Curriculum-aligned wellbeing programs
A Brainstorm performance is more than a fun incursion. Each show is a curriculum-aligned learning stimulus designed to support schools in delivering content across the wellbeing curriculum and beyond.
Live performances linked to the wellbeing curriculum
Our live theatre performances for primary and secondary are designed to address key areas of the wellbeing curriculum, with each show covering (cyber)bullying, online safety and student wellbeing. The program is much more than an entertaining show, offering a deeply engaging resource that teachers can use as a stimulus for classroom learning.
Each performance facilitates the delivery of content across the following areas of the Australian, NSW and Victorian curricula:
- Health & Physical Education (HPE) & PDHPE
- Personal & Social Capability
- Digital Literacy
- Ethical Understanding/Capability
The performance also extends beyond the curriculum, reinforcing the school’s anti bullying, wellbeing and online safety frameworks, while strengthening respectful relationships, inclusion, emotional literacy and a sense of belonging in the school community.
Our National and State endorsements further demonstrate our ability to use captivating live theatre to meet social and emotional learning outcomes in Australian schools.
Theatre as a stimulus for learning in English, Literacy & the Arts
A live performance is a complex multimodal text that integrates language, gesture, movement, design, sound and visual storytelling, a text type students may have limited opportunities to experience first-hand.
Using the performance as a shared text enables explicit teaching in:
- Narrative structure and character development
- Perspective, theme and author intent
- Language features and persuasive techniques
- Speaking and listening outcomes
- Responding to and analysing drama as a performance text
- Creating written, spoken and dramatic responses
Educational theatre provides a high-engagement context for achieving outcomes in English, Literacy and The Arts, while reinforcing the social and emotional learning explored in the performance.
Using the performance as a learning stimulus
Each performance serves as a cross-curricular stimulus, enabling schools to maximise impact across HPE, Literacy and The Arts through a shared learning experience. It supports contextual learning by offering up a range of real-life scenarios that students may encounter, exploring choices, solutions, consequences and opportunities for growth.
All of our primary school performances are suitable for Years K/P-6, with a Junior version available for Years K/P-2. All high school performances are suitable for Years 7-11. The program includes a structured discussion guide and two curriculum-aligned lesson plans, with the performance used as a stimulus for further learning in the classroom.
Teachers may choose to implement the provided lesson plans or use the performance as a springboard to design their own learning experiences, depending on their needs and priority areas.
The stimulus examples below demonstrate how our performances can be used to meet Health & Physical Education (HPE) outcomes from the Australian Curriculum, from Foundation through to Year 10.
These are just a few examples, with each performance offering a host of opportunities for curriculum-aligned learning.
Use the menu below to find a stimulus example for your students’ year level/s.
Stimulus Examples
1
Foundation example (Kindergarten/Prep)
Performance moment
(stimulus)
In the primary performance The Human Race (Yrs K/P-6) a character called Unity performs a song with a hip-hop verse and a catchy chorus.
The song emphasises the key messages of the show around respect, safety, inclusion and belonging, at school, online and in the community:
Everybody in the human race has got to be respected.
Everybody in the human race needs to feel safe.
Everybody in the human race is different but connected.
Unity teaches the students the actions so they can sing along and participate. The song files are provided in the Teacher Resource Pack, so teachers can reinforce key learning outcomes in the classroom.
Curriculum Links
Australian Curriculum v9.0 HPE Foundation:
- AC9HPFP01: Investigate who they are and the people in their world
- AC9HPFP02: Practise personal and social skills to interact respectfully with others
- AC9HPFP04: Explore how to seek, give or deny permission respectfully when sharing possessions or personal space
- AC9HPFP05: Demonstrate protective behaviours, name body parts and rehearse help-seeking strategies that help keep them safe.
Classroom activity
Example
- Seat students in a circle and ask them if they remember the words and actions to the song.
- Play the song again (the vocal version), singing along and doing the actions to the chorus. Listen carefully to the verses.
- Write the chorus lyrics on the board.
- Ask students to show you what ‘safe’ looks and feels like.
- What did Dunc do to show respect, so that others felt safe? What can we do in our classroom?
- Role play how to seek and give permission in simple, familiar scenarios:
- “Can I play with that?”
- “Can I sit here?”
- “Can I give you a hug?”
2
Years 1-2 example
Performance moment
(stimulus)
In the primary school performance Saving Lil & Archie (Yrs K/P-6) Bella has been teased at school by girls in her friendship group. They have been pressuring her to sneak the iPad into her room and play games online with people she doesn’t know. She tries to say ‘no’ but they call her names and laugh at her.
When Bella gets home from school she sees her friends are online. They’re making mean comments about her in the group chat and she feels anxious, embarrassed and sick in the stomach.
