Leadership and well being for the young people of New Zealand te arataki me te oranga mo nga rangatahi o Aotearoa

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LEADERSHIP AND WELLBEING FOCUSED EXPERIENTIAL PROGRAMS PROVEN IMPACT

We are a leading provider of experiential programs proven to increase student leadership and wellbeing. 

For New Zealand’s young people, happiness, life satisfaction and optimism have been decreasing over the last five years. Half of our young people don’t feel hopeful for the future and 40% feel unhappy with their life as a whole.

Burn Bright exists to help New Zealand’s young people flourish and understand that they can make a difference in the world . By equipping them with the ability to support their wellbeing and build positive relationships, we help them to help them to become active participants, creating positive impact on the world and those around them

Research shows that when young people feel connected to their peers, families and communities, generate regular positive emotion, have meaningful goals to work towards and can see they are making progress towards those goals they are more likely to have more vitality, a higher self-efficacy, greater wellbeing and reduced instances of mental ill health. 

We have worked with more than 90,000 young people since 2014 and are dedicated to helping them realise their full potential and create a positive impact in their communities. When our young people have a strong vision for the future and a desire to make a difference, they are able to overcome anything.

Our programs are experiential and immersive, and have proven impact. Tailored to primary and secondary students, they are designed to help develop authentic leaders who have a strong sense of self and wellbeing. After working with us, students show a 26% increase in their wellbeing, 24% increase in resilience and a 30% increase in their belief that they can be an influential leader.

Our program options consist of face to face group programs, 100% digital online individual courses, multi day on location camps and innovative virtual digital delivery. They are flexible and accessible, blending digital innovation and independent learning.Our programs can be delivered face-to-face or virtually. They are flexible and accessible, blending digital innovation and independent learning.

FREE 5 TIPS FOR MAXIMISING ZOOM ENGAGEMENT

MAXIMISE ENGAGEMENT OVER ZOOM

Zoom is the cornerstone of our new digital education age, and students are at the cutting edge of it. Maintaining engagement in class is tricky enough without your students being on the other end of a screen but there are some tips and tricks we have learnt that can help you to keep your students engaged and tuned in through your zoom classes. Click the button below to see our 5 tips for maximising zoom engagement for free.

PROGRAMS FOR YEARS 5 & 6

GLOBAL CITIZENS

Encourages students to understand the impact of their choices on the world, while building important values and principles.
IN-PERSON

SUPERHERO LEADERSHIP

Demonstrates how every student is a role model with the potential to become a resilient, impactful and kind leader.
IN-PERSON

DIGITAL GROUP
PROGRAMS

Cover your choice of leadership or wellbeing in a 1.5-hour experience that is co-facilitated by pre-recorded Burn Bright facilitators and you with your students.
DIGITAL

DIGITAL INDIVIDUAL COURSES

Individual courses of essential topics for primary aged students including courage, diversity, choices, wellbeing, leadership and teamwork.
DIGITAL

PROGRAMS FOR YEARS 7-9

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Lays the foundation for success with important skills, sense of identity and friendships to help the transition to high school.
IN-PERSON

IT'S IN OUR DNA

Forms a sense of connectedness with their peers and school community by exploring friendships and passions.
IN-PERSON

GENDER SPECIFIC PROGRAMS

Exploring how students can build positive, healthy relationships and build a strong sense of self and community through positive messages.
IN-PERSON

INSIDE OUT LEADERSHIP

An interactive reflection on that before we lead, we must first start to look within. Growing the next generation of leaders starts in the early years of high school.
IN-PERSON

DIGITAL GROUP PROGRAMS

Cover your choice of leadership or wellbeing in a 1.5-hour experience that is co-facilitated by pre-recorded Burn Bright facilitators and you with your students.
DIGITAL

DIGITAL INDIVIDUAL COURSES

Individual courses of essential topics for junior students including decision-making, self-esteem, diversity, vision and relationships.
DIGITAL

PROGRAMS FOR YEARS 10 & 11

ALTITUDE

Cultivates a strong support network to contribute to the journey in and out of school, and a true understanding of one’s character to guide students both in times of success and challenge.
IN-PERSON

SUMMIT LEADERSHIP

Explores how to build a strong sense of character and values, take responsibility, become more resilient and build relationships with their peers.
IN-PERSON

DIGITAL GROUP
PROGRAMS

Cover your choice of leadership or wellbeing in a 1.5-hour experience that is co-facilitated by pre-recorded Burn Bright facilitators and you with your students.
DIGITAL

