FOR SCHOOLS
Schools are carrying more than ever.
Behaviour is harder. Anxiety is showing up earlier. Attention, regulation and emotional capacity have changed. Teachers are being asked to manage learning, wellbeing and increasing complexity all at once.
The Groundwork supports schools with practical, realistic approaches that help students settle, regulate and return to learning - while also supporting the adults who hold the classroom every day.
Staff Professional Learning
This isn’t another wellbeing program. It’s a different way of understanding what’s happening in today’s classrooms.
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Children aren’t more difficult.
They’re more overloaded.
The pace is faster.
The stimulation is higher.
The demands are constant.
And teachers are managing the impact of that every day.
This workshop helps staff understand what sits underneath behaviour, anxiety and disengagement - and how to create the conditions that help students settle, regulate and learn.
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Includes:
• Why children’s capacity for focus and regulation has changed
• The impact of overstimulation, pressure and constant input
• Early signs of nervous system overload
• Simple ways to reduce stress within everyday classroom routines
• Practical strategies that increase calm, engagement and learning
For staff meetings, Teacher Only Days and PLD
Parent Evening
Because children’s behaviour makes more sense when you understand the world they’re growing up in.
Today’s children are living in a fast, loud, highly stimulating environment.
When their systems become overloaded, it shows up as anxiety, anger, avoidance or shutdown.
This session helps parents understand what’s really driving their child’s behaviour - and how to bring more calm, connection and capacity back into everyday life.
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Includes:
• Why children are becoming overwhelmed earlier than ever
• What behaviour is really communicating
• The role of stimulation, pressure and constant input
• Practical ways to reduce overwhelm at home
• Simple routines that support sleep, regulation and emotional security
Real-life support - not theory, not parenting perfection.
Student Sessions
Simple skills to help students understand and manage their internal world.
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Many children don’t know what’s happening in their bodies when stress rises - they just feel it and react.
These sessions give students practical tools to recognise overwhelm early and return to calm so they can stay engaged in learning and life.​
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Students learn:
• How stress and overload feel in the body
• How to recognise their early warning signs
• Simple reset tools (movement, breathing, grounding)
• How to return to calm and focus
• How to build confidence in managing big feelings
Because regulation is a skill - and it can be taught.
Grounded in Aotearoa’s Education Context
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The Groundwork aligns with the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum by strengthening the foundations students need to feel settled, connected and ready to learn. The approach supports Hauora and the Key Competencies - particularly Managing Self and Relating to Others - while helping create calm, safe learning environments where students can engage and participate.
This work also supports school priorities around inclusion, engagement and positive behaviour approaches (including PB4L), and reflects our responsibility to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by supporting culturally responsive environments that strengthen connection, identity, belonging and participation for all learners within the Aotearoa context.
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When students feel settled and safe in their bodies, learning becomes possible.
Lets work together
If students are overwhelmed, learning becomes harder.
When students feel calm and settled, everything else becomes possible.
The Groundwork helps schools strengthen the foundations that support regulation, engagement and readiness to learn.
If your school is noticing increasing anxiety, behaviour challenges or student overwhelm, I’d love to talk about how this work could support your staff and students.