EMU (Education, Movement and Understanding): A school-based Indigenous games program targeting cultural appreciation in children, and improvements in their physical activity and fitness levels, health and well-being, and academic achievement at school.

Intervention: EMU (Education, Movement and Understanding) is a curriculum program designed to enhance the health and well-being of children, and their numeracy and literacy levels, through participation in an enjoyable and engaging physical education program at school. The EMU program will specifically target the development of a positive learning environment through positive teaching practices. Aim The primary of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of training teachers to deliver the EMU program in primary schools within the Awabakal and Worimi regions of Newcastle. Our secondary aim is to examine the impact of the EMU program on cultural understanding and appreciation, physical and mental health and wellbeing, and literacy and numeracy attainment in the children involved. Informed by the positive findings of the 2020 EMU study this larger trial will involve 10 schools (5 schools; 10 teachers; 250 children x 2 years) and be evaluated using a randomised controlled trial (CRCT) in the Awabakal and Worimi areas of Newcastle. Year 1 (2023-4): Program Development Year 2 (2024): Phase 1 CRCT Year 3 (2025): Phase 2 CRCT and evaluation. Participants Stage 3 teachers and their students from Government primary schools in the Awabakal and Worimi areas of Newcastle with student cohorts of >20% identified as Indigenous descent will be invited to participate. All primary schools are required to include Indigenous cultural perspectives and content in all Key Learning Areas (including physical education, mathematics, and English); but Stage 3 (Grades 5 & 6) is the ideal stage to increase engagement in classes via high quality learning opportunities, and to consolidate and extend key movement skills and core literacy and numeracy skills. In this second and larger EMU study, participating teachers and their students will be randomly assigned to either the EMU group (teacher receives professional learning) or the active control group (who will receive the program in following year)- which will be independently randomized at the school level. To ensure implementation success the research team will follow constructs from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (adapted for schools) and Ngaa- bi-nya Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander program evaluation framework - and ensure all aspects of the trial conforms with Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines and Indigenous community needs/wants. Timeline: EMU Professional Learning Program for Teachers will be conducted on one full day in the school week prior to program implementation at their school and conducted at the University of Newcastle. The day will be set once recruitment is finalized and schools provide information on availability. Who will administer the EMU program: The EMU professional learning program will involve training teachers who completed the EMU training workshop to deliver the supplied EMU program over an 8-week period (2 × 60 min sessions per week) to their stage 3 classes. The EMU professional learning program will include the following components: (i) 6 hours of teacher professional learning (delivered via interactive and online sessions) (ii) equipment and resources pack (e.g., chalk, buckets, large dice, balls ,various bats, basketballs, skipping ropes, lettered beanbags, target mats and numbered flexi domes), (iii) teacher handbook containing 16-detailed lesson plans, (iv) zoom and discussion sessions providing implementation strategy support. (v) mentor support from the Aboriginal liaison officer (member of the research team) The primary objective of the EMU study relates to program feasibility as a teacher training and curriculum program. As outlined by Durlak and Dupree (2008), we will evaluate the below aspects of implementation, with the trial will be deemed successful if EMU is delivered as intended and rated highly on fidelity and quality scores; and teacher / student mean overall program satisfaction greater than or equal to 4 out of 5 (on a 5-point scale ranging from 1=Poor to 5=Excellent). (i) Fidelity and quality: two lesson observations per class will be conducted during the program using a semi- structured observation checklist (MASTER Framework), (ii) Dosage: teachers will complete a logbook detailing (and reflecting on) delivered sessions, (iii) Responsiveness: teachers will evaluate the EMU workshop, resources and lessons; and students will evaluate EMU program using both qualitative and quantitative measures, and iv) Adaptation: teacher will describe how they modified the program resources via a logbook/register.