Welcome to the Energetic Radio podcast. This episode is brought to you

by the school of play dotco, hosted by Dale Sibonham and

Paul Campbell. Each week we'll bring to you tips, strategies, and ideas

on how you can bring more joy and happiness into your life and those you

share with. Alright, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast, episode

number 345 of Energetic Radio. My name is Dale Cybottom,

and I am joined by the one and only, mister Paul Campbell. Good.

Hello, everybody. How are we all? Well, I'll tell you what, Campbell. We are in

the flashiest studio I've ever seen. Now let me paint the picture for everyone out

there. This is 8 years of podcasting. We have never done a podcast

like this. We're at Moskell Park Primary School. We've had the pleasure this year to

not only work with the full staff at the start of the year, upskill

them and give them a really nice experience day 1, but also, we've been

back 4 times this year to work with all the house captains, all the school

captains, and the grade 5, 6 students on empowering them with

our new student agency and leadership program. And we've

got them in the studio today, which is really exciting because, as I said, 8

years of doing the podcast, I have previously had one of my ex

students on the podcast that, I sort of mentored and helped and

shared his story, but we have never ever had any students at a primary

school that are participating in our program. So how exciting it

is? We're pumped for this. It's epic. And not only that, this is the this

is an amazing studio. Right? If we can come and record our podcast here every

week, so I think that'd be unreal. Unreal. I feel a little bit like for

the listeners. I I went and saw Tina Turner last night, and, I feel a

bit like Turner with the microphone set up. It's unreal. Unreal.

Alright. So we're joined with the house captains. We joined with the house captain of

the school. Enriq is one of our house captains, and Enriq is gonna introduce,

who's in the studio with us today. Alright. Let me start with Chelsea.

She's a house captain from Endeavor, which is our greenhouse.

We've got Lana and Ariq, which is me, from Park,

and we've got Sunny from Lodge. Beautiful. Welcome, everyone.

Before we get going, who which house is currently

leading the charge this year in terms of the house? Oh, okay.

Park house. Too good. Too good. Yellow. Yellow house. Yellow's a odd

color, Like, not many people have got a lot of yellow stuff at home. I

know if I was in Park house in yellow, I'd have to probably go shopping

to get myself some, to get myself some yellow attire, I reckon, because it's not

a color I have frequently in my you would have. So

your your amount of color is a amount of brightness. So, I love

it. What was the, what was the best aspect of the of the house system

this year? For me, I would say that we've

put up a beautiful trophy 2 two times this,

in 2 years. So it was a pretty proud and exciting

moment for us all, and we actually showed that Park is the best house in

the school. Hey. Well done. Well done, Parks. Has there been a house that's

dominated over the last few years? Is or is it 5 years straight. 5 years

straight. Park's 5 years straight for park. Yes, sir. So what that tells me is

that there's Teachers are not doing something right. Yeah. The selection model is, is huge.

The drama system. Well, I know that in

schools when you have, house sports, if your siblings follow suit.

Right? So if you've got an older brother or sister or a young one, they

go in the same house. So maybe the genetics in the families of

parks is strong. So the other houses need to lift here, people. I need to,

get the colors up. Yeah. Get the colors up. And start early. I love it.

I love it. Alright. So we're gonna get cracking here. So we got a couple

of questions for you guys, this morning and I'll and I'll kick them off. So,

what has been the most rewarding part of leading the School of Play

student based fun shops this year? For me, I would

say that we made younger people more active and

motivated. As they always said, we always need to put on some sneaky fitness.

You do. A little bit of sneaky fitness. Who doesn't love that? Yeah. The best

thing is if you take one thing, that's the one thing to take, but I

love it. I love it. Carry on, legends. Alright. So also,

let's go into this one. This year, you've been obviously the key in

designing and promoting well-being activities around your school. Okay? And that's something really

important, obviously, as a grade 6 leaders. At the top of your

mind, is there something that you're really proud of?

I'm proud of that, like, the, like, students,

they know they're, like, coming together and they're playing games and, like,

the house captains are doing that, not all not always the teachers.

Amazing. Like it. Amazing. Can I can I go off I don't wanna throw too

many spanners at here? The fact that the student leaders are leading it, do you

think it's being really well received because it's coming from the peers and not from

the teachers? Yeah? Do you think the students are really buying into that because it

is peer led? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. And and do you think, obviously,

the younger students see you leading them and, like, wow. Like, I

could do that one day? Like, do you think it's generating more hype and

excitement around being a house captain or a school captain? Yeah. I would say so.

Yeah. Perfect. Well, that that's what we'd like to hear. Yeah. Because we all

wanna we wanna inspire people to be leaders, and I think that's a really important

thing. But that also starts by you as leaders leading the

way and particularly setting fun activities and giving a really

good experience. They're gonna wanna do that because they see you. They see you

being the leaders and having fun. So you should personally, you

should be proud of that as well as leaders. I understand. We love to say,

you know, attitude reflects leadership. We say it all the time. And how

you guys are leading this charge at the school is no doubt having a

massive impact on the junior kids at the school because they're looking up to you

and going, man, I can't wait to get to, you know, grade 5 or 6

and really start leading these activities as ourselves. So you're pioneers. You it's well done.

