The School of Play Curriculum
Secondary School
Week Twenty brings together rhythm, reflection, teamwork, and growth to help students finish the program with confidence and connection. The session begins with Clapping, One, Two, Three, a fun rhythm challenge that strengthens group coordination, timing, and focus. Students must work together, stay in sync, and support one another as the patterns become more complex, creating a strong sense of collaboration and shared achievement. Physical engagement continues with Build ’Em Up Cards, a high-energy fitness challenge where teams race, exercise, and strategise to collect as many cards as possible. This activity encourages teamwork, endurance, and positive encouragement during physically demanding tasks.
The final part of the lesson focuses on reflection, self-awareness, and emotional growth. Through PEGG Reflection, students revisit their experiences with Play, Exercise, Gratitude, and Giving, gaining valuable insights into their personal development and how these habits can support their well-being beyond the classroom. The session concludes with the Vulnerability Wall of Failures, a powerful activity that invites students to share challenges they’ve faced and the lessons they learned along the way. By embracing vulnerability and reframing failure as growth, students finish the week feeling more resilient, connected, and prepared to approach future challenges with confidence and compassion.
Weekly Lessons
Clapping, One, Two, Three
Clapping, One, Two, Three is a high-energy rhythm game designed to bring groups together through coordinated movement, focus, and fun. With an instructor acting as the “rhythm master,” participants follow sequences of claps and knee hits linked to the numbers one, two, and three. Once the group masters each individual rhythm, they’re challenged to complete longer and more complex sequences, like “Two, One,” “Three, Two,” and the finale sequence, “Three, One, Two, One.” The game builds momentum, laughter, and concentration as students work together to stay in sync and keep the rhythm flowing.
Perfect for large groups, workshops, or warm-ups, this activity boosts engagement, teamwork, and communication while creating an energising shared experience. There’s no competition, just the collective goal of staying coordinated and completing each rhythm sequence as one connected group. Clapping, One, Two, Three encourages participants to focus, listen, collaborate, and enjoy the challenge, making it an ideal opener for sessions where connection and fun are key.
Respectful Relationships
Understanding & Promoting Equality
- Ensures every participant contributes equally to the rhythm sequences, creating an inclusive environment where all students have the same role and responsibility.
- Removes skill-based hierarchy by focusing on group synchronisation rather than individual performance, allowing all participants to feel successful.
- Promotes equal participation as every student performs the same actions at the same time, reinforcing fairness and shared group experience.
Building Healthy Relationships
- Strengthens group bonds as students work together to stay in rhythm, supporting one another through mistakes and celebrating successful sequences.
- Encourages trust and cooperation, as students rely on each other to maintain timing and contribute to the group's overall success.
- Fosters a sense of unity through shared laughter, movement, and collective achievement.
Developing Communication Skills
- Enhances non-verbal communication as students watch the instructor and each other to stay coordinated and responsive.
- Builds listening skills as students respond quickly to verbal cues and numerical commands from the rhythm master.
- Encourages positive communication through encouragement, reminders, and collaborative problem-solving when sequences become challenging.
Enhancing Social & Emotional Intelligence
- Develops self-awareness and emotional regulation as students navigate the pressure of keeping rhythm while staying calm and focused.
- Promotes resilience as students learn to recover from mistakes, rejoin the sequence, and continue participating with confidence.
- Encourages empathy as students support peers who struggle with timing, creating a safe and encouraging group atmosphere.
Challenging Stereotypes
- Demonstrates that rhythm, coordination, and group success are not tied to popularity, athletic ability, or personality type.
- Allows all students, introverts, extroverts, confident movers, or hesitant learners, to shine equally through shared rhythm and collaboration.
- Breaks down the stereotype that performance-based activities must be competitive by emphasising connection and teamwork instead.
Recognising Rights
- Reinforces every student’s right to feel safe, respected, and included in group activities, regardless of ability or confidence level.
- Encourages respectful behaviour as students follow instructions, maintain personal space, and support one another through the sequence.
- Highlights the responsibility of each participant to contribute positively to group success through cooperation, focus, and kindness.
