Sleep Ninja for Schools: A Randomised Controlled Trial of a School-Based Sleep Health Intervention for Year 5–8 Students

This research study aims to examine the effects of a multi-level school-based sleep health intervention: ‘Sleep Ninja for Schools’, designed to improve sleep knowledge and behaviours among students in Years 5 to 8. The intervention includes three main components: (1) Delivery of a universal sleep health education program: Students in Years 5-8 will participate in a classroom-based education program designed for this study and delivered by their regular class teacher. The program consists of three 1-hour lessons aligned with the Australian Health and Physical Education Curriculum (v9.0). The three lessons are designed to be delivered approximately one week apart over a three-week period. However, some flexibility will be allowed to accommodate school timetables. For example, lessons may be delivered at longer intervals (e.g., every two weeks), provided that all three lessons are completed within a single school term. The lessons aim to improve students’ knowledge of sleep health and encourage positive sleep-related behaviour change. Primary school students will receive a modified, developmentally appropriate version of the program compared to secondary school students. Key topics covered in the lessons include why sleep is important, science of sleep (e.g., circadian rhythms, sleep stages etc), factors that influence sleep, and strategies to improve sleep. Teaching activities include videos, games, group work, explicit teaching, and class discussion. Parent/carer educational resources will also be provided to schools to share with parents of the students receiving the classroom program. Parent/carer resources will be developed in consultation with parents. The format will be digital with interactive activities (e.g., quizzes), videos, and text. These parent/carer resources will be hosted on a dedicated website. Students, teachers and parents will indicate how much of the program they completed. (2) Training of school wellbeing staff in assessment, support, and referral options for students with significant sleep disturbances. The training module will be developed in consultation with a professional advisory group consisting of sleep experts and school staff. The training module will be delivered through an online learning platform. The training will take approximately one hour to complete and will be delivered as a one-off training session immediately prior to the commencement of the intervention period. School wellbeing staff will retain access to the learning module and all accompanying resources for the duration of the intervention, allowing them to revisit the material if required. (3) Screening for sleep disturbances in students, with stepped support provided for students who report subthreshold or significant sleep disturbances. Screening for common child and adolescent sleep disturbances will be embedded in the questionnaires, with responses to specific items triggering students’ allocation to the appropriate step. Screening items aim to identify symptoms indicative of common adolescent sleep disturbances, including: insomnia, delayed sleep wake phase, sleep disordered breathing conditions, restless leg syndrome, parasomnias, excessive daytime sleepiness, and bedtime fears/worries. Thresholds for each step were determined based on the disorder criteria and consensus amongst a panel of sleep experts. The stepped supports will include: • STEP 0 (students not reporting sleep disturbances) – No further intervention beyond classroom program. • STEP 1 (students reporting subthreshold level sleep disturbances) – Provision of sleep health information (e.g., factsheets). • STEP 2 (students reporting significant sleep disturbances) – Referral to trained wellbeing staff member at their school. Follow-up will include at least one face-to-face check-in with the student at school, with further support, communication with parents or carers, and referral to external services provided on a case-by-case basis as appropriate. Examples of resources that we will provide to wellbeing staff to support follow-up include assessment templates, factsheets for students and families, referral decision guides, and communication templates. Sleep Ninja for Schools (the intervention) is designed to be delivered over a total duration of approximately four months, including two months for delivery of the education program and a further two months for counsellor training and stepped-support delivery. However, some flexibility will be allowed to accommodate school timetables.