You should be really proud of yourselves. It's epic. Alright. How has participating in the

leadership and well-being program helped you grow personally?

Before, I'll, so

I wanted to go for house captain a few years ago or

no. Last year, but I was a bit shy, and I lacked

confidence. So, it assists me in gaining confidence, and I

think I've progressed well. Yeah. Well, done. Well, done. If you if you

feel a little bit of progression yourself, you should be really proud. Yeah?

We talk about stretching our comfort zone a lot and and being comfortable with the

uncomfortable, and It sounds that's exactly what you've done this year. Right? You've stepped out

of your comfort zone. You've stretched yourself a little bit, and you'll take that with

you for rest of your life. And that's just the first step you need to

take to keep doing that. Right? Don't let that stop this year, by all means.

What skills do you reckon you're gonna take with you, like, into the future from

running this program? I feel like I'm gonna take being

brave and energetic to to help, like, other students, and,

like, I won't be as boring or, like, monotone as I

used to be. Oh, I love that word, brave. Yeah. I think

brave, we talk about it, but it's easy to talk about. It's actually a lot

harder to do. Sonny, particularly, you were saying, like,

you didn't want to go you wanted to be a house captain, but you you

felt a little bit scared. Was it do you was there, like, a point that

made you realize that sometimes you have to be a little bit brave and do

things a little bit uncomfortable to then get the reward?

Yeah. My sister, she, she

was moaning about not being able to be a house captain and how I had

the opportunity, so I just went for it. So you

went because, obviously, you can't go back in time, can you? So your

sister now was looking back and wanted to do it. At the time, she might

wanna do it, but she didn't. And that's sometimes, that's great motivation when you see

somebody else that has not sort of followed their path or saying they wanted to

do because they may be scared or they may have been a little bit worried.

Sometimes, that's great motivation as well. Was she was your sister proud of you for

doing it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She should be, mate. It's awesome. Do you all feel

as though you're gonna carry on this leader she trades into into your secondary schooling

now? Do you think you'll continually pull out your hands for leadership roles? Yeah. I

hope so. Yeah. I hope so. Yeah. Do it. You know what I mean? Keep

going. If you can if you can hone those skills, especially from grade

5 onwards and then do it year 7, 8, 9, 10 and keep going, Imagine

by the time you get out of high school, like, imagine how confident you're gonna

be, you know, imagine how brave you would have been in the the leadership skills

you would have developed if you can keep doing that. So we definitely recommend,

putting your hand off those leadership roles as often as you can throughout your whole

high school journey. Yeah. And and just because you're going from grade 6 into year

7 next year and you're starting in a new school down the bottom, still be

brave, still be confident. Alright? Because that really shines through. The

schools we work with at the moment and some of the year sevens that are

confident and brave, they have fantastic students. Alright? And they're getting the most

out of it because they believe in themselves. Alright? So exactly

like what you've done this year, it's been really powerful. Now, one more from me.

What advice would you give to the future school leaders about running

successful well-being programs initiative to improve your school

culture? I would say that whenever you do

anything, just step up to it. If you're if you know what you're doing, you

gotta be confident, you gotta know what you're doing, and give them a message really

well. So then it can go out, and you actually have make a

good impact to to the world. Oh, beautiful. That's deep.

If that sort of mic drop sort of set up there, if they weren't held

up You can't drop these mic. That is so well set up in the air.

And I love that. And personally, I know Paul's run a couple of sessions with

you, but I've had the fortune of running 4 sessions each term

with each of you. And what I would say is not only have you been

great at leading around the school, but also putting your hand up,

answering questions, and leading in front of your peers. Because sometimes that's a lot

harder when, you know, you've got your other peers around, none of you have judged

each other, you've all accepted each other, and more importantly made each other feel safe.

Alright. And that is a really good sign. Not only as a leader is it

important to be leading and showing the way and everything like that,

but also it's to support your fellow leaders. Alright? Yep.

Nearly knocked the monitor over there. But, that that's what yeah. I know.

That's one thing I've personally been really proud of to see and see the growth

in you as a leadership group. So should be really proud of that. Yeah. I

love it. And I'm gonna throw a question with that notice here and I hope

I don't freak you out, but, Dale told me not to do this today. But

I can't help myself. Out of all the activities you've led,

which one do you or 1 or 1 or 2, which ones do you think

have been the most well received or been the most fun or the other

students at Mossy Isle Park have really loved doing?

I reckon the, what is it called? The clapping game? Yep.