DIGITAL INDIVIDUAL COURSES

Individual courses of essential topics for senior students including wellbeing, values, relationships, leadership and decision-making.
DIGITAL

PROGRAMS FOR YEAR 12

SHIFT

Supports students in facing the challenges of finding a balance, managing expectations and dealing with stress with resilience and a healthy, positive attitude.
IN-PERSON

SENIOR LEADERSHIP

Building authentic leaders who use their own values, beliefs and behaviours to model good leadership to the rest of the school.
IN-PERSON

DIGITAL GROUP
PROGRAMS

Cover your choice of leadership or wellbeing in a 1.5-hour experience that is co-facilitated by pre-recorded Burn Bright facilitators and you with your students.
DIGITAL

DIGITAL INDIVIDUAL COURSES

Individual courses of essential topics for senior students including wellbeing, values, relationships, leadership and decision-making.
DIGITAL

PROGRAMS FOR LEADERSHIP TEAMS

SRC

Provides foundational leadership concepts, aids a common vision, builds relationships, provides specific skills and develops a team approach to make a profound impact.
IN-PERSON

PREFECTS

Supports the team to become effective leaders and embrace service and relational leadership, building a foundation of a common vision and values to underpin the year ahead.
IN-PERSON

PEER SUPPORT

Focuses on servant leadership, how to facilitate effectively, work in a team and care for new students, with practical examples of activities they can use with their new students.
IN-PERSON

DIGITAL GROUP
PROGRAMS

Cover your choice of leadership or wellbeing in a 1.5-hour experience that is co-facilitated by pre-recorded Burn Bright facilitators and you with your students.
DIGITAL

WANT TO CONTACT US?

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ENQUIRE ABOUT A PROGRAM

Wellbeing and Leadership in your school

02 1271 7967

Anytime between 9am and 5pm Mon - Fri

Email: info@burnbright.org.au
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5 TIPS FOR MAXIMISING ZOOM ENGAGEMENT

ENQUIRE ABOUT A PROGRAM

Wellbeing and Leadership in your school

I found Burn Bright in the midst of studying civil engineering at the University of Wollongong, just as I wanted a richer, deeper, more full experience of life.

Through Burn Bright, I have met many students and volunteers who are all seeking to find their place in the world. When we come together at NLC or SLC, no matter our age, we begin on the same page, of wanting to do good for ourselves, our community, and the world. And then we are thrown into a program that brings us closer to each other, our purpose, and how to bring forth this impact. It’s like having your cake and eating it too.

Volunteering with Burn Bright stoked a fire in me – It helped me feel comfortable in myself and made me realise life isn’t just about work, study, or productivity, but our relationships and how we connect with others along the way.

I have learned skills in videography, worked for a top-tier corporation in marketing, and most recently published a book called “18 and lost? So were we” 

I have a passion for storytelling, bring loads of energy wherever I go, and am dedicated to helping young people move through the initiation of leaving high school and going into the ‘real world’. 

The best part for me is being able to stay connected to the latest generation growing through high school. To see them grow, expand and express more of themselves is like watching an artwork paint itself. It’s magic.

I am Simon Thurston, a Kiwi based in Perth. I work as an Instructional Designer and in my spare time I enjoy reading, running, and board games.

Since my initial connection to Burn Bright I have been onboard with their mission. Burn Bright’s focus on building the capabilities enables students of all ages to see how they can shape their world through connections with others and their own self discovery.

Seeing others grow, learn, and open up is what keeps me coming back, to help others realise their potential and how they can influence their future and their community is a definite highlight. It’s infectious, the atmosphere when they run a program or camp is welcoming, exciting, emotional, and rewarding all in one.

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5 ACTIVITIES TO BRING ENERGY INTO YOUR ONLINE CLASSROOM

Hi, friends! I’m Kelsie, a psychologist from central QLD working in private practice. I got involved with Burn Bright officially in 2016, but the journey started long before that. I attended the National Leadership Camp (now hosted annually by Burn Bright) in 2009. It had such a profound impact on me that I returned as a mentor and volunteer. Those connections ultimately lead me to joining the Burn Bright team as an adult.

When I transitioned from facilitating with the Burn Bright team to working as a psychologist, I was so grateful for an incredible foundation of skills (particularly facilitation, communication and interpersonal skills) along with a strong grounding in positive psychology that Burn Bright integrates into their ethos.

I can’t imagine my life without volunteering for Burn Bright. I have met some of my dearest friends through the Burn Bright crew. I’ve found that volunteering for BB is rewarding, humbling, and often brings as much personal growth for the volunteer as it does for the young person.

