Empower kids with the skills they need to thrive in the classroom, the playground, and beyond.
Empowering Kids Australia programs equip educators with ready-to-deliver, engaging lessons that help children build confidence, character, resilience, and personal safety across five key wellbeing areas. Easy to deliver. Powerful in impact.
Empowering Kids Through Life Skills Education
The Empowering Kids Australia Program is a comprehensive, values-based teaching resource designed to support the social and emotional development of children in a positive, engaging, and age-appropriate way. It consists of five interconnected programs, each focused on developing essential life skills and promoting wellbeing both inside and outside the classroom.
The five core programs include:
✅ Bully Awareness and Prevention
✅ Good Manners and Positive Behaviour
✅ Emotional Regulation
✅ Character and Leadership
✅ Stranger Danger Safety
Each program includes ready-to-deliver lesson plans, engaging classroom activities, and supporting resources, making it easy for teachers, principals, and education support staff to confidently deliver the content.
Designed to encourage meaningful discussions, positive behaviour, and self-awareness, the programs empower children to make respectful, responsible, and safe choices in everyday situations while fostering a positive and supportive learning environment.
By embedding these programs into the school curriculum, educators can help children develop confidence, resilience, empathy, and leadership skills, building strong foundations for lifelong success.
Bully Awareness & Prevention
This program empowers children with the knowledge, confidence, and practical strategies to recognise bullying, respond safely, stand up for themselves and others, and build respectful, inclusive relationships. By developing empathy, resilience, and positive communication skills, the program helps create safer classrooms, stronger peer relationships, and a positive school culture where bullying is less likely to occur.
Manners & Positive Behaviour
This program helps children develop the values and skills needed to show respect, use good manners, communicate with kindness, and make positive choices that strengthen relationships. By fostering empathy, responsibility, and respectful behaviour, the program supports positive classroom environments where children feel valued, connected, and ready to learn.
Emotional Regulation
This program empowers children to recognise and understand their emotions, use practical calming strategies, and express their feelings in healthy, respectful ways. By developing resilience, emotional wellbeing, and self-awareness, it helps children build the confidence and skills to manage challenges, strengthen relationships, and thrive both in and beyond the classroom.
Strong Character and Leadership
This program helps children develop strong values such as honesty, responsibility, courage, and integrity. By encouraging positive decision-making, resilience, and leading by example, the program empowers children to build confidence, strengthen their character, and become positive role models within their school and community.
Coming soon
Stranger Danger Safety
This program teaches children how to stay safe around strangers, trust their instincts, and seek help from trusted adults when needed. By building confidence, awareness, and practical personal safety skills, it empowers children to make safe decisions in everyday situations and respond confidently when something doesn't feel right.
Coming soon
Free Resource for Educators
Presenting Practical Strategies and Role-Play Activity
We also offer a range of bright, fun, and engaging children's books, journals, and short stories that complement our programs and reinforce key life skills.
Fundraise with Purpose
Interested in Fundraising?
Turn reading into fundraising with our beautifully illustrated 'Sensei Shane Says' children's books. It's an easy and meaningful way to raise funds for your school while promoting kindness, resilience, and positive values.
Whether you're raising money to purchase an Empowering Kids program or supporting another school project, our book fundraising program helps you achieve your goals. For every book sold, your school earns money, making it a win-win for students, families, and your school community.
Find out More
Proven Success in New Zealand
The Empowering Kids programs have been successfully delivered in New Zealand for many years under the name Empowering Tamariki (tamariki is the Māori word for children). Originally delivered in person by Sensei Shane, the programs had such a positive impact that demand quickly grew, with many schools joining a waiting list.
To make the programs accessible to more schools, we developed a downloadable, teacher-led version that allows schools to deliver the lessons themselves. Today, this self-delivered format is used by hundreds of primary schools across New Zealand, helping children build confidence, resilience, respect, and essential life skills.
Here are just a few testimonials from New Zealand primary schools that have experienced the positive impact of the programs.
Huirangi School
New Plymouth
"The Empowering Tamariki Programme has been an invaluable asset to our school for the past two years. Initially introduced to address and reduce playground behaviour incidents across the school, it has far exceeded our expectations. The programme has successfully provided our staff, teachers, students, and wider community with a common language, fostering a more cohesive and understanding environment. We've seen a profoundly positive impact on our students, who are now equipped with diverse strategies for being a good friend and navigating tricky situations where unkindness arises. The inherent physicality and fun embedded in each lesson truly uplift our students; their excitement to participate is always palpable. As Hauora is a huge focus across our school, the Empowering Tamariki Programme aligns perfectly with our holistic approach to well-being. We are committed to continuing this programme for as long as our community and students benefit from its empowering lessons."
- Natalie Looney | Tumuaki
BEd (Teaching), Post Grad. Diploma (Physical Education), Master of Contemporary Education.
St Joesph School
Waitara
"The Empowering Tamariki Programme with Sensei Shane has been running at St Joseph’s School Waitara for over a year now, and we’ve seen a clear, positive impact on student behaviour and wellbeing.
Since introducing the programme, incidents of bullying have reduced, and our wellbeing data shows significant improvements in how our tamariki manage themselves and relate to others.
We’ve found it to be a highly effective, values-based programme, and we fully recommend it to other primary schools looking to strengthen positive behaviour and support student wellbeing."
- Rachel Gibbons | Principal
St Joseph School Waitara
"
Puketapu School
Bell Block
"Puketapu School has had the privilege of having the Empowering Tamariki Programme in our school over the last year and the results are amazing!
- Katherine Pascoe | Principal
Puketapu School, Bell Block
."
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