That was everybody's favorite I reckon or or the

Buddies Everywhere. Yeah. Buddies Everywhere is a great game, isn't it? And that just that

just connects people so well. Right? Buddies Everywhere and the clapping game is an insane

one. I was, I was incredibly impressed when I first walked

into school with the gratitude tree. Oh, yes. That's powerful. It is powerful

and it's just such a cool visual when you walk into your front office area

and you see such a sprawling, you know, sprawling tree of

leaves and then we sat there and read every message. Yeah. Read every one of

them and it's just such a beautiful powerful, I guess thing to

have in your school for you, and that that's something you should be really proud

of, you know, and that that's a legacy you've left on the school, and I

hope that the students that partooking that and left their little messages

felt, you know, felt really good about themselves when they put that up in the

tree. But, yeah, you guys are really proud of that one. I love I love

the gratitude tree in your foyer. Same. And I think that's one thing about leadership

as well that our programs we've taught you all well and good to teach the

face to face, but then also there are things around the school for maybe some

of the students that feel a little bit uncomfortable. They can still get those benefits

when they come in their own time, they roll the dice, answer one of the

questions, they put it up on the gratitude tray. Each time you walk past that,

it reminds you of things you're grateful for in your life that you've put up.

But, also, it reminds you of what other people are, and it's a really positive

experience. And, personally, when the first two terms when I came in here,

and that wasn't up, Not saying your school foyer wasn't beautiful and

colorful, but the 3rd term when I came in, I'm like, wow. It is such

a powerful thing. Right? So leadership isn't just running sessions

and games and well-being initiatives that we've called. It's also setting things up around

the school like you have. And that's really what we tried to do and

hence, why we wanted to have you on the podcast because you've actually brought our

program to life in such a really good way. So house captains, you were the

ones delivering it, designing it, and everything like that. Putting the work

in, you should be proud of that because the ideas and constructs you put around

your school are brilliant. Yeah. Well done. Well done. I I was late to the

party, obviously, but my my workshops with you were were

really fun, and you're an incredible, incredible group of young human beings. You

really are. So take that with you. Okay? Take that with you. Take that

bravery with you into your next journey, and we can't wait to sort of

follow you follow your journeys along, and, yeah, thank you. Thank you so

much for putting our program and bringing it to life. It's epic. Well done.

Awesome. Beautiful. Thank you. No

worries. Well done, guys. Did really well. Yeah? Yeah? Were you a

bit nervous? No. No. You did really well. Yeah. You made

mine. Clearly good answers. Sorry for throwing a few questions at you without nervous,

but I think it's sometimes nice just to have a general conversation, not be too

structured sometimes. So Well, we're kinda just used to that by now. Good. It's good.

Well done. Nice work. This is awesome. Well done, yes, captains. Have we got,

got some I wanna get some photos of this stuff. Did you? This would be

awesome. Can we all get in here somehow?

Actually, I'm just gonna be a little hard. Sorry, you lean in.

There we go. Awesome. Alright. I'll take one. Sit there. Stay there.

Yeah. Give us some smiles.

Excellent. Alright. Thank you, house captains. Thank you. Well

done. You did really well. Thank you, guys. Well done. Well done,

everyone. How's that? That's

good? That's good.

Babe, I did well. I did really well. Here

we go. How are we, legends? Get a put a El Capitanos. Oh, hello. Gonna

put a Oh, hello. Gonna put a gunk on us. We don't need the one.

Okay. You're gonna You're gonna place the girl. Thank you. That's alright. I'll just not

put them on. This feels weird. Does this

not. So when, obviously, when one of you talking, just move it around so that

one can. Now Yeah. To you. Now we got we got Cal. Yeah. Now

first and foremost, so Calum. Mhmm. Zivan? Yeah.

Zivan? Zagam? Yeah. Did I get that right?

Oh, yeah. Meyer. I run into this. Meyer. Alright. You

you're gonna introduce and then you've got some questions for us? Yep. Yep. Beautiful.

Alright. I'm just gonna say my background is an army just so we're gonna have

to cut it up. Well, just now that the house captain's out now, we're going

to focus on the school captain. Beautiful. And they and

they've thrown it over to us, but on the on the other foot. No worries.

Ready? It's all good. Alright. Here we are again. I guess, for

section 2 of this, part 2 of our Mesquite Park

podcast episode 345. We had our house captains,

join us first and foremost. And now we've got our 4 El Capitanos. The

4 school captains are now in this unbelievable

podcast studio. I'm just gonna introduce you guys. So we've got Maya. Hi, Julia.

Hello. We got Zuvan. Hello. We got Zugam.

That's me. Beautiful. And we got Callum. Hello. Awesome. Now, I'm gonna be honest

with you guys, we love a bit of a nickname the school play. So we're

playing a role with Cal, Soob, Zag, and Mimi.

Yes. Yes. Well, Mimi, it is now

Mimi. That's right. Now, obviously, I think after the first session

we did, you forgot me in here. And I'd never been

on a podcast where students had interviewed me before and I absolutely loved it. And

what I said, we will come back at the end of our program, and we

would love to return the favor. But what's ended up happening is you're gonna

still ask us questions about the program. How does that work?