From a professional perspective, I love that Burn Bright programs/camps support the adolescent individuation process by providing an exciting and supportive environment for teens to explore their own sense of self, personality, identify and values alongside other young people.

Imagine this POV: you’re back at school wanting to figure everything out and fit in – and you find
yourself in a room with amazing music that uplifts you and hooks you in. You meet the team of
dynamic, interesting, caring facilitators whose own friendships inspire you. Their facilitation skills bring about amazing light-bulb moments and lessons that light a fire inside you… It makes me want to feel that for myself again. The next best thing, for me, is volunteering for the team who passes that on to other young people.

My start at Burn Bright is one of the best cases of one door closing and another door opening. After losing my job at a local pub while on uni holidays, I started looking for new opportunities that were different and decided to volunteer. Searching for opportunities, I found working bees, community driving and nursing home visits, but the chance to become a National Leadership Camp intern stood out. Over nearly six months, I worked with the team to pull off Burn Bright’s first National Leadership Camp, and had an absolute blast in the process. After camp, I started working for Burn Bright while studying, doing anything and everything — data analysis, hiring strategy and even picking up furniture.

Finishing up working for Burn Bright in 2019, I am still actively involved with the Burn Bright volunteer community. I’ve found that the emphasis placed on investing in your relationships, understanding your values and making an impact allow you to be accepted for you. This has given me the tools needed to make the difficult decisions that life will inevitably throw at you. Besides all that, I’ve had a ton of fun and formed life-long friendships with people I may have never crossed paths with otherwise. “Get involved — you’ll change your life for the better and make life‑long friends in the process”.

I am a health science student from Perth wanting to get into the mental health realm of occupational therapy. In the meantime, I work as a barista and supervisor at a beachside café. In my spare time, I love to play netball, be around my friends and I have just gotten into crocheting. I went to Perth College where I was lucky enough to go to the first Perth College Leadership Camp in 2018 as a student and absolutely loved it. What really drew me in was the atmosphere that was created, the open conversations, and the lasting relationships formed.

Since then I have been a mentor for the Perth College Leadership Camp in 2019, 2020, and 2021 and had the opportunity to go to the National Leadership Camp in 2019. When Burn Bright comes to Perth I also love helping out at their programs as much as I can.

Volunteering for Burn Bright has given me so much that I could never have imagined. I have learned so much about myself and I have so much more confidence in myself and my abilities that I know I wouldn’t have had if I wasn’t exposed to the amazing opportunities volunteering for Burn Bright has given me. Before being involved I would never have seen myself being a mentor, role model, and facilitator to students, but now I can confidently say that I am, and I have made an impact on others that I am proud of. I have also made so many meaningful connections to so many amazing people from all around Australia through Burn Bright. I get asked quite a bit why I keep coming back to my old school to volunteer and it’s simply because I was given this amazing opportunity to be a part of the Burn Bright programs and if I can help facilitate that experience to someone else then why wouldn’t I?

I was born in Perth and moved to Sydney in my early 20’s to continue work as a youth worker and surfboard maker. This was followed by 30 years working in IT as a computer programmer.

Following retirement in 2016 I searched for an organisation that was aligned with my values of servant leadership and service, especially in the youth space. This search led to Burn Bright where I am now volunteering one day a week and mentoring at the National Leadership Camp. Volunteering with Burn Bright gives me a great deal of hope and confidence in the next generation of leaders. It is a pleasure to be a part of the Burn Bright family.

I have been married to Denise for 41 years and we both very much feel part of the Burn Bright team.

When not at Burn Bright you may find me running along Manly beach, riding my mountain bike or indulging in my passion for photography.

ENQUIRE ABOUT A PROGRAM

DIGITAL INDIVIDUAL COURSES

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FAMILY WELLBEING CHALLENGES

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DREAMING BIG - TOOLS FOR INSPIRED FAMILIES

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20 QUESTIONS TO DEEPEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR YOUNG PERSON

Hi! I’m Rosie, a 20-something full-time public servant, part-time Tassie tourism advocate.

I am passionate about seeing young people succeed, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than watching them become the next generation of change-makers.

I have been a champion of the ethos and work of Burn Bright since its inception in 2014, and consider them to be the leading experts in their field. By delivering impactful leadership and wellbeing programs to students across Australia, they offer the knowledge, skills and engagement to invoke lasting positive change in school communities.

The Burn Bright team are dedicated, inclusive and values-driven, which is why I love working with them.

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5 MESSAGES TO EMPOWER YOUNG PEOPLE TO LEAD