Question 1

Why is it important every student builds their own Avatar and how simple is this?

Accepted Answer

The program is so successful because while the gamification features initially engage students in making healthy choices, over the course of the event, they start to feel the positive impact of their choices.  This is key to developing their own internal motivation to continue with healthy behaviors  after the event has finished.

Building their own avatar and seeing 'themselves' visiting and experiencing some amazing destinations is an element tamariki love and motivates them. We have made this simple, we assign a random avatar to every student, then from your teacher login you can click each student and then they can customise their avatar. Or they can use their own login to update it at any time.

They can also update their avatar during the event and see the changes reflected in the photos and videos - we generate over 400,000 unique photos during the event!

Question 2

What do we see when we complete each leg of the event?

Accepted Answer

When your class team completes each leg you will see a video of your unique Avatars exploring that destination, guided by one or more of our amazing ambassadors Ardie Savea, Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Kane Williamson and our founder Kim Harvey who offer encouragement, information about the destination and some relevant healthy behaviour tips along the way.

As we can't display an entire class in each scene, we rotate your avatars through each scene - we know your students really look forward to seeing themselves so we try to have each student feature in at least two scenes. There is some complex technology involved rendering, recording and streaming the HTML5 animations so we hope you enjoy watching them as much as we do making them.

Question 3

Does every student need their own basic device to track steps and/or activity time?

Accepted Answer

No, whilst the majority of teachers do request them for all students, you can select to have just a few to share - based on testing the sharing option with students have found the two most effective ways to use them are;
 
1.  Groups of 5
If you have your class broken up into groups of 5 students, one student in each group can have a turn 1 day of each week to be the "pacesetter" for their group.  They wear the pedometer for the day and their group uses those steps for their individual entries. 
 
2.  Have a dally pacesetter group
You select a group of "pacesetter" students who wear pedometers for the day and the average of their steps is the step count that all the children enter for that day. Some teachers liked this for the maths element calculating the average steps each day.

Question 4

How does our class team move around the Virtual Adventure course?

Accepted Answer

Because the Zespri Young and Healthy Virtual Adventure Challenge is all about cultivating healthy habits, the class team moves around the global course by tracking and entering all or some of the following options;

- daily steps
- time spent doing "huff and puff" activity
- eating fruit and vege's
- hydrating with water
- minimising leisure screen time
- getting enough quality sleep time
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The Virtual Adventure runs for 5 - 6 weeks and your class team should reach a new destination every 4 - 5 days.

On the morning the virtual adventure begins, select one student who will be the “Class Data Representative’ for that day, then they and all other students use the tracking sheet we supply to record their data until the following morning.

The next morning you can give every student the opportunity to enter their data - either by using their login (or if you have your login open, they can click their avatar then enter their data that way). Alternatively they can enter their data in the morning at home - often Parents use their child’s login on their phone and help.

Once everyone has had an opportunity to enter their data, click Enter Class Data’ and enter the data of the Class data representative you selected - this is key to staying on track and unlocking each destination.

Question 5

How long do I as a Teacher or my Students need to spend on this each day?

Accepted Answer

Data entry only takes a couple of minutes and when your class "team" reaches the end of a leg, you will trigger an animation to watch together. The animations are about 2-3 minutes in length. So overall this 'positive' device time may only be 5-10 minutes a day, however many teachers utilise the program to help teach the curriculum as it can be incorporated into so many areas to enhance learning so rather than needed 'extra' time it contributes to the lesson plans.

Question 6

What technology do we need in order to run the program?

Accepted Answer

You need to have an internet connection to access the Challenge HTML website.

Question 7

Is there a maximum number of children we can have in each class team?

Accepted Answer

Approximately 35 is the maximum.  If you are in an ILE or MLE please see the next FAQ.

Question 8

What if I teach in an integrated class environment where the class size is greater than the maximum?

Accepted Answer

We understand that these types of environments still have a “basecamp” for a subset of the total number of students with a teacher or assistant associated with that group. We recommend that you set up each basecamp as a “team”. We also need a teacher or adult to act as a “team manager” for each team. If you need help with this, please just contact our support crew at support@healthiestschools.co.nz

Question 9

My colleagues want to get involved too. How do they do that?

Accepted Answer

Simply send them to our website www.youngandhealthy.org.nz and click the Register (or Waitlist) button.

Question 10

How can we get parents involved?

Accepted Answer

When parents are involved with and helping their children, they are more successful, whether it be learning or practising healthy behaviours. So we have a few ways that parents can get involved and will help you to communicate with them once your class is registered.​

Question 11

What support will we get over the course of the Virtual Adventure?

Accepted Answer

You will receive a weekly email to keep you informed of what is coming up next for you, including the destinations, players and health and wellbeing messages you could use in your class if you wanted to.
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We'll also send you mini-challenges that you can win prizes for if you want to participate.

You are able to contact the support crew by phone or email at any time if you need assistance.

Question 12

Is there are daily activity target we need to achieve?

Accepted Answer

Not specifically, but our program is built around the Sport NZ guidelines for children and young people as detailed below. If your class is achieving these guidelines you may complete all the initial legs of the vent and even unlock some bonus destinations!

do 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day.
be active in as many ways as possible.
be active with friends and whanau at home, school and in the community.
spend less than two hours a day, out of school time, in front of a TV, computer or game console.

Frequently asked questions