Mix up, I'm guessing. Yeah. No. We're excited about this. So these these

questions without notice. They are. We're on the spot. We're in the hot seat. This

is what we like. We're on the hot seat. Alright. So who we're gonna pass

to? The gum. The gum. Let's go. Let's go, Zug. I'm

gonna ask you just 2 questions. Oh, okay. Alright. So

how did you and Paul come up with the idea to support well-being

for staff and students? Oh, that's, I suppose

it all started for me, probably 8 years ago when

I started, running workshops. And, originally, they were just

designed for teachers on fun ways to engage in the

classroom with different activities. And like all things in life, I think it

just evolved. And I personally went through a couple of

highs and lows in my life, and I found that finding ways to make well-being

in my mental health fun was really important. And through that,

we designed the school to play. And originally, yeah, we used to do a lot

of staff workshops, but then schools are like, well, can you do exactly the same

thing as you're doing with our staff, with our students? And we're like,

beautiful, because Paul and myself are both school teachers. We're ex school teachers,

and it was a natural thing. We we love helping a lot

of individuals. More importantly, it's great to work with teachers, but also getting

back into the classroom and in front of big lots of students to inspire

with our fun messaging, is something that we're really proud of. And

that's how it started for me. And, obviously, Paul's, recently come on board

and I won't steal his thunder too much, but used to be a big, AP

of well-being at a at a high school. And, I saw I

did a number of sessions at his school, and I saw Paul in action and

the way he interacted with his students and how much he cared. And that really

resonated with me. And then we've got along really well, and, hence, now we

team up. And, it's a really nice combination where we sort of

complement each other. We've got different backgrounds, but at the end of the day,

we we both believe in the power of play and, having fun and connections

and everything like that. And, that's why now, yeah, we work with a lot of

schools and students, like yourselves. It'd been really cool. Thank you.

That was really good. Beautiful. Thank you. No worries, mate. So And I won't I

won't delve in too much. For me, from the get go, especially in my teaching

career, is, the importance of connecting. You know,

I I always say that students don't care how much you know until they know

how much you care, and that resonated with me really early and and just

building strong bonds and connections with my students, and I did that through fun and

through play. And then, yeah, I was lucky enough to be in the audience, one

of Dow's, fun shops as as an assistant principal, and

I got to feel, you know, what these fun shops evoked

and those amazing feelings of connection and vulnerability and, and

I just loved it. I absolutely loved it. And got even out to work with

our students and staff, and as Dal said, we we hit it off and and

got on really well. And when he, approached me to come on board, it was

a no brainer. And this is exactly where I need to be. I absolutely love

it. In this podcast studio today. No bit of place. That is

absolutely wonderful. Oh, thanks, Maya. Thanks, Maya.

So far, so good. And we, you know, we now we now get to

impact upon tens of thousands of young people a year, and it's, it's a really

cool way to live your life, to be honest. Very rewarding. Yeah.

And my second question Yep. Is was there ever a

moment or experience that sparked this idea?

Mine actually came from, I was teaching in

London. This was a long time ago. And so for

teachers that are listening along, anyone that's done supply teaching in Central London,

it was really, really tough. And I remember so you'd roll in each

day, new group of students, you'd have a set bit of work, and they wouldn't

wanna listen to you and it was horrible. And I just remember, like, each day

getting there, no kid would listen and I'd end up yelling and it'd be a

horrible experience. And then I thought back to this one teacher

that always came in and built a relationship before giving any work. So

I thought, you know what, I'm gonna go in the next day. I'm not gonna

say who I am, and I'm just gonna start with 4 simple little activities. It's

not about winning or losing, just about having fun. And what I found was the

class the day before that absolutely hated me, that didn't wanna bar

me, that was yelling at me and everything like that, After those 4 games, he's

like, sir, sir, who are you? Who are you? And I'm like, I'm down. And

I tell you what, after recess, if you're just as good, I've got a better

game. After lunch, I've got an even better one. And at the end of the

day, if you're all good and you all look after yourself, I've got the best

one you've ever seen. And it was the most amazing experience ever because I built

a relationship with these students that didn't have that before. And what I found

was is the school said then, Dale, do you want to come back and do

another 3 days? And I'm like, s h I t. I don't have 7

more good games up my sleeve for the same class because I used the best

ones that day. So what it really did for me is it made me think

about it's so important to build a relationship. Connection before content.

And through that, I found that I had all these different little activities

on paper in my bag. And I had a lot of other teacher friends in

London going, what are these games? What are you doing? So I put them all

together and designed my first app, mobile app called Classbreak.

Essentially, there's 500 different activities on there to help

teachers, students, anybody connect, have fun

through simple little games like what we've done in our programs. And, essentially,

that's how it started. Then I created another 30 apps, and then I was still

teaching in, Melbourne back, and people would ask me to come and present

in Dubai on the weekend or Singapore or something like that. And, it got to

a stage where I'm like, well, what I'm doing is pretty cool. So, I left

teaching and, yeah, 8 years ago, I started doing this full time. So for me,

it was out of my poor teaching that I

thought I need to change something because I was nearly ready to quit teaching and

I was thinking I might just be a removalist like one of my housemates or

I might go work at a bar because I just wasn't enjoying it. But that

wasn't anybody else's fault besides my own because I wasn't taking the

time to build relationships and connections and make it fun. So

there's a That's awesome. Along with it, Heather. Time in there. Yeah. You you mentioned

there you obviously created class break and then you've created 30 odd apps on the

phone, which is which is unbelievable. I imagine all of

them worked. No. Some absolute stinkers in there. Absolute stinkers. So you

failed you failed many times, I take it. So I invented a couple. There's one

this I spent a lot of money on this one. There's this app called Koala

Pop, where there's all these different koalas. You gotta push a koala head and then

it pops in 4 ways and it'll pop other koalas and you're only allowed to

do certain amount of push. It was actually a really good app. But then I

started to get sued because it was really similar to these other apps. So then

I had to get rid of it. I had I had some slot machine apps.