Bella doesn’t feel safe gaming with strangers but she considers giving in, just to stop the bullying.
Bella’s brother says she shouldn’t tell their parents because they might take their devices away.
What will she do?
Curriculum Links
Australian Curriculum v9.0 HPE Yrs 1-2:
- AC9HP2P02: Identify and explore skills and strategies to develop respectful relationships, e.g. exploring strategies to understand and manage bullying behaviours.
- AC9HP2P03: Identify how different situations influence emotional responses.
- AC9HP2P04: Practise strategies they can use when they need to seek, give or deny permission respectfully.
- AC9HP2P05: Identify and demonstrate protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies they can use to help them and others stay safe.
Classroom activity
Example
- Students use clues from the scene to identify Bella’s emotions (e.g. face, posture, tone).
- Teacher records emotion vocabulary on the board.
- Discuss the reasons why Bella and Archie were afraid to ask for help.
- Compare this to what actually happened (e.g. their parents provided emotional support, reminded them of the family rules and helped Bella to solve the problem).
- Students identify five trusted adults they can talk to if they are feeling upset or worried.
3
Years 3-4 example
Performance moment
(stimulus)
In the primary school performance The Protectors (Yrs K/P-6) Leo is attending superhero school to learn how to be assertive and protect himself from bullying and online harms.
He enters ‘The Cyber Chamber’ where he must complete a series of challenges within an online driving game.
Leo receives a message from an unknown person who starts asking him personal questions. As the interaction progresses Leo notices changes in his emotions and physical sensations. He realises the interaction is unsafe.
What will he do next?
Curriculum Links
Australian Curriculum v9.0 HPE Yrs 3-4:
- AC9HP4P02: Plan, rehearse and reflect on strategies to cope with the different changes and transitions they experience
- AC9HP4P06: Explain how and why emotional responses can vary and practise strategies to manage their emotions
- AC9HP4P08: describe and apply protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies in a range of online and offline situations
- AC9HP4P10: Investigate and apply behaviours that contribute to their own and others’ health, safety, relationships and wellbeing.
Classroom activity
Example
- Students identify emotions and physical sensations from the scene (e.g. anxiety, fear, butterflies, sweating, increased heart rate).
- Students identify the actions Leo took (e.g. stopped the conversation, told a teacher).
- Students identify other actions the characters took in unsafe online scenarios (e.g. screenshot, report, block).
- In pairs or small groups:
- Students create an ‘Online Safety Action Plan’
- They describe preventative actions to keep their online spaces safe (e.g. setting games to friends only)
- They create a step-by-step plan for how to respond if they encounter an unsafe situation.
4
Years 5-6 example
Performance moment
(stimulus)
In the primary school performance The Human Race (Yrs K/P-6) Kimbo has participated in harmful behaviours, including lying, spreading rumours about Dunc, and cheating in the challenges.
Kimbo allowed herself to be pressured by a dominant peer because she didn’t have the confidence to stand up for herself.
After talking to Dunc and reflecting on her behaviour she experiences guilt and empathy, but also feels empowered to do the right thing.
She decides to take responsibility for her actions and publicly apologise, even if it means being disqualified from the game.
Curriculum Links
Australian Curriculum v9.0 HPE Yrs 5-6:
AC9HP6P04: Describe and demonstrate how respect and empathy can be expressed to positively influence relationships.
AC9HP6P05: Describe and implement strategies to value diversity in their communities.
AC9HP6P06: Apply strategies to manage emotions and analyse how emotional responses influence interactions.
AC9HP6P08: Analyse and rehearse protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies that can be used in a range of online and offline situations.
AC9HP6P10: Analyse how behaviours influence the health, safety, relationships and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
Classroom activity
Example
- Discuss how Kimbo felt, identifying verbal and non-verbal cues from the scene (e.g. face, posture, tone).
- Teacher records emotion vocabulary on the board, discussing that it is possible to experience more than one emotion at the same time.
- Discuss why it can be difficult to apologise and be honest about our mistakes and why apologies are important in relationships.
- Brainstorm a list of hypothetical scenarios in which students may need to apologise to a peer.
- Identify the non-verbal and verbal skills required for an effective apology.
- In groups, students role-play different ways to apologise and take responsibility for their actions in ways that are respectful of themselves and others. Teachers note the skills observed.
5
Years 7-8 example
Performance moment
(stimulus)
In the high school performance Verbal Combat (Years 7–11), Gabrielle realises she is being ostracised by her friendship group. Messages go unanswered and she discovers the group spent the previous night together without her.
