HS+ Celebration Event
Date: 8 Feb 2011
Healthy Schools Plus Pilot
Celebration Event – Thursday 27th January 2011 at Seven Fields Primary School
Background
The Healthy Schools Plus Pilot Project was launched in 2009. The aim of the pilot is to work with schools to implement projects to help reduce health inequalities across key local priorities. In Swindon these are; Healthy Weight, Emotional Health and Well Being, Teenage Pregnancy and Smoking. Schools were given some funding to support their projects by Swindon PCT and the Healthy Schools Team have given advice and support in the setting and achievement of targets.
The Pilot has worked closely with the Targeted Mental Health Team to align the two projects and enable schools to develop further work in this area. A range of colleagues from within Swindon Borough Council and Swindon PCT have also supported and quality assured the Project.
Examples of work completed by schools have included projects to increase participation in physical activity by setting up after school clubs suggested by students, raising self-esteem through sport, setting up breakfast clubs to increase the number of students eating a healthy breakfast. There has also been targeted work with more vulnerable students to improve their skills in making safe choices with regard to relationships. Emotional Health and Well Being was identified by many schools as a priority and work has included the setting up of a range of nurture groups, promotion of anti-bullying interventions and projects to involve parents more in supporting the work done in school.
Three secondary schools participated in the Pilot to look at young people’s perceptions of risky behaviours and how close these perceptions were to reality. This innovative work is continuing with five secondary schools, putting Swindon at the cutting edge of social norms interventions in the UK.
Of the forty (50%) schools in Swindon participating in the Project, twelve are now at a stage where they are being awarded recognition of meeting the priorities they identified and are able to show positive behaviour changes amongst their students. Schools have commented that being part of the Pilot has helped them to meet priorities they had identified as being important in their settings by providing a framework and targets to work towards. In many cases schools aim to continue and build upon achievements made to date.
Celebration Event
Sixteen schools were awarded recognition of their success on the Healthy Schools Plus Project. We had presentations from: The Ridgeway School Secondary School, Robert Le Kyng Primary School, Seven Fields Primary School and Highworth Warneford Secondary School on the work they have been doing to reduce health inequality in Emotional Health and Well Being, Sexual Health and Healthy Weight.
Partners attended from Swindon Borough Council, NHS Swindon and Wiltshire Police and were all very impressed with the work schools have been doing to reduce health inequalities.
Right: Integrated Services Manager Liz Evans presenting certificates to Zita McCormick, Headteacher of Seven Fields School, who hosted our event.
