Evaluating the effect of the Healthy Active Learning initiative on educational outcomes in New Zealand primary school students

Healthy Active Learning (HAL) is a joint government initiative between Sport New Zealand, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. This nationwide initiative aims to improve the wellbeing of primary and intermediate schoolchildren through the promotion of healthy eating, drinking and quality physical activity during school. The HAL initiative provides support to teachers for planning and delivering health and PE curriculum with the help from the initiative advisors and additional funding. The HAL advisors also offer support to the school to develop healthy and active learning environments for the children to improve engagement and motivation levels during classes.

Over 800 primary schools in New Zealand have received support from the HAL initiative till date. Out of the 800 schools, 48 schools from both urban and rural setting have been selected to evaluate the in-depth outcomes of the initiative over three timepoints – namely, baseline (2020-2021), phase 1 post-intervention (2022-2023), and finally, phase 2 post-intervention (2024-2025).

As part of the evaluation, data has been collected using a variety of research tools including accelerometers (physical activity and sleep), questionnaires, and sleep diaries. There is more data to explore from the stakeholders as per the topic selected by the student.

The potential PhD student will work with Prof Ajmol Ali and other academics (as appropriate, depending on topic area/discipline) to set the criteria for assessment, undertake a detailed literature review, identify specific aims and objectives, examine and analyse relevant data, and write up thesis. This is your chance to work on a nationwide project, involving three different government agencies, and undertaking impactful work that will affect the children of New Zealand.

For informal inquiries you can contact our evaluation coordinator, Krutika Nanavati at k.nanavati@massey.ac.nz

A short presentation explaining the evaluation can be found here – https://webcast.massey.ac.nz/Mediasite/Play/aeb2ecf3303743ccbce280575f4d68391d

And, the website with the relevant information about the intervention can be found here – https://sportnz.org.nz/focus-areas/healthy-active-learning/

Eligibility criteria:

• must have Master’s degree in relevant field (e.g. education, psychology, biostatistics)
• must have an interest in working with children
• must be flexible, able to work in a multidisciplinary team, and be passionate about public health research
• appropriate English language abilities

How to apply:

Please send the following documents with your enquiry email to Krutika Nanavati at k.nanavati@massey.ac.nz:

• Cover letter
• CV with references
• Academic record
• English language certification (7.0 or above IELTS score)

To be eligible for a scholarship, a minimum New Zealand GPA of 7.5 is required (approximately A- average; or >3.33 on USA GPA scale).