The Healthy Active Peaceful Playgrounds for Youth (HAPPY) Study. An inclusive and evidence-based approach to primary school physical activity environments.

The study will test a non-curricular intervention designed to increase the amount of physical activity that children amass during recess and lunch breaks, the social support children receive to be physically active, teacher confidence and commitment to delivering physically active lessons, and the related impact this has on student’s on-task behaviour in classes after breaks. The intervention will contain four components, and be run over a single term as part of the study (two schools will run the intervention in Terms 2, 3 and 4).; 1) The addition of permanent multi-coloured playground markings at each school. Markings are designed to encourage play, and will be developed in consultation with school staff, and students. 2) Teacher training on how to use these markings to promote physical activity and reducing bullying in the playground. Teachers will receive a face-to-face training session (1.5-2 hours), as well as being provided with access to online resources including activity downloads, webinars and discussion forums via peacefulplayground.com.au. The face-to-face training will be conducted with all participating teachers from a school, and run by Janice Atkin, an Education Consultant and director of Peaceful Playgrounds Australia. Teacher attendance at the face-to-face training will be recorded, and their use of the online website monitored. 3) The introduction of a student leadership program to promote physical activity within peer groups. Groups of Stage 3 students will be given training on how to promote and encourage physical activity during lunch and recess for their peers. Students will be nominated by schools, and it is expected they will select house captains, or school captains (approx. 4-8 students at each school). Teachers will be provided a teacher Facilitator Guide with a step-by-step process for training the student leaders. Each student will receive a PAL Playbook, which is a learning journal for them to record their development and action plan for the program. This component of the intervention will be monitored by the teachers who are trained through the intervention. 4) A suite of resources for teachers to use for setting up games during recess and lunch breaks. These will be provided as a printed resources for each school, as well as made available online via the Peaceful Playgrounds website. Resources include a folder of games that can be played with the schools chosen markings, guides for teachers to delivery physical activity lessons, information on teaching fundamental movement skills, and social skills such as conflict resolution, and DVDs for teachers who want refresher training, or new teachers on how to direct activities. The observations of playgrounds during lunch and recess will also record teacher behaviours, and the use of equipment, so provide some indication of training adherence. The survey delivered to find sources of encouragement for students to by physically active should also show whether teachers are using the resources and strategies provided through the intervention if the levels of support increase after implementation. As there will be relatively small numbers of teachers and students participating directly in the intervention, the research team will plan regular communications to reduce attrition and monitor adherence.