We are Kids in Action

Kids in Action is a Sunshine Coast Council environmental education initiative targeting students in Years 5-8. It aims to increase their environmental knowledge and understanding while inspiring and providing opportunities for positive environmental and sustainability action.

The program achieves this through the active involvement of students in planning and delivering peer-to-peer learning experiences on a student-generated environmental project. It also connects participating classes with local environment groups and mentors, creating genuine learning exchanges between current and future environmental custodians.

The program focuses on a variety of locally-relevant, curriculum-linked environmental themes (such as threatened species, waterways and coastal environments, cultural heritage and sustainability). Through this process, students develop leadership and active citizenship skills. Check out the findings from an evaluation study conducted in 2014 of the benefits to students taking part in the Kids in Action program. 

The Kids in Action program is underpinned by a kids teaching kids pedagogical model that starts in the classroom and extends to the wider community. The program is delivered through a number of key activities:

1. Teacher Information Session (for teachers only) – Thursday 12 and Wednesday 18 February 2026, from 3.30pm online.
   Find out more about Kids in Action, its benefits and outcomes for students and teachers, the 2026 theme and program, and how we will support your school’s involvement. 
2. Project development (for students and teachers) - Term 1 through Term 3.
   Students work together, with guidance from teachers and mentors, on their own school project. This will be delivered at the conference as a workshop, interactive display or main stage presentation.
3. Kids in Action Field Day (for students and teachers) – Wednesday 6 May 2026.
   Students actively learn from and collaborate with a variety of community experts and mentors in real-life natural resource management, First Nations culture, and citizen science activities, as they are immersed in and connect with nature and their ecological identity.
4. Reconciliation in Action Professional Learning Day (for teachers only) – Wednesday 10 June 2026 (all day).
   Opportunity for teachers to participate in a deeply immersive day on Country connecting with members and Elders of Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi, Jinibara and First Nations communities. Delve into dimensions of Reconciliation, actively engage in Truth-Telling, forge connections with Country, and learn essential cultural protocols.
5. Kids in Action Conference (for students and teachers) – Wednesday 9 September 2026.
   Students present their workshop, display or performance projects to each other in a day-long conference in a natural classroom setting.
6. Community Roadshow (for students and teachers) – October/November 2026.
   Schools are invited to take their presentations on the road to share their environmental messaging with the broader community at local shopping centres, exhibition spaces and community events.

Join other schools from across the Sunshine Coast region in a hands-on, active and engaged environmental learning adventure!

Cost

$200 covers 12 delegates from your school ($10 per additional student) and includes:

• participation in one or both the Kids in Action Field Day and Conference events
• access to the Kids in Action education team, resources and members to assist presenting schools in the lead up to the Conference
• one free ticket for teacher to attend a Kids in Action Professional Learning event during the year.

Funding schemes

Teacher Support Funding Scheme ($400) is available to presenting schools delivering a workshop, display, performance or short film, and can be used to:

• allow a teacher time out of the classroom to accompany a group of presenting students attending the program,
• cover the costs associated with a skilled mentor coming to your school to help your students with the presentation, and/or
• acquire resources and materials needed for your presentation, workshop or display.

New School Attendance Scheme ($200) is available to schools within the Sunshine Coast Council region that haven’t attended Kids in Action before to support their participation and provide a first hand insight into the program.

Watch highlights from previous years.

Kids in Action is proudly supported by Council’s Environment Levy and major partners and sponsors.

Proudly working in partnership with Traditional Custodians and First Nations People on Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Country.

2023 ‘Excellence in Community Shaping’ at the Local Government Managers Australia Awards for Excellence.

2019 Queensland Reconciliation Award (Partnerships Category).