And the school nutritionist said schools across the country should start teaching kids how to eat healthy, and exercise, not just read and write.

Parry School helps students with a documented pattern of behavioral difficulties, many of which have been unresolved despite intensive intervention over an extended period of time.

Students tend to stay at the school for between 20 to 40 weeks.

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Principal Tina White said the program, which tracked students' exercise using Fit Bits, also encouraged them to eat better and sleep more.

"Fuel in the body is like fuel in the car," she said.

"Our kids need to have healthy food and drink in their bodies and sleep patterns so that when they come to difficult decisions at difficult times they've got the fuel there that can support them in managing their brain.

"[T]hat can [help them] make appropriate choices to keep them safe and to keep them being successful in the choices that they're making."

One of the things she wanted to do was bring in a nutritionist not as an add-on, but "as part of the Parry program".

Peter Annis-Brown, owner of Manage Health, was more than happy to do just that.

He said every school should consider bringing in a nutritionist or even just doing more exercise, which he said helps them concentrate better.

Student Hayden White said the biggest benefit the program gave him was simple - he quit smoking.

"When I first started I didn't realise all the stuff I wasn't doing, like not sleeping as much and not eating enough vegetables and drinking water," he said.

Parry helps students either go back to their home schools and be successful, or go directly to full-time work, into apprenticeships and other opportunities, Ms White said.

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