What started as subtle exclusion and teasing soon reveals a pattern of covert bullying and coercion that is quietly eroding Gabrielle’s wellbeing. She feels anxious, lonely and constantly on edge, overthinking every interaction, losing sleep and questioning what her friends might be saying behind her back.
At the same time, endless scrolling and exposure to unhealthy online content fuel her insecurities, convincing her that if she were prettier, thinner or somehow “better”, she might finally be accepted.
Although Gabrielle desperately needs support, her identity is tied to these friendships and she is afraid to speak up and ask for help.
Curriculum Links
Australian Curriculum v9.0 HPE Yrs 7-8:
- AC9HP8P02: Analyse the impact of changes and transitions, and devise strategies to support themselves and others through these changes.
AC9HP8P04: Examine the roles of respect, empathy, power and coercion in developing respectful relationships.
AC9HP8P06: Analyse factors that influence emotional responses and devise strategies to self-manage emotions.
AC9HP8P07: Explain and apply skills and strategies to communicate assertively and respectfully.
AC9HP8P08: Refine protective behaviours and evaluate community resources to seek help for themselves and others.
AC9HP8P09: Investigate how media and influential people impact attitudes, beliefs, decisions and behaviours in relation to health, safety, relationships and wellbeing.
AC9HP8P10: Plan and implement strategies, using health resources, to enhance their own and others’ health, safety, relationships and wellbeing.
Classroom activity
Example
- Identify some of the ‘red flags’ in Gabrielle’s friendships, providing specific examples from the play. How did we know these friendships were unhealthy?
- How did Gabrielle feel when she was interacting with her friends?
- Was Gabrielle being bullied by her friends? Explain your responses with reference to the formal definition of bullying)
- As a class or in small groups, create a mind map to represent the characteristics of a healthy friendship, considering what a healthy friendship feels like, looks like and sounds like. What are the ‘green flags’ we can look for in a friendship?
- While creating their mind maps, students should consider themes of power, coercion, trust, consent and emotional safety.
- Identify key supports and discuss who students can talk to if they are concerned about their friendships or other relationships.
6
Years 9-10 example
Performance moment
(stimulus)
In the high school performance The Hurting Game (Years 7–11), childhood friends Tom and Maddie are struggling to navigate the pressures of Year 10.
After years of being teased and ridiculed by other boys, Tom begins to absorb the influence of toxic online content and unhealthy peer dynamics. Consumed by his appearance and social status, he starts lashing out at those around him, including his closest friend, Maddie.
Meanwhile, Maddie is facing her own silent battles. Feeling overwhelmed and disconnected, she retreats further into herself, turning to AI chatbots for comfort and mental health advice.
When Maddie confronts Tom in the playground, tensions come to the surface. Challenging his aggressive behaviour and harmful attitudes towards girls, Maddie tries to reconnect with her friend through honesty and genuine conversation. The scene highlights the role that authentic interactions and vulnerability can play in helping young people push back against unhealthy influences.
Curriculum Links
Australian Curriculum v9.0 HPE Yrs 9-10:
AC9HP10P01: Analyse factors that shape identities and evaluate how individuals influence the identities of others.
AC9HP10P02: Refine, evaluate and adapt strategies for managing changes and transitions.
AC9HP10P03: Investigate how gender equality and challenging assumptions about gender can prevent violence and abuse in relationships.
AC9HP10P04: Evaluate the influence of respect, empathy, power and coercion on establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.
AC9HP10P05: Propose strategies and actions individuals and groups can implement to challenge biases, stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination, and promote inclusion in their communities.
AC9HP10P06: Evaluate emotional responses in different situations to refine strategies for managing emotions (e.g. resolving conflict).
- AC9HP10P07: Examine how strategies, such as communicating choices, seeking, giving and denying consent, and expressing opinions and needs can support the development of respectful relationships.
AC9HP10P08: Plan, rehearse and evaluate strategies for managing situations where their own or others’ health, safety or wellbeing may be at risk.
AC9HP10P09: Critique health information, services and media messaging about relationships, lifestyle choices, health decisions and behaviours to evaluate their influence on individual attitudes and actions.
AC9HP10P10: Plan, justify and critique strategies to enhance their own and others’ health, safety, relationships and wellbeing.
Classroom activity
Example
- As a class, discuss how Tom’s social media feed changed over time. Compare the type of content he was consuming in Year 7, Year 9 and Year 10.
- In small groups, students research the following terms:
- Algorithm
- Recommender System
- Echo Chamber
- Without using AI, each student writes a short paragraph that explains how seemingly harmless content (such as fitness, motivation or dating advice) can funnel young people towards harmful, narrow or extreme ideas.
- Students share their paragraphs with the class.
- The following page can be used to support or extend on this activity: https: esafety.gov.au/young-people/echo-chambers-and-your-feed.