Document is current

Article History

Received: 28 April 2025

Accepted: 9 March 2026

First Online: 24 March 2026

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: Ethics approval for this study was granted by the Western Sydney University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) on 14 August 2023 (Reference: H15600). An amended ethics request covering the post-intervention parent survey was approved on 1 July 2024 by the same committee. Additionally, approval to conduct the research in New South Wales public schools was granted by the New South Wales Department of Education, State Education Research and Partnerships (SERAP; Reference Number, 2021431). The research was conducted in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council, and Universities Australia, /2023), the Australian Association for Research in Education’s Code of Ethics (Australian Association for Research in Education [AARE], n.d.), and the NSW Government State Education Research Guidelines (NSW Government, ). All data handling procedures conformed to the institutional research integrity and privacy policies.

: Written informed consent was obtained from parents/guardians by the lead author in April 2024, prior to the commencement of data collection, for both their own participation and their child’s involvement in the broader study. Children provided written assent at each administration of the student self-report questionnaire (April, July, and October–November 2024). Assent procedures were facilitated by the lead author using age-appropriate verbal explanations to ensure comprehension. Verbal assent was treated as an ongoing process throughout the study period, including for participation in Bush School sessions, photography activities, and the inclusion of student work samples. Children were regularly reminded of their right to decline participation in any component of the study without consequence. Parents/guardians also completed a separate Nature Play for Wellbeing and Engagement in Primary School Parent Survey. Electronic consent was obtained immediately before survey completion, in April 2024 (pre-intervention) and July 2024 (post-intervention). Prior to each survey, parents/guardians received a Participant Information and Consent Sheet outlining the study purpose, procedures, potential risks, data handling processes, and their rights, including the option to withdraw at any time without consequence. Participants were informed that their responses would be anonymised, used solely for research purposes, securely stored, and reported in de-identified form. Participation involved minimal risk.