Healthy schools
The Islington Healthy Schools
What is the healthy school programme?
Healthy Schools is a national joint programme between the DCSF and the
Department of Health. Locally the programme is a partnership between
CEA@Islington and Islington Primary Care Trust (PCT). The programme is managed
within Schools Plus in CEA@Islington and works closely with the Children,
Schools and Families Directorate in Camden.
The Healthy School Programme supports schools in ‘Healthier Living and
Learning’ – providing opportunities for enhancing emotional and physical
health to improve long-term health, reduce health inequalities, increase
social inclusion and raise achievement for all.
The four themes of the programme enable schools to structure their approach to
addressing health needs of pupils and supporting their achievement:
To achieve National Healthy School Status schools have to show they are
meeting 43 different criteria across these four themes. These criteria are
based on multi-agency whole-school approaches to supporting the health and
well being of pupils and their families and encompass a range of areas
including the curriculum, teaching and learning, school environment and ethos,
and extended services. Schools are required to renew their Healthy School
Status every three years.
The programme team in Islington supports schools in understanding the
requirements of the programme, identifying the needs of their pupils and
families and planning, monitoring and evaluating their work. The specialists
within the team support schools to develop different aspects of work, for
example establishing family cookery classes or pedometer programmes for
pupils, developing Sex and Relationship Education in primary and secondary
schools, including consulting with parents and supporting the social and
emotional aspects of children’s learning.
Further information
This is available, from a national and local perspective on the National
Healthy School Programme website
This national website includes a range of resources and guidance to support
schools’ work across the four themes of PSHE, Healthy Eating, Physical
Activity and Emotional Health and Wellbeing. Each local authority has an area,
where their materials and resources can be accessed. The Islington area
includes a number of supporting documents: definitions of each of the themes
and the Islington approach to these and guidance and templates on writing
policies (Whole School Food Policy, Sex and Relationship Education Policy and
Drug Policy). There is simple guidance
for using this website.
All schools in Islington need to register on the National website. The website
enables schools to record their position relating to the national criteria and
to demonstrate the development of their work. Guidance on how to do this is
included here: another link please
Where does Citizenship fit in?
In primary schools citizenship forms part of the non-statutory framework for
PSHE and Citizenship, and in secondary schools it is a discrete statutory
curriculum area with national curriculum orders.
Citizenship is distinct from PSHE, although there are areas that overlap. Both
emphasise the development of skills and exploration of attitudes. A useful
distinction is that citizenship supports pupils' development in making a
positive contribution to society, as opposed to PSHE which supports pupils'
development in leading confident, healthy and responsible lives as members of
society
An important element of citizenship is that of participation and responsible
action: giving pupils real and meaningful opportunities to contribute to their
local community, including, but not exclusively, their school community.
Schools' work on pupil participation including work with school councils,
focus groups or peer support will contribute to this 'active citizenship'
element.
What
is Citizenship?