I had photo store apps. I had QR code apps. What? I had some

of the most ridiculous ones ever. Anyway, now we've got only about 3 or

4. I really called it down. Yeah. But, yeah, I

suppose you only know by doing. You're doing right? And you learn I look

back at all the money I spend on these apps that don't work and koala

pop, but, yeah, like, it might have worked. Who knows? No. But invaluable

lessons. Big time. What have you learned? I'll laugh about it. Failing your returns and

have a great laugh about it now, but I didn't know that qualification. Yeah. Not

many people do, mate. I thought I was gonna look that up. That still exists.

Good. Happy to you guys later. Okay. So my quest my

question is, can you explain how play based learning can support emotional

regulation in younger students? Oh, great. Great. That's fun for you, Cambo.

That is a banger. It is. Play play doesn't

discriminate, 1st and foremost. It breaks down barriers really

well, and especially the type of play activities that we incorporate into our workshops

and that you guys have been running at the school. Play in

the way that we deliver it, it levels out the playing field. And when

everyone's playing, they're they're forgetting about what's going on

outside of the school fence. They're forgetting about what's happening at home. They're forgetting about,

you know, anything that might not be going so well in their life. They're they're

forgetting about the stress, all those sorts of things. Even even with adults, like, even

as adults, they forget about their to do list, and they forget about the emails

they gotta get back to and, I just feel we feel that when people are

playing and they're, we call it play based mindfulness, they're just

in the moment. You know what I mean? They just allow themselves to be completely

present and it helps them to regulate their emotions. It

helps them to calm down because they stop worrying about everything else that's going on

in the outside world. And then through play,

play is incredible at building at social connections.

It really is. And as human beings, we are made to be connected. Let's be

honest. We love having friends. Right? And we love talking to our friends. We love

hanging out. And you know yourself, you probably felt a little

bit isolated or a little bit, you know, alone at times, which

happens to everybody, but it happens to all of us. When

you start playing with other people, it breaks that isolation down and you form a

really cool, fun connection with other people. And I just think it just

puts a spring in your step. It makes you feel good about life, even if

it's that 10 minutes you're playing, that 15 minutes you're playing. But if you can

put that 10 to 15 minutes into your life on a regular basis, then

hopefully it starts to break down how often you're you're feeling a little bit blue

or a little bit gloom. But Yeah. So true. And I'm I'm looking just up

and now at at Moscow Park Primary School's, vision and the values, and

it's respect, responsibility, and relationships. Well, the big thing we do

is it all starts with relationships like what I mentioned before. Once

you've got a relationship with somebody, normally, there is that element of

respect. And through that respect, then you realize that you've got responsibilities

as a human being, not only to yourself, but others. And I think

that for us is something we really try and bring across, and we use play

to do that. Why? Because it's fun. If something's not fun, no one wants to

do it. We're we're not gonna tell you how to build just go and build

relationships. What do you mean? Like, that's not fun. But if you do it and

you don't realize you're doing it, but then the learning takes place afterwards, like the

the vision's up on the wall, that's what is really powerful and that's why

we're so passionate about it and we get to do it with amazing students like

yourselves. Good question. Thank you so much. That's a great

question. Can you share a moment when you saw a student

make a significant breakthrough in their well-being due to these

activities? Yeah. Can I go? Oh. Mate, I was scared. I was

trying to think. I'm getting quick. I'm getting quick. Not too long ago,

to be honest with you, we're up in Wodonga. We're up in Wodonga. We're working

to a place called Flexible Learning Centre and that was a place where it

wasn't a mainstream school. So this is a place where students didn't fit into the

mainstream school. High level trauma, lots of things going on their lives,

and these kids can literally rock up to this learning center whenever they want, come

and go as they please. It's a pretty relaxing environment. But, yeah, we kick

started off a workshop. Dale kicked it off. I've never seen a man so nervous

in my life. And he kicked it off with our clapping

game and, and there was this young lady, young girl,

probably I'd say maybe 16 years of age, and she even in the first 30

seconds, she got up and she and she she walked to the very back of

the room and she was like, this is not for me. I can't I can't

deal with this. My anxiety is kicking in and I've got this incredibly energetic bloke

at the front of the room telling me, you know, clapping what it is. Anyway,

she got back to the room. Long story short, she didn't leave entirely. She sort

of sussed it out and about 20 minutes in, she started

to feel safe and she started to feel connected with the people around her because

she allowed herself to be a little bit vulnerable and she started joining in. And

we just watched her from afar and, you know, next minute she's up and she's

smiling, she's singing, she's dancing. She won the won one of the competitions and she