PEGG Reflection
PEGG Reflection is a powerful, structured activity that invites participants to pause, think deeply, and make meaning from their experiences with the Daily PEGG framework, Play, Exercise, Gratitude, and Giving. Through a guided reflection worksheet, students explore what they enjoyed most, the challenges they faced, and the personal growth they experienced across the PEGG activities. This reflective process helps strengthen self-awareness, allowing students to recognise key moments that supported their mental and physical well-being, and identify insights they can carry forward. Whether a student approached the PEGG with excitement or uncertainty, the reflection provides an opportunity to look back, acknowledge progress, and celebrate the impact of intentional well-being practices.
By revisiting their experiences and identifying what they will continue using in their daily lives, students learn how to apply the PEGG lessons beyond the classroom, to family life, friendships, routines, and personal goals. PEGG Reflection encourages both private self-growth and optional group sharing, creating a supportive environment for connection and vulnerability. This activity acts as a meaningful capstone to the Daily PEGG journey, empowering students to understand themselves better while building habits that enhance their well-being long after the activity ends.
Respectful Relationships
Understanding & Promoting Equality
- Provides every student with an equal opportunity to reflect on their experiences, ensuring all voices and perspectives are valued regardless of ability, confidence, or background.
- Encourages equitable participation by allowing students to choose whether to keep reflections private or share them, respecting individual comfort levels.
- Reinforces that personal growth looks different for everyone, promoting acceptance of diverse journeys and experiences.
Building Healthy Relationships
- Strengthens classroom relationships by giving students a structured opportunity to share insights and personal experiences, deepening mutual understanding.
- Normalises vulnerability and open communication, helping students feel safe expressing challenges, successes, and personal reflections.
- Encourages students to connect their learning to how they interact with family and friends, fostering healthier relationships beyond the classroom.
Developing Communication Skills
- Supports the development of reflective communication as students articulate their thoughts, insights, and emotions clearly in writing or discussion.
- Promotes active listening during optional sharing sessions, helping students understand others’ perspectives and build empathy.
- Encourages expressive communication through thoughtful dialogue about challenges, enjoyment, and personal growth.
Enhancing Social & Emotional Intelligence
- Builds self-awareness as students identify their strengths, challenges, and key moments of growth from the Daily PEGG activities.
- Promotes emotional regulation through reflection on difficult moments and how they overcame challenges.
- Develops empathy as students hear their peers’ reflections and recognise the shared human experience behind well-being and personal development.
Challenging Stereotypes
- Challenges the stereotype that reflection and emotional expression are “soft skills” or only suited to certain genders or personality types by showing they benefit everyone.
- Breaks down assumptions about who struggles or thrives in well-being activities, highlighting that challenges and successes are universal.
- Reinforces that personal growth is not linear or uniform, countering the belief that everyone should respond the same way to well-being tasks.
Recognising Rights
- Upholds students’ rights to feel safe, respected, and supported while reflecting on personal experiences and emotions.
- Encourages respectful interactions during sharing, ensuring students understand their responsibility to honour others’ privacy, vulnerability, and boundaries.
- Highlights students’ right to develop self-awareness and emotional well-being, reinforcing that taking time for reflection is essential to personal health.
Build Em Up Cards
Build Em Up Cards is a high-energy, team-based fitness challenge that blends speed, strategy, and teamwork into one exciting game. Teams race to a distant deck of cards, with each draw revealing an exercise that the entire team must complete together. As the game progresses, cards accumulate into an ever-growing list of exercises, pushing students to work hard, stay coordinated, and support one another through increasing physical demands. The thrill of racing back and forth, combined with the unpredictability of each card flip, keeps teams fully engaged from start to finish.
Beyond fitness, the game promotes strong communication and strategic decision-making. Teams must organise roles, maintain motivation, manage fatigue, and work efficiently to collect as many cards as possible before time runs out. With movement, teamwork, and laughter at its core, Build Em Up Cards is a dynamic activity that builds fitness, strengthens group connection, and adds a fun dose of friendly competition. Ending with a playful card-tower challenge adds an extra element of creativity and teamwork, bringing the session to a memorable close.
Respectful Relationships
Understanding & Promoting Equality
- Ensures all students participate equally in running, collecting cards, and completing exercises, regardless of fitness level or athletic ability.
- Promotes fairness by allowing every team member to contribute in turn, giving all students an opportunity to play an essential role.
- Reinforces that success comes from collective effort, not individual dominance, highlighting the equal value of every participant.
Building Healthy Relationships
- Strengthens group bonds as teammates support, motivate, and encourage one another through physically demanding challenges.
- Promotes a sense of trust and shared responsibility as teams rely on each person to complete their role effectively.
