At the beginning of Term Three at the 2025 National HAL Hui - the principal of Ahipara School approached the Far North School Connector to discuss the need for support in Term 4. As a new principal her focus was on re-establishing community connections by bringing back important annual historical events, including the school's production. At the time, the school was facing a gap in support after their previous dance instructor resigned.

Building on the success of I Am Legend at Moromaku School (another Healthy Active Learning school), the HAL team collaboratively developed a proposal for dance teacher Adrienne Kehoe to support Ahipara School. The intention was not only to support the upcoming production, but to grow teacher confidence, capability and sustainability for future productions within the school and community.

To help build strong connection and shared understanding from the outset, the HAL School Connector developed a student and kaiako voice survey in the early stages of the process. This survey gathered whakaaro on where students and teachers felt they were currently at with performing arts, what their experiences and confidence levels were and what they hoped to gain from the collaboration. This intentional step helped Adrienne connect authentically with the Ahipara context and ensured the support was responsive, strength-based and grounded in the voices of the school community.

Adrienne later shared that the insights gathered through the survey were extremely helpful and useful in shaping her approach. They supported her to ensure that all tamariki felt encouraged, included and confident to participate throughout the process.

“The collaboration at Ahipara School was extremely professional and has been my favourite collaboration to date. That is largely due to the mahi alongside the HAL School Connector Amy. The student and kaiako survey provided really valuable insights and helped ensure every student felt encouraged and included. I would absolutely love to do more mahi in this space alongside other schools in the Far North!” – Adrienne, Dance Teacher.

The proposal was approved and resulted in Adrienne working at Ahipara School every Tuesday for the full term, working closely alongside the School Connector. Together, they supported tamariki and kaiako through structured movement sessions, creative exploration, and performance preparation.

From the end of Term 3 and into Term 4, Adrienne and Amy identified a shift occurring across the staff. As confidence grew, kaiako were increasingly motivated to take greater ownership of movement and dance within the production. This led to a deliberate move from external support to capacity building, with kaiako stepping into leadership and creative roles.

As confidence increased, movement began to extend beyond the classroom. Dance parties and battles started popping up during lunchtimes with students from all ages, sharing the temporary stage confidently and sharing what they were learning/dance routines. Over time, classes not only learned their own choreography but also learned each other’s dances, strengthening connection, belonging, and collective pride across the school.

Impact on Kaiako:

• Kaiako confidence grew steadily as the term progressed.
• Teachers became increasingly creative and willing to step outside their comfort zones.
• One kaiako, after receiving guidance and encouragement from Adrienne, took on a lead role in developing and leading dance components independently, feeling empowered to do it herself.
• Other kaiako reported feeling more confident and capable as the process unfolded, with creativity building week by week.
• A Provisionally Registered Teacher, early in her teaching career, chose to get on stage and perform alongside her class. This created a strong whānau-focused performance and resulted in significant gains in confidence for both kaiako and tamariki.

“Adrienne has helped Room 4 students build their confidence, not only in dance but in their everyday activities. They are more willing to contribute to things with an open mind. Adrienne has also helped me as a teacher become more confident in taking my class for drama/dance activities for small periods of time throughout the weeks.” Kaiako, Room 4.

“It has been a privilege working alongside Adrienne to create such an amazing end of year production to celebrate our tamariki.”  Nadia Cosner, Kaiako Years 6–7

“Adrienne’s support has been a real boost for everyone. I’ve felt my confidence grow, especially with movement and HPE and her calm, patient way of working made the whole process easy and enjoyable. Students really thrived under her guidance.”  Angie Peters, Kaiako

A powerful moment came when the entire staff co-choreographed and performed a teacher dance. This celebrated their learning, creativity and collective effort which helped to wrap up and pull the whole production together in a meaningful way.

The production night began with a performance from the school kapa haka group, setting a strong cultural foundation for the evening and reflecting the school’s commitment to identity, belonging and Mātauranga Māori.

Leadership and School-Wide Learning:

The principal observed first-hand what was possible when teachers were supported to build confidence and capability rather than relying solely on external expertise. A reflective process followed the production in a staff meeting, allowing staff and leadership to unpack what worked well, what was challenging and what could be done differently.

As a result, a strategic decision was made to add into the school wide planning and curriculum to make the production an annual event as a more intentional and future-focused model for celebrating learning.

This thinking aligns closely with broader mahi around Revisioning School Camp and End-of-Year Experiences, ensuring wellbeing, purpose and community connection remain central.

Key learnings for future collaborations:

If this kaupapa were to be repeated, or if other schools were keen to undertake a similar approach, several key learnings have emerged from the Ahipara School experience:

1. Start with voice and connection - Beginning with student and teacher survey was useful and critical in a short time frame. The early survey created relational trust, ensured the support was responsive to context and helped everyone feel seen and heard from the outset. This aligns strongly with Healthy Active Learning’s emphasis on student voice, inclusive practice and localised solutions.

2. Prioritise capability building over delivery - Rather than relying solely on external expertise, the most powerful impact came from intentionally building kaiako confidence and capability. This resulted in teachers stepping into leadership roles, sustaining movement and dance beyond the project itself.

3. Work alongside, not instead of, kaiako - Adrienne’s success was grounded in her approach of working with teachers in-class. This co-teaching and modelling supported kaiako to try, reflect, adapt, and grow in real time, strengthening professional practice and confidence.

4. Normalise joy, play, and movement across the school day - The emergence of lunchtime dance battles and classes learning each other’s choreography showed that when movement is joyful and visible, it becomes embedded in school culture.

5. Leadership vision and permission matters - The principal’s commitment to re-establishing community connection and giving kaiako permission to try, perform, and be creative was essential. Leadership support enabled risk-taking, reflection and innovation.

6. Reflect, revise, and design for sustainability - Intentional reflection following the production led to strategic decisions that balance wellbeing, learning time, and sustainability. Moving to a biannual production model supports long-term success rather than short-term pressure.

7. Celebrate identity, belonging, and whānau connection - Performing arts became a vehicle for strengthening identity, confidence, and connection not just a performance outcome.

Overall, this kaupapa demonstrates that when Healthy Active Learning principles are intentionally woven through collaboration — voice, relationships, capability building, movement, and wellbeing — schools are better positioned to create lasting, meaningful change.

Summary:

This collaboration highlights the power of intentional, relational support that prioritises growing capability rather than dependence.

“My attitude has shifted in a positive way. I’m more open, confident and actually excited about movement and the school production.” Ahipara Teacher.

“Overall, the project went really well. I’m more confident, students are engaged (even the tutu ones), and there’s a stronger sense of purpose around movement and identity. Adrienne’s kindness, patience and great communication were a big part of why it all worked.”  Ahipara Teacher.

The collective time investment from kaiako, leadership, Adrienne and the School Connector resulted in:

• Increased teacher confidence and leadership
• Stronger community and whānau connection
• Visible joy and creativity through movement
• Tamariki and kaiako learning with and from each other – tuakana/teina
• A sustainable, future-focused approach to school productions

This mahi aligns with Healthy Active Learning outcomes by demonstrating how education settings value and prioritise quality movement and active recreation (HAL Outcome 1), support kaiako to implement active teaching and learning approaches (HAL Outcome 4), value Mātauranga Māori through culturally grounded performance such as kapa haka (HAL Outcome 3), and work effectively with whānau and the local community to enable inclusive and equitable access to movement and performance opportunities (HAL Outcome 5).

This case study provides a strong example of how targeted support can lead to lasting cultural and pedagogical change. Check out the video of the day here.

Case Study written by Amy Murray, Healthy Active Learning School Connector