The Australian Joy of Moving program in specialist schools.

The Australian Joy of Moving program. The Australian Joy of Moving (AJoM) program is a classroom based psychoeducational program that aims to get children moving more by engaging in a 10-minute classroom active break 4 days per week for 8 weeks of a school term. This will be during normal class time and will be administered by classroom teachers. Teachers will be provided with resources and instructions on how to administer the intervention. The intervention will involve teachers administering a psychoeducation component (a series of 8 storybooks [1 per week] designed specifically for this study) for approx. 2 mins of the 10-minute break which teaches children about the joy of moving and the benefits of using physical activity as a coping strategy for negative emotions. The remaining 8 minutes will consist of the class engaging in a fun, play-based movement activity which will be chosen by teachers. Teachers can choose from their own activities or from a series of activity cards provided by researchers. This intervention also includes 2 information sheets for primary caregivers provided by researchers which provide education about the benefits of their child engaging in physical activity and what the AJoM program involves for the child at school. These will be sent during the term that teachers roll out the AJoM program in the classroom. Teachers allocated to the intervention group will be responsible for attending training and implementing the AJoM program with their class. Researchers will conduct training at the school on how to administer the materials and teachers will be given opportunities to ask questions face-to-face so that they are confident in how to roll out the intervention in their classroom. This training will be conducted at a time that suits the staff and will go for approximately 30 minutes. At this training session teachers will complete a hardcopy survey about their perception of the training session. Researchers will visit intervention schools twice throughout the 8 weeks of the term that teachers are implementing the program to provide face-to-face support and also check for fidelity. Two researchers will observe the class engaging in the AJoM program and complete a brief questionnaire about implementation in the classroom. Teachers will also be asked to complete a logbook for the duration of the time they roll out the intervention to monitor adherence to the intervention. Primary care-givers: Primary care-givers will consent via a hardcopy or online form if they wish to participate in the evaluations of this program. Primary care-givers will then receive a survey link provided in an email in order to participate in this study. Primary care-givers will complete an online survey approx. 4-6 weeks before the roll out of the AJoM program. Primary care-givers that complete the pre-intervention survey will then be emailed the post intervention survey after roll out of the intervention. Teachers: Teachers will be asked to send home consent packages to parents, inviting them and their child to participate in the program. Teachers will also be invited to complete an online survey and a semi-structured interview with researchers approx. 4-6 weeks before the specified school term. Teachers that complete the pre-intervention survey will then be emailed the post intervention survey and will be invited to complete a second semi-structured interview after roll out of the intervention. Teachers will also be asked to complete a very brief survey 6 months after implementing the program to ascertain whether they are still using the program. Children: All children will engage in the intervention at school (or receive treatment as usual depending on randomisation) but only children whose primary care-givers consent to take part in the study will be evaluated. This will involve children completing a series of measures with a researcher during school time before and after the specified school term.