- Encourages celebrating team successes together, reinforcing positive interactions and shared achievements.
Developing Communication Skills
- Requires clear and effective communication as students organise roles, plan strategies, and coordinate turns during gameplay.
- Builds active listening skills as students respond to instructions, team strategies, and each other’s ideas.
- Supports respectful dialogue when teams adjust strategies or give feedback in a fast-paced environment.
Enhancing Social & Emotional Intelligence
- Develops resilience and emotional regulation as students handle physical fatigue, competitive pressure, or unexpected challenges like joker cards.
- Encourages empathy and peer support as teammates help motivate and uplift each other during intense exercise rounds.
- Builds self-awareness as students recognise their strengths and how they contribute best to their team.
Challenging Stereotypes
- Breaks down assumptions that only the fastest or strongest students are valuable in team fitness activities, emphasising teamwork over athletic dominance.
- Demonstrates that strategic thinkers, communicators, and organisers are just as essential for team success as physically strong players.
- Challenges gendered or ability-based stereotypes by showing that all students can contribute meaningfully in different ways.
Recognising Rights
- Reinforces every student’s right to feel safe, supported, and included during physical activities.
- Emphasises students’ responsibility to encourage, respect, and look after each other throughout fast-paced exercise challenges.
- Promotes respectful participation by acknowledging individual limits and encouraging safe movement, rest, and communication when needed.
Vulnerability Wall of Failures
Vulnerability Wall of Failures is a powerful reflective activity designed to normalise setbacks and celebrate the courage it takes to try something new. Through storytelling, honesty, and shared experiences, participants explore moments in their lives where things didn’t go to plan, using these experiences as catalysts for growth. By writing short reflections on colourful Post-it notes and placing them on a collective “Wall of Failures,” individuals transform their challenges into symbols of resilience, learning, and bravery. The simple act of sharing openly helps participants recognise that failure is universal and that every misstep offers valuable lessons that shape who we become.
This activity creates a supportive environment where vulnerability is embraced and connection naturally grows. As participants listen to one another’s stories, they realise they’re not alone in their struggles, fostering empathy and strengthening trust within the group. Whether used in families, schools, workplaces, or sports teams, the Wall of Failures helps build a culture where risk-taking is encouraged, reflection is valued, and resilience is celebrated. More than just a game, it’s an invitation to reframe failure, not as something to hide, but as a stepping stone toward confidence, courage, and future success.
Respectful Relationships
Understanding & Promoting Equality
- Ensures all voices are valued equally by inviting every participant to share challenges or failures without judgment.
- Normalises that everyone, regardless of age, skill, or background, experiences setbacks, creating a shared sense of humanity and equality.
- Reinforces that no one is alone in facing difficulties, promoting an inclusive culture where everyone’s experiences hold equal importance.
Building Healthy Relationships
- Strengthens trust as participants openly share vulnerable experiences, allowing deeper emotional connections to form.
- Encourages empathy and mutual support as peers listen, validate, and learn from one another’s stories.
- Builds a community based on honesty and understanding, reducing stigma around failure and promoting safe, supportive relationships.
Developing Communication Skills
- Promotes clear and thoughtful communication as students articulate their experiences and the lessons learned.
- Enhances active listening skills as students respectfully attend to others’ stories and respond with compassion.
- Encourages reflective dialogue by guiding students to express emotions, insights, and growth with clarity and confidence.
Enhancing Social & Emotional Intelligence
- Builds emotional awareness as students identify feelings associated with failure and reflect on how they managed them.
- Develops resilience and perseverance by reframing failure as a learning opportunity rather than a negative identity marker.
- Strengthens empathy and perspective-taking as students hear different struggles and recognise the diverse challenges others face.
Challenging Stereotypes
- Breaks down harmful stereotypes that mistakes represent weakness, reframing vulnerability as strength and courage.
- Challenges perfectionist norms by demonstrating that real growth comes through struggle, not flawless performance.
- Encourages all participants, regardless of gender or background, to express emotions, countering stereotypes about who is “allowed” to be vulnerable.
Recognising Rights
- Reinforces every individual’s right to feel safe, heard, and respected when sharing personal experiences.
- Promotes responsibility for creating a supportive environment where stories are treated with care and confidentiality.
- Encourages participants to respect boundaries by sharing only what feels comfortable, honouring personal agency and emotional safety.
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