The Good Guys is a leading retailer specialising in and supplying electrical appliances across metropolitan and regional Australia. Having opened its first outlet 1952, The Good Guys has since grown to encompass the operation of 100 stores.

As a result of engaging in a Christmas retail campaign in 2014, the Good Guys identified an opportunity to create a program that promotes the mental and physical wellbeing of primary school aged children in Australia. The result was the Good Guys Super Hero Academy.

The Good Guys Super Hero Academy is an innovative program designed to encourage children by empowering them to discover their inner super hero strengths and capabilities. The Super Hero Academy offers parents an accessible, fun and interactive environment for their children to be immersed in activities outside their comfort zone, often with unfamiliar peers. The program exposes children to key learning themes including perceptiveness and awareness of others, responsibility and the importance of listening, discipline and perseverance. Utilising a circus as the forum for its workspace, the program is able to help children build strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and body awareness. It also helps develop self-confidence, courage to face personal challenges, an understanding of team work, positive risk taking and a sense of belonging.

The program differs from many mainstream sport centric children’s activities that rely on certain levels of physical ability and skill. When children participate in The Good Guys Super Hero Academy, it doesn’t matter how fast or strong they are, how big or small, or how confident, shy or smart they are. It’s about each child having an opportunity to discover that they have inner super hero qualities like kindness, courage and generosity. Each workshop runs for approximately two hours and caters for up to 45 children. During the workshop, professional Circus Oz trainers guide cadets through various stations including trampolining, aerial activities, acro-balance activities and floor work.

While the Super Hero Academy strives to be a stimulating and exciting learning environment, it does have logistical restrictions in terms of locations and workshop capacity. The Good Guys decided not to limit the super hero experience to the physical workshop but instead offer a broader connection to children through an interactive online club — The Super Hero Kids Club. The Super Hero Kids Club only just launched in February 2016 and is designed to encourage all children to recognise and celebrate their personal strengths, a healthy lifestyle and super hero qualities through fun resources and activities.