won one of Dale's books and, she hung around for the whole session and not

only did she hang around, she then started to open up and really connect with

other people and get involved and the smile on her face was I'll never forget

it, and she got so much out of the session in the end. So

for me, that growth was so good to see that, you

know, she was so far out of her comfort zone early on, but she hung

around and then she she did amazing during our session. That was that was an

incredibly rewarding Yeah. Workshop. Yeah. Great one. For

me, it was probably the last session we did. It wasn't a student one. So

on Friday afternoon, we did a corporate sort of fun shop. So

now sort of keynote for 60 Winteringham,

workers. So they were like regional managers from all over,

Victoria that look after elderly people that, you know,

are homeless and things like that. Anyway, as you're doing your

talk and you think it's going pretty well, and towards the end,

then, this gentleman stood up and he

stood up and he said and it made me cry, but he said, that is

single handedly the most incredible message and experience we've

ever had. And then and I've made I shook his hand and

gave him a hug later, but then half the room came up to us afterward

and said, that guy has been at the this organization for over 2 years, and

he's never hardly even spoken. And they couldn't believe what had happened. So

I suppose sometimes when you you you sit back and we got in the car

and we drove home, just moments like that make you feel

very fortunate that you're able to impact people. You're able to share

something you believe in and give people something that they didn't realize

they needed. He was he said, look, I I wasn't looking forward to this today.

And then when you got up there in your shorts and t shirt, I was

thinking, oh, no. What's this idiot gonna do? And he ended

up giving me a hug at the end and said, mate, you're incredible. Keep doing

what you're doing. And you don't know the impact you have sometimes until people

share. So yeah. Whether that was a really that that really

sticks home with me probably because of the last session, we did as well. But,

yeah, for me, that was that one. The differences you make

is absolutely incredible, especially with other people and

children. Oh, thanks, Ugh. Yeah. It's also really great to see people happy.

Oh, mate. Isn't it? Oh, it's so good. We we we try and we're

human beings. We definitely try and walk around the earth with a smile on our

face, and we talk about perspective a lot and how grateful we are for the

life we've gotten. You compare it to a lot of people overseas and what they're

going through and the people in their own country, but, and and this is

great for you guys. You know what I mean? Things are gonna get tough. The

road the road ahead is bumpy. There is yeah.

The road ahead is bumpy and and I guess school's job and especially our job

is to try and equip you with the skills to navigate that those bumpy roads,

and build that resilience and and put things in perspective and,

that will hopefully keep you at a certain level of happiness, without going to

but life ebbs and flows. Right? But, yeah, it is. It's it's awesome to see

people happy. Yeah. So true. Most certainly seen that from you today and

last time you came here. Oh, thank you. I have a question for you guys.

What has been the biggest challenge in applying well-being programs to

the schools, and how did you overcome it? Well, you could

probably talk about this from different perspectives, from,

you know, trying different initiatives Yep. When you were AP. So

my former role is an assistant principal of well-being and positive education. And

you sometimes you swing and sometimes you miss.

And some of the programs you get in don't resonate with a lot of people

and you miss the mark. And the one thing that we've really

we know is that it's gotta be engaging. So when you're bringing your well-being

programs, it's gotta be engaging, which means it's gotta be fun. Right? And it's gotta

be I've got a pen in my hand currently. I hate to say this a

lot, don't I? Got a pen in my hand currently, but we try not to

use them too often in anything we do. We don't want students journaling and writing

things down because you can be judged and it can be a little bit disengaging,

but, yeah, we just really strive to make them

engaging. But also the other the other tough part is

is human beings are so different. Like, you're all we're all so

different. Right? We've got different likes and different interests and different personality types,

and we know that we're never gonna resonate with everybody. That is impossible. You

are never gonna resonate with every everybody in the room, but if everyone in that

room can just take one thing from our workshops, you know, we we

probably relay 10 to 15 messages in our workshops minimum,

but they take 1 and they might not let you know they've taken 1, but

we pretty much know that every issue in that room has at least taken one

thing that they can walk away with and put into their own life. We may

not know it, but it's real challenging thing is when you get the kids that

are just too cool for school, and they just they know they

care so much what other people think and they just wanna be super cool and

and wanna disrupt the workshops, and that is don't know why it's frustrating. It's

hard. It's hard. You gotta you gotta bite your tongue sometimes and try and

approach it. Paul's been very good at making me bite my tongue a little bit

more. The session I'm not gonna say where or where, but it came to

mind last week. I was doing a high school session. And the thing I find

is 95% of the room are really engaged, but

sometimes there might be 5% that feel uncomfortable. And normally,

when they feel uncomfortable, they act out or be silly. And I

I personally find that really hard not to focus on those 5

instead of focusing on the 95 that are loving it. But like everybody, that's

something I'm personally working at. And I'm getting a little bit better because my

fuse was going a little bit. But, yeah, I try now to focus

on the ones that are really engaged. And like we said, you're not always gonna

win everyone over. As much as I find that really hard because I wanna

be liked. I want everyone to like what we're doing, and I want them to

be engaged. But the reality is that's never going to happen. So

I think great advice is not everyone's always going to like you, and that

is fine, and this is just general in life. So focus on what

you can control and the people that do like you. And this is what I

always try and tell myself that maybe the messages we're

saying are planting seeds. These students may not really want it at the moment, but

one day they might be struggling and that's when it'll come back. So

even though interaction isn't in the room or they're not fully engaged,

yeah, you're planting seeds. Yeah. That is amazing to hear.

