Yarning circles, murals and athletics: schools prove there’s more to a good education than Naplan results

‘You can’t get academic results if your kids don’t want to come to school’: Lethbridge Park public school principal, Garry Sheen, with students. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

When students at Lethbridge Park public school noticed their peers acting out in the playground, they asked for a meditation club. So the school set one up, and now, three days a week, children spend their lunch break lying in a classroom seeking tranquility.

Then students brought up an ongoing graffiti problem with the toilet blocks. So they got the green light to make their own designs, and covered the walls with positive messages.