Since 2017, Billund Municipality’s school area has enjoyed a positive and rewarding collaboration with Kidz Academy. Child-to-child communication is at the heart of their teaching methodology—through “learn it, live it, pass it on”—which also serves as the foundation for embedding the initiatives. The primary focus has been on well-being initiatives, with systematic work on training well-being ambassadors across grade levels. Billund Municipality has extended this concept beyond its borders to schools in Vejle Municipality, where trained well-being ambassadors from Billund schools have alternated as co-trainers. This has created motivation, enthusiasm, and pride among all participants, fostering a sense of belonging to a larger community. The collaboration with Kidz Academy is grounded in an approach that strengthens the school-home partnership through a shared well-being language and reference framework, setting a common agenda for well-being and community for entire grade levels and all students. The pedagogical initiatives have been based on learning through play, where all well-being tools, exercises, and activities are developed in collaboration with children. There has been strong support and satisfaction from all stakeholders, with staff, children, and parents expressing great satisfaction with the collaboration. We hope to continue and further develop our partnership to benefit children in Billund Municipality and beyond.

Kidz Academy - Schools At Billund School, we believe that the best conditions for learning come from feeling safe and thriving. We aim to focus on fostering strong communities, promoting positive language, and encouraging respectful ways of interacting to ensure a safe learning environment and a respectful tone among both children and adults. Our collaboration with Kidz Academy has greatly supported this work. Their approach, which emphasizes child-to-child (B to B) learning, aligns perfectly with our understanding of the importance of involving children in learning with and from one another. In many ways, we work with the belief that children—supported and guided by adults—are skilled at empowering each other. One of the most crucial aspects for children is building strong relationships, and both schools and parents must help them strengthen these. Through its program, Kidz Academy has supported this understanding among both children and adults. Their knowledge and tools have been integrated into the school’s daily routines, increasing the focus on children’s unique strengths and boosting their confidence in their own values.

We had the great pleasure of collaborating with Kidz Academy during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. We participated with our 4th and 5th grades, and the program brought tremendous value to our school. Ødsted School has mixed-age classes, where 4th and 5th graders are in the same class. Each year, about half of the students in the classes are replaced with new students who "roll in." This means that new communities and a shared class culture must be established quickly. Kidz Academy’s approach has great potential in this regard. The core idea of Kidz Academy’s peer-to-peer learning makes so much sense and adds real value. The students who are in 4th grade one year and are mentored by 5th graders are, the following year, tasked with passing on what they have learned to the new students moving up. This creates a situation where the classes settle quickly, and healthy, strong communities emerge. In both years we participated, we faced challenges due to COVID-19 restrictions, requiring us to constantly adapt to the situation at hand. Here, the collaboration with Peter and Heidi from Kidz Academy was truly exceptional, showcasing their high level of dedication. Through a strong partnership between the teachers and pedagogues from Ødsted School and Peter and Heidi, we were able to both make the program our own and adapt it to the restrictions we faced. In the first year, Peter and Heidi visited the school approximately every two weeks, presenting various exercises, stories, and techniques. This was incredibly rewarding, and both the children and adults were captivated by their contributions. Between visits, the work continued in the classrooms, which is a vital component for making a lasting impact. In the second year, extended periods of restrictions meant that external guests were not allowed at the school due to COVID-19. During this time, the program continued with Peter and Heidi supporting us remotely, holding online meetings with the teachers and pedagogues. These meetings provided inspiration, energy, and motivation for the staff to work with the children in the classrooms. The professional and joyful collaboration with Peter and Heidi remained consistent throughout. As vice principal, I followed the entire process—both in terms of the activities with the children and the meetings with teachers, pedagogues, and Peter and Heidi. This has been incredibly valuable for me as it gave me a clear understanding of what was happening and how we needed to adjust along the way. If you truly want to make a difference in children’s well-being and their relationships with one another, I highly recommend Kidz Academy. It’s absolutely true when they say, “Individually we are unique, together we make a difference.” This applies to both the children participating and the adults working with the program.