TransformUs is revolutionising education by integrating movement into the existing curriculum, without altering the core content. Developed through over 16 years of research by Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), this program is available to all Victorian primary, secondary and special schools.
About TransformUs
TransformUs is designed to improve students’ learning, engagement and wellbeing by creating fun and dynamic learning environments and helping teachers manage classroom behaviours.
The program incorporates a combination of behavioural, pedagogical and environmental strategies applied within the classroom, across the school and at home. Its goal is to encourage students to be more active and engaged in their learning, improve their educational outcomes and boost their overall health and wellbeing.
Born from 16 years of pioneering research at Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), led by Deakin Distinguished Professor and IPAN Director Jo Salmon, TransformUs adopts a whole-school approach. It fosters a supportive environment that enables students of all ages and abilities to move more throughout the school day.
Reframing our approach to learning
On a typical school day, Australian children spend up to 80% of their waking hours sedentary, with sitting most prevalent during class time. Prolonged sitting increases the future risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, type two diabetes and heart disease. It’s also hypothesised to impair concentration and executive function, as well as enjoyment of learning.
TransformUs offers strategies and resources to help re-frame how children learn, by integrating meaningful movement into core subjects. These resources promote active learning, which has been shown to improve academic outcomes, cognitive function, enjoyment of learning and perceived competence in the classroom. They also help teachers keep students on task and engaged.
The program’s professional learning and extensive online resources target key learning outcomes across subjects including maths, science, English, geography and history, spanning all levels from Foundation to Year 12. All materials are linked directly to the Victorian and Australian curriculums.
TransformUs isn’t about teaching sport or physical education; rather, it’s a teaching method designed for classroom teachers. It is strongly aligned with practice principles for excellence in teaching, and schools and educators can choose to adopt some or all TransformUs strategies based on their needs.
TransformUs works!
Earlier trials of TransformUs at 20 primary schools in Melbourne, Victoria, over two and a half years produced promising results, including:
- increased attentiveness in class, with 85% per cent of teachers reporting that their students had improved concentration in class after an active break
- students spent up to 63 minutes less time sitting on school days
- students engaged in five more minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day
- higher vitamin D levels in students
- reduced body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure in students.
The original TransformUs trial was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant and a Diabetes Australia Research Trust grant.
TransformUs journey
Following the success of the original trial, TransformUs received five years of funding (NHMRC Partnership Grant and VicHealth) to scale up across the state of Victoria. This funding enabled any Victorian primary school teacher to access the program. TransformUs was also included in the Victorian Government’s ‘Active schools toolkit’, and at the end of the five years the program was reaching over 500 Victorian primary schools.
In 2020, TransformUs secured another five years of funding through the NHMRC Investigator Grant scheme. This enabled expansion into tertiary education, secondary schools nationwide and the development of further resources and professional learning for teachers working with students with additional needs. In 2023, a new arm of the program, TransformUs Wellbeing, was launched to improve the nutrition, sleep and wellbeing of primary school students.
TransformUs has recently secured an additional five years of funding (starting in 2025) to explore the long-term sustainability of school-based wellbeing programs, and to assess the effectiveness of initiatives like TransformUs for children and adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
TransformUs is an investment in future generations, informing health policy and practice programs, with the potential to impact kids’, teachers’ and parents’ day-to-day lives, health and understanding learning, school engagement and child wellbeing through physical activity.
Deakin Distinguished Professor Jo Salmon
IPAN Director
The original TransformUs trial was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant (2009-2014; APP533815) and a Diabetes Australia Research Trust grant. The initiative’s subsequent expansion across the state of Victoria was supported by an NHMRC Partnership Grant (2017-2022; APP1115708) and VicHealth. This was followed by the Tertiary, Secondary and All Abilities National expansion, which was funded by an NHMRC Leadership Level 2 Investigator grant (2020-2024; APP1176885).
The TransformUs Higher Ed project, which is aimed at developing confident, classroom-ready graduates, is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (ARC DECRA), (2024-2027; DE240100452). The TransformUs Wellbeing program is funded by a VicHealth Impact Grant (2023-2025), while the exploration of the program’s sustainability and suitability for CALD children and youth is funded by a NHMRC Leadership Level 3 Investigator grant (2025-2029; APP2034498).
The program has also secured pilot funding for projects in Tasmania, Saudi Arabia and Victorian secondary schools.
For more information about this project, get in touch or visit the TransformUs website.