Wow. You said in the first time you interviewed

you that you, that you always start with the

clapping game. Yep. And, recently, I started cricket

training again. And, we used the clapping game with the dice.

Oh, wow. Yes. Amazing. How'd it go? Yeah. It's working well.

Yeah. Everybody gets it early now, which is Oh, that is

so good to hear, Calin. And one thing It gets the energy up too. Yeah.

It does. Right? And and do you know how proud of you I'm so proud

of you for doing it because what we wanna achieve out of this program, our

student leadership program is for you to be young leaders in your school, but more

importantly, we want you to be young leaders out in the community. Yes. That's what

it's all about. You're taking what we've what we've taught you and you're putting that

into your life, into your community, and then you're teaching others, and that

is epic, mate. That is epic. And, you know, we want you to be leaders

in community. We want you to be leaders in family. And we want you to

be leaders in your friendship group. And that means being brave and doing things like

that. Wow. My hat is my taking my hat off the bat. Did you go

to training and say to your coach or whoever, I

wanna start it off? Or how how did you initiate that? So

my dad's the coach, and I said to him in the car on the way

there, oh, I got something I wanna do, see if it works, try and keep

the torque up. Blown away. Oh. Get out of it. It it was

just like a mini practice match, and it worked. So we did it on the

on the weekend for the game. Yeah. And it worked again. So we just kept

doing Well done. And now that'll be your team's thing, right, that gets you

centered and get you focused and get you switched on, and everyone's forgetting about what's

going on outside, and then they're on the like, right, when they do that clapping

game, that's their cue to, right, be present with my team, with my

mates, and and focus on what I gotta do. And that's what you're that's what

you're achieving there. Oh. I love that, Kel. Well, Dan, I've played a lot of

cricket in my life. And normally, we used to just start with throwing or hitting

the ball to each other, but that's such a great way. Because not everyone's always

gonna be good at cricket, but they'll still be there to be part of the

team. So you're giving them something really fun to start with, mate. So

Especially on that coldest Saturday mornings, gets everybody Yeah. Gets

everybody everybody up. Yeah. A 100%, mate. A 100%. That's a neuron spiral.

Are you getting better at doing it yourself, mate? Yeah. Yeah. It's like anything, the

more you practice, the better you get. Batting, bowling, crib, fielding, slapping. Run up, but

Yeah. That's what I mean. Well done. Love that, mate. Awesome.

I would like to say that if there's any questions you would like to ask

us now, please ask us now. We'd love to answer them. Yep. I I've got

one. I I wanna know we asked the the previous group this question also.

Out of all the activities that have been put in place at the school, from

the school play programs, which one do you think has been, a, the most

fun and b, the most impactful? Question

without notice. Yeah. Clapping one for me. Clapping one for you. Good girl.

The egg, chicken, monster and human. That was a Evolution.

Evolution. I was is evolution. I was, a story about that

one. Sorry. I'll get back to the other one is, I was in, in

Peru, so in South America, and I was climbing Machu Picchu, which is

one of the original wonders of the world. And in our group, we had people

like porters from Peru. We had people from Canada. We had people from Asia. We

had Americans, all these Australian, New Zealanders. And then other people walking were

all different nationalities. And so each morning, as much as my

current my my fiancee there, but my wife is like, oh, you're not gonna start

up another game. Halfway up, match pitch you day 3 of the

hike. There was about 200 people there, and I played that

that game. And you should have seen it. Like, it was just

empty. Imagine the scene. Oh, it's amazing. I want to be there now. I

know. 2 100 people. Oh, it's crazy. And more and more people then don't see

me and go, oh, we're getting new games, games. Well, they call me games guy.

Yeah. Anyway, so great activity. Work anywhere. I

love that. There you go. Mhmm. So, like, for me, the b one is,

the handshake one. Oh, nice. The handshake one's cool, isn't

it? The handshake one is really cool. We love that one because you're creating, you're

connecting, and you're remembering that person. Friends. Yeah. Yeah. It brings

you closer together. I like it. I love that one. Love that one.

My favorite one would be, when we did the rock paper scissors tournament.

Yeah. And when, if you well, look, you adverse people, and if you lost, you'd

be their cheer squad. Yes. And I liked it a lot because,

like, no matter who it was, if you win, you would just cheer for them.

Yeah. And it's it made the people feel better and it also you

were just having fun. Yeah. Brings a lot of energy to the room, that one,

doesn't it? A lot of energy to the room. All those activities there that you

just mentioned, we call them connection starters. They're so simple, aren't they?

Each one goes for 2 or 3 minutes. It's not really about winning or losing.

