This article addresses the question of how theatre interventions as elements of a participatory and action-oriented research design can contribute to justice-oriented Caring Community processes. Caring Communities are local initiatives that strengthen everyday solidarity through civic engagement and neighbourhood support, link informal and formal…

Purpose: Adapted physical activity (APA) provides children and youth with disabilities more opportunities to be physically active. Nevertheless, it is not well known how APA implementation in different services has benefited them. This study reviews the existing literature on APA interventions to identify characteristics and program descriptions,…

In this paper, we report the initial stages of Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation in one school that participated in the Getting it Right from the Start (GIRFTS) pilot study. Implementation of an RTI framework for oral language and reading was supported by teacher professional learning and a dedicated Implementation Support Partner…

Naomi Stockley, Rianna Tatana, Roshni Kaur, and Alice Reynolds offer some early insights into the implementation of Sounds-Write at The Pavilion School, a specialist provision in the northern suburbs of Melbourne for vulnerable students who have been excluded from mainstream education and face significant personal challenges. [For the complete…

This study explored whether Year 1 school children exposed to a 12-week classroom-based gross motor program progressed differently than Year 1 children undertaking their regular school program in motor proficiency, mathematics, and reading outcomes. Fifty-five Australian Year 1 school children (25 boys, 30 girls, mean age 6.77 ± 0.40 years) were…

The "National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) School Education Strategy 2016-2026" (the National Strategy) supports a long-term change agenda aiming to ensure that students have a stronger foundation in STEM and are inspired to take on more challenging STEM subjects. The National Strategy acknowledges that there…

Background: Health promotion programs and interventions are designed to encourage behavioral changes in children, encouraging them to make safe and healthy life choices. This systematic review seeks to examine how social impact is measured in primary school health promotion interventions. Method: A systematic search and review process was used to…

Wellbeing is an emerging priority that poses a "wicked" problem. Current directives from policy makers are that schools address student wellbeing. However, the lack of a clear definition, simple solution or process for ensuring wellbeing creates a difficult task for schools. This article seeks to add to the current understanding of…

This paper examines factors affecting parental expectations of higher education prospects for their children using Australian household survey data. We find that a variety of factors influence parental expectations, of which parents' assessment of their children's academic performance is the strongest. Factors known to impact upon actual higher…

Background: The Secret Agent Society (SAS) Program, an intervention to enhance social-emotional skills, was provided by schools for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The program was assessed to determine if it improved social skills at school and home, and whether improvements were maintained. Methods: Eighty-four students…

Background: The development of adolescent health literacy through school-based programmes is attracting international interest. However, there exist competing definitions, models and understandings of how these programmes should be conceptualised, implemented and evaluated. Australian Curriculum documents such as those relating to health and…

Extensive international literature is available on aspects and impacts associated with students' transition from primary to secondary school. However, in regional and rural Australia, it is challenging for educators and healthcare professionals to ensure that interventions supporting the emotional wellbeing of students transitioning to secondary…

Self-regulation and executive functioning impairments are common in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Given the high rates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder identified amongst children living in the remote Fitzroy Valley region of Western Australia, the Alert Program® was identified as a culturally safe intervention for use in local…

This study evaluates the capacity of a school-based family referral service to support school personnel in connecting at-risk students with appropriate community agencies. Through a partnership between New South Wales government departments and a not-for-profit counselling organisation, the family referral service was piloted at four regional,…

Coordinated systems are required to ensure evidence-informed practice and evaluation of community-based interventions (CBIs). Knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) strategies show promise, but these require evaluation. This paper describes implementation and evaluation of COOPS, a national KTE platform to support best practice in obesity…