Our children’s well-being is central to their success as confident learners. In our complex and changing society, children and young people face an increasing number of issues that can seriously affect their well-being. Here at Whangaparaoa School, we are taking a fresh approach to improve student well-being. Studies show there are 6 priorities when it comes to impacting the mental health of children. They are;
From these 6 priorities, 5 of them are addressed through this initiative. Those listed in bold are the priorities that are addressed by our Million Dreams Initiative:
A Million Dreams was launched as a way of providing our children with access to a rich range of experiences, resources and inspirational people. A team of teachers and parents seek out a range of options each term, covering sports, culture, the arts, academics, career paths and passions. These are advertised to the children on the Million Dreams website and shared with the children. The children are encouraged to put themselves forward for options that will help them to grow personally and align with their interests, passions and skills. Through a simple application process, the children take ownership for going after these experiences and being proactive in seeking out opportunities for themselves. The pride they feel when they are successful is incredible!
In Term 1, we offered the children 13 different experiences to apply for. We had over 140 application! We were then able to engage 98 children in activities beyond their regular school day, activities that challenged them, supported them and engaged them. Beyond those activities, we were also able to support our families, by taking some of the pressure off them by sharing a portion of the cost of sending children to international competitions and equipping them with the gear they needed to participate in activities to a higher level.
Our community is amazing! Despite it being our first term of operation, we had enough offers of support to start with a bang! In order to guarantee the sustainability of this initiative though, we need new companies, individuals and community organisations to see the value in what we are building and offer up support.
There are many ways people and businesses can give to A Million Dreams;
If you or your company would like to get behind this project, we would love to hear from you! MILLIONDREAMS@WGP.SCHOOL.NZ