Everyone feels safe. It's just about having fun. And like Kel

said, they anybody listening, start any session. If you've got a meeting, if you've got

a cricket session, I don't know if you've if you've got anything at home, a

party or something like that. Start with something like that. It's a really fun way

to do it. Make leadership. I love that. Make leadership play for you. Yeah. Well,

that's that's really evident, you know, that 4 school captains have come in

and that's exactly what they've brought out. They Yeah. They love those. Well done. What,

as school captains, what what skills do you think you've developed this year? What are

you gonna take with you? Like, speaking aloud to other

people Mhmm. And being really have to be really confident and ready.

Yep. Because especially in assemblies and podcasts, you

have to make sure you know what you're doing, have it all organized. And if

you don't, it might just crumble. Yeah. But when you learn that

skill and it gets up there, you can realize you can do it. You are

spot on. Being organized and being prepared is is key.

And I think when you put the work in to prepare and plan and

rehearse and rehearse It's good. Yeah. And it makes you feel less anxious Yeah. Also.

Right? You feel less nervous a little bit because, you know, you've got this. That's

a brilliant one. Basically, what Maya said Yeah. I'm, like, bring,

being organized because I'm kinda messy.

Being vulnerable is very important too. Being honest is important. Being honest as a leader

is very important. See, I've strapped his chicken on the floor. We'll we'll help you

with that tomorrow. I stopped, like, talking out loud I'm kind of press

practicing. Yeah. So, like, I can bring my confidence level up. Yeah.

Beautiful. And just know that not many people your age and I was the same.

Like, you're probably looking at 2 people that feel appear to be really confident. I

was the same at your age. Yeah. I I remember holding the paper and it

was shaking in front of doing public speaking things and, keep at it because you

develop the skill and as you're doing, you put lost you on the table. Yeah.

Yeah. And you don't have to be really really proud of yourself. You're being fixed.

You're stepping out of your comfort zone. Right? And that's something to be really proud

of. That's awesome. Look. For me, it's trying to be the best

version of myself. Because even in the downs and the lows, you just

gotta push through and just to be the best version of yourself, which I know

is what you guys do as well. Yeah. We try. We try. We don't always

get a ride. The effort. You most certainly make the effort. Thank you. And you

gotta work on it, like, just this morning, the man to my right, Dale, pulled

me up. Like, he he he reset my mindset this morning a little bit. I

won't go into too many details. He did. No. Had a had a frustrating evening

and, yeah. He he really had an amazing and frustrating evening. But, yeah,

he reset my mindset this morning. So it happens to the best of his. Right?

So when you can gather that skill, keep working on it. Come.

Probably exactly what everybody else has said. Trying to

make the best version myself probably is a big part of it.

Yeah. Trying to help everybody around me. Beautiful. I love that. That's

brilliant. Can you hear me? Yeah. Good community. And if you can work on yourself,

but also impart some knowledge on others, that's Yeah. That just feels so

good intrinsically. And more importantly, I suppose, Steve

and Lynn and the rest of the team here that have created such an amazing

opportunity for you Yeah. To not only you do do things like

this, but have a podcast like it's an incredible thing, and

I couldn't imagine the skills that you've learned from that.

So, yeah, keep practicing these things because they are skill sets

that will always be needed. In the world, we live in technology based. No

one can replace us. No one can be human centered like doing a podcast

like this. So awesome skill sets you already have in grade 6, and you should

be really proud of that. Yeah. For sure. Question, have you guys listened to our

podcast? I have actually. I've listened to one because my

brother made me. Because I said, brother, I need help with this, and he's, like,

we'll go on the website. Okay. So I read it.

And I really like that. Not you don't just put energy into,

like, when you go to a place. You put energy into everything.

Aw. Thank you, Mark. It's how you show up. It's very nice. That's how you

show up, and and and you've gotta find that the will power to shop

sometime. Everyone gets tired on it, but, yeah, we do try to shop because,

attitude reflects leadership. You know what I mean? Attitude I love that one. You do.

That's really cool. I love that. And for the rest of you, don't listen to

it. Uh-uh. I sorta have. I've watched a couple

YouTube videos, so Yeah. Cool. There you go. Chapped with him

speaking. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Well

So so, Zog, you got

first of the kind. I'll tell you what. It's been that enjoyable. We look forward

to hopefully doing more of these with some of the lucky schools we work with.

But school captains, thank you so much. You should be really proud of what you've

been able to do this year. More importantly, from when you interviewed me

first term to now, how you've grown and how you're

speaking, it's amazing. Alright? And that's exactly what you do. You only get better

by doing it, putting yourself out there and practicing. So it's been a pleasure not

only to be interviewed on your podcast, but also to have you on our side.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Really impressed. Really impressed with who you are as

human beings and just best of luck. Yeah. Best of luck for for what's

ahead of you. Remember it gets bumpy, but ride it and enjoy it and support

each other as best you can and and never stop working on yourself. We thank

you so much for letting us be here and have this conversation with you again

for the end of the term because we soon have graduation. Yes. Good

luck. One of the best nights of the year. One of the best nights of

the year. Frak up. Look sharp, boys. You'll be great. Alright.

Awesome. Alright, everyone. Enjoy. Thank you. Take care. Thank

you.