Mission
To help give the young people of New Zealand, through positive health-based education, the knowledge and skills to raise their awareness, to live a fulfilling and healthy life.
As children grow they face a number of negative influences that can over time have an extremely negative effect changing their desires and leading, in the worst cases, to personal and social problems associated with poor health, low self-esteem and abuse of people and substances.
Life Education is a non-profit organisation. Each year, Life Education’s health based teaching programmes are brought to more than 200,000 pre-school and primary aged children in schools across New Zealand. We go into schools by invitation, not by right and we are linked into the school curriculum.
In Wellington alone, more than 5000 children annually experience the magic of Harold the Giraffe, and learn about what makes them special and unique.
Life Education is a preventative approach. We teach children about the wonder of life, themselves, and other people, with the aim of showing them how to reach their full potential. It is a totally positive approach. Life Education does not necessarily work on changing children's behaviour, it works on changing desires. Rather than frightening children with various forms of scare tactics, the Life Education philosophy focuses on creating a sensitivity to values which lead to an understanding and appreciation of human life. This enables the child to make decisions about any negative influences that might impede the development of their fullest potential.
We do this by taking children on an adventure in a mobile classroom that is equipped with sophisticated sight and sound techniques to capture children's imaginations. Our educators (registered teachers) take children on this journey, along with Harold the Giraffe, our mascot. These educators are chosen for their x-factor and together with Harold make the journey fun as well as educational.
Life Education revolves around three philosophies. We teach children that:
- we are all unique;
- the human body is magnificent;
- we need to support and respect each other.
The Wellington City Life Education Trust is run by volunteers who are dedicated, hard working individuals that have an interest in building a better world for the children. The delivery of our programmes hinges on our educators, registered teachers, who have charisma, commitment, and competence, and the ability to create mystery and drama in the classroom. For more information on Life Education go to www.lifeeducation.org.nz.