Help us inspire thousands of Australian children to develop a life long love of movement
CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW
The Secret Ninja School inspires young children to flex the in-built super powers of their bodies and minds to tackle whatever life throws at them.
Our viewers are begging for Series 3 of their go-to loved Ninja adventures.
But Secret Ninja School – for all its success – is at a make or break point.
For Series 1 and 2, the teeny tiny team behind its’ creation have self-funded production of the 50 episodes. We’ve dug deep behind the sofa and tipped out the last coins from the Ninja Piggy Bank, but our coffers are dry.
We’re still deeply passionate about stemming the tide of childhood inactivity and poor mental health in Australia, by continuing to create inspiring, locally-made and accessible content for everyone.
And we know that Secret Ninja School works!
Not only do our young viewers relish the adventures, but teachers love it too. The programme is used in over 500 primary schools around the country where classroom behaviours, mental health and physical coordination have improved dramatically as a result of student participation.
This crowdfunding campaign is a way you can help us replenish the production purse and get this next series onto the small screen.
We need help to continue the great work we’ve started and we can’t do this without you!
New episodes are being written, we’ve booked studio time in June to film and have dreamt up some super cool perks for our supporters – so let’s make this happen.
Are you Ready Set Ninja?!
HOW YOU CAN HELP?
Secret Ninja School fans are a passionate bunch of folk who value the joy and learning our series brings.
So any little bit you can do to support this project will help bring Ninja Kicks and Nimble Numbat back online!
We have an ambitious target of $50,000 to fund our next series of 18 episodes, but every little bit we raise incrementally will immediately go towards production.
The more we can raise, the more episodes we can make. And the quicker our fans can watch it. If we raise more than our target, we have a clear for vision for how it will be spent to support you, the users of Secret Ninja School. For example, we’d like to create an app with story writing drills and more.
Plus as a thank you, we have some AMAZING perks – super cool exclusive Ninja Swag that you can’t get anywhere else!
We’ve dreamt up super cool ways you and your crew will be rewarded for your support and become part of the Ninja family. From $10 to $5,000, we appreciate anything you can do to help.
Simply select an option on the right side of this page.
Other Ways You Can Help
We appreciate that times are tough and money is tight for everyone in the current economic environment. So whilst you may not be able to contribute financially, there are still ways that you can help us.
Share details of our campaign on your socials, with families, teachers, shakers and makers – in the school yard, sports ground, heck in the laundrette. Basically anyone who you think might want to be part of something big and change the outcomes for the next generation of young Australians!
You can use the share tools on this page to make it easier – or reach out to the team at Secret Ninja and ask for pictures, videos and information to make it easier.
The more people who know about the awesome success of Secret Ninja School, the more people who are likely to help us. And with help, more Aussie kids will develop a lifelong love of being active.
And that’s all there is to it.
WHAT IS SNS ALL ABOUT?
Secret Ninja School is a series of short online episodes that see Ninja Kicks and Nimble Numbat embark on story-driven adventures through the Aussie bush, using the natural ability of their minds and bodies to develop confidence, purpose and physical ability.
By squeezing their torsos and stretching limbs, jumping and rolling to cover distance, mastering inner core strength for balance and coordination and using their breath to control feelings, the Secret Ninja School members overcome challenges and learn to unlock their Ninja Powers.
Inspired by the elements of fire, water, air, electricity and earth, Ninja Powers are a hybrid blend of gymnastics, martial arts, pilates, yoga and dance. By repeating moves – identified on screen by graphical symbols or power stones – Ninja viewers build on their skills the more they watch. And without realising, they develop confidence, build friendships and discover a life-long love of movement, rather than a chore to be ticked off a list.
Ninja Kicks and Nimble Numbat role-model kindness, problem solving, resilience, collaboration and effort, ensuring the Secret Ninja School is a safe space for everyone.
With a nod to the fun of ‘PE with Joe’ and the nurturing of ‘Cosmic Kids Yoga’, Secret Ninja School is an accessible online Australian series that children, families and teachers love.
HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED?
We’re relying on your generous help to make it happen.
Production is expensive and every penny of our goal is needed to create Series 3.
The series will be developed and written in collaboration with educational experts, shot in a green-screen soundproofed studio by professional crew and edited using the very latest software and animation technology.
OUR GOALS AND DREAMS
Our big hairy audacious goal is to raise $50,000 for production to allow us to produce a third 18 x 7 minute series of Secret Ninja School.
If we raise less than our goal, then we will incrementally and immediately produce as many shows as we can afford.
If we raise funds that stretch beyond our initial goal, we can create more episodes of Secret Ninja School, and get the content to you even faster.
BACKGROUND
When lockdown hit in 2020, Aussie sports coach Keiran Deck created a series of videos from his lounge room to help keep his young martial arts’ students active, entertained and busy.
Inspired by his own childhood, and the confidence, friendships and love of movement he formed through activity programmes, Keiran wanted to create videos that gave every child, regardless of physical ability, gender or background, a similar experience.
And so the Secret Ninja School was born.
Just over two years in, the programme is played in over 500 schools around Australia and has an audience of nearly 10,000 students who ask for another episode every day.
OUR MISSION
Pre- and primary school is a vital time in children’s physical and cognitive development.
Australian parents recognise this – spending upwards of $300 each year on organised sporting activities for their offspring.
An emphasis on achievement and prowess in club sport is often mirrored in school.
While many children excel, the competitive nature of sporting codes inadvertently acts as a turn-off for those children who are less able or less confident. One strict coach or bad experience can taint a child’s entire movement experience.
Turning them off sport can lead to a lifelong dislike of exercise. It can also be attributed – in part – to the rising level of obesity and poor mental health of Australian teenagers and young adults.
And due to geography and social economic backgrounds, many children don’t even get a chance to try organised activities at all.
The mission behind Secret Ninja School is to give every primary aged child in Australia an opportunity to fall in love with movement, irrespective of ability, background or geography.
That’s more than 2 million children.
The ethos behind our programme is effort and practice over achievement and success.
By encompassing immersive storytelling, bright animated backgrounds and engaging characters within Secret Ninja School, the focus is firmly on fun and adventure.
But most importantly, the by-product is creating an environment in which young people develop a positive relationship with movement at a key stage of their development and take this through into adulthood.
WHO ARE THE NINJAS?
Our production team is a small, nimble and passionate bunch of Ninjas.
In the Secret Ninja studio, musical theatre performer, actor and pilates fan, Boronia Clark becomes the loveable Nimble Numbat. She studied music and Musical Theatre at The Australian Institute of Music as well as Screen Acting at ScreenWise under the tutelage of Denise Roberts and has recently returned home to Australia after a stint of acting in the UK. She contributes to all the ideas and energy of Secret Ninja School.
Keiran Deck is our raison d’etre, the creator, dreamer, host and Executive Producer of Secret Ninja School, without whom we wouldn’t be here. After a journalism degree, Keiran worked in factual and sports television but has always held a passion for Taekwondo and coaching youngsters. Today he puts all his time and energy into Secret Ninja School as Ninja Kicks managing the business, making the videos and taking the programme into primary schools around Australia.
Alex Flower is our Executive Producer keeping us on track, organised and effective. With an extensive television career she’s worked on award-winning dramas, factual series and children’s programs and held roles in production, development and commissioning at Seven, Nine, Foxtel and Nickelodeon. In 2019 Alex founded Cut to: Productions and produced factual series Australia’s Food Bowl for SBS.
Amy Bingham our Series Producer 30 years of passion and experience in Children’s television with credits for all major networks in the UK (CBBC, CITV, Five and Channel Four, Nickelodeon) and Australia (ABC, Disney, Nickelodeon, Seven, 9 and Ten) most recently producing Nippers for ABC Me. She wrangles the cast and crew and makes everything happen on time, on budget and with fun.
