This NAIDOC Week, we’re embracing the 2025 theme “The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy”. This theme is about celebrating the achievements of the past and the bright futures being shaped by today’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School in Western Australia partnered with GymbaROO-KindyROO to deliver the Unlocking Potential (UP) Program for a five-year period. This program is a neurodevelopmental sensory-motor movement program for Kindergarten to Year 6 students, designed to strengthen the foundations essential for learning, behaviour and academic success. 

Delivered each morning for 25 minutes, five days a week, the program focused on key neurodevelopmental skills such as balance, body awareness and coordination. These core capabilities are essential for setting children up for success not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well. 

In 2017 when the program was at the school, teachers saw a clear need. Many children were starting school without the neurological readiness to fully engage in the classroom. Prior to GymbaROO-KindyROO running this program at the school, 63 of 87 of the Year 1 – 6 students were assessed as performing below the skills of a five-year-old. 

Using the Draw-A-Person (DAP) assessment (1,2),  a research-backed tool that reflects a child’s neurological age, was used before and after the program was implemented. Below are the results of the DAP assessment from before and after the program. The drawings in the second group show more detail in the formation of the person as well as great accuracy in the placement of limbs and facial features. These changes indicate an increase in body awareness and neurological maturity.

At the end of the UP Program at Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School, the signs of the children’s development were extraordinary:

• There was significant improvement in percentile ranks, with 62% of children performing at or above their age level. (3)
• One child’s neurological age jumped from 5 years to over 11 years during the study, moving from the 2nd percentile to the 99th percentile – the highest range of ability. (3)

Teachers noted improvements that extended beyond academic learning. Children became more focused and attentive in the classroom, showed improved social skills and teamwork, and displayed increased self-confidence and independence. Their willingness to try and take pride in their progress was also evident. 

This NAIDOC Week, we celebrate the young children at Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School who stepped into the UP Program and emerged stronger and more confident. Their journey reflects the core of this year’s theme.

 

References

1. Goodenough FL. Children’s drawings. In: Murchison C, Murchison C, editors. A handbook of child psychology. The International University series in psychology. Worcester, MA: Clark University Press; 1931. p. 480-514.
2. Harris DB. Children’s drawings as measures of intellectual maturity; A revision and extension of the Goodenough Draw-A-Man Test.: Harcourt College Pub; 1963. 367 p.
3. Williams J. Does a neurodevelopmental movement program affect Australian children’s academic performance? Unlocking Potential: a report. Australian Journal of Child and Family Health Nursing. 2015;2(12):12 – 8.