live-stream the Life Ed program to over 6,000 students across NSW and the ACT.
This year our organisation was contacted by many businesses, clubs and councils and individuals who were keen to lend a hand to make sure kids do not miss out on vital health education at a time they needed it the most. Read the support we received from clubs and councils here.
A critical feature of the success of our health and wellbeing program was to increase our ability to collect student and teacher voice. In 2022, we surveyed more than 8,300 students who participated in our primary school modules, to assess the effectiveness of our program in improving their health outcomes. Positive results were found overall, showing an increase in behavioural change intention and knowledge awareness.
In addition, 1,821 teachers utilised our Teacher Assessment Tool in 2022 to observe and assess the learning of over 35,000 students during their Life Ed visit. The video below summarises our key results.
As we close the year out, on behalf of Life Ed NSW/ACT, we thank you for your ongoing support to our organisation. We are proud to have empowered over 240,000 students across NSW and ACT to develop the crucial skills needed to look after their physical, social and emotional wellbeing. We couldn’t reach this many children and young people without you.
We look forward to continuing our work in 2023 in ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive. In the meantime, I wish you all the best for a happy and safe festive season and for a prosperous New Year ahead.
Kind regards,
Jonathon Peatfield
Life Ed NSW/ACT CEO
