ENGAGE

The Lifecourse Science

In their famous 2011 paper, the Dunedin Longitudinal Study found that childhood self-regulation was the best single predictor of adult outcomes (including health, criminal activity, employment, relationship quality, life satisfaction and more). Self-regulation includes emotional, cognitive and behavioural skills, and there is an ideal developmental window in pre-school and during the first few years of primary school where these skills can be developed and where significant improvements can be made.

ENGAGE is a play-based programme, developed in New Zealand, that has multiple high-quality research studies showing that it improves self-regulation skills in 3-7 year olds. The programme is already being delivered at large scale in ECEs, and now has an opportunity to further improve lifecourse skills by extending support into primary schools.

ENGAGE’s Whakapuāwai framework explains: “At its core, successful programme delivery is about relationships — helping tamariki understand and manage their emotions so they can flourish in learning and in life. Healthy learning and child development does not exist in a vacuum; it occurs through culturally attuned, trusting relationships between tamariki, kaiako, whānau, and their wider environments”.

Why We Invested

This is a rare opportunity for ALF to support the pre-government adoption phase for a scalable, evidence-based programme that improves a critical lifecourse skill in the first few years of primary school.

ENGAGE has multiple high-quality studies showing that the programme improves self-regulation skills in 3-7 year olds. A study published in Nature's Scientific Reports journal showed “significant improvements in self-regulation, and these were maintained at 2 and 6-month follow-up.” ENGAGE has already shown positive self-regulation outcomes from primary school research studies in 2020 and 2024, and further research is planned in 2026.

Impact

ENGAGE is a universal programme, designed to be delivered by teachers through a train-the-trainer approach. Two related programmes to ENGAGE primary schools have already achieved large-scale government funding. In 2023, ENGAGE for ECEs received $20m to scale to half of all ECEs (2,230 ECEs) by mid-2027. In 2025, the ENRICH early language programme received $5.5m for delivery to 525 ECEs by mid-2029. Run by Methodist Mission Southern (MMS), they have built the team and infrastructure to deliver ENGAGE to whole generation of children.

Scale

How We Are Working Together

“We are very excited to grow our support for primary schools with Aotearoa Lifecourse funding. Co-designing with teachers and gathering evidence on what works helps to prepare us for supporting more schools in future.”
— Lynda Harris - He Tātāriki (Practice and Implementation Lead) ENGAGE

Our grant funding will support the testing and research of ENGAGE in 25 Primary schools:

  • Test whether the developmental benefits for tamariki from previous primary school delivery of ENGAGE can be replicated in a new cohort of primary schools from multiple regions.

  • Test to what extent teachers sustain their application of ENGAGE games and techniques beyond the initial 10-week period and learn what is required to support and enhance that sustainment.

  • Test improved resources (including digital resources) and improve the implementation design to enable effective delivery at increased scale.