Healthy Schools
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The Sheffield Healthy School Programme
The Sheffield Healthy School Programme is a partnership project between health and education, providing support to schools in becoming healthier, safer and more enjoyable places to learn and work. The Sheffield programme is a scheme accredited by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health.
One hundred and sixty schools in Sheffield are already part of the initiative and are working hard to achieve health and school improvement.
Examples of work ongoing as part of the initiative include:
- Breakfast Clubs
- Smoking Cessation groups for pupils
- Buddying schemes
- The ‘125’ Health project
- Anti-bullying work
A Healthy School Is One That:
- Helps pupils do their best and build on their achievements
- Promotes emotional and physical health by giving students the relevant information and skills to make their own decisions about health and life
- Understands that improved health can help raise achievement and attainment
- Recognises the need to provide an environment which helps encourage and enable learning
Benefits To The School:
- Improved achievement and school ethos
- Strengthened links with parents, staff, pupils, governors and external agencies
- Opportunities to positively promote your school through the media resulting in improved reputation
- Chances to share good practice with other schools
Benefits To The Community:
- Happier, healthier children and young people
- An opportunity to contribute to what happens in schools
- Reduced teenage pregnancy, truancy, juvenile crime and drugs misuse
- Partnership working with schools to increase social inclusion and reduce disadvantage
Benefits To Pupils:
- Increased confidence
- Increased motivation
- Working in an environment that supports health and well-being can lead to raised achievement
- Receive skills to make more informed choices in life
- Chances to participate in the development of the local standard – getting their views heard
How To Become A ‘Healthy School’?
To become a ‘Healthy School’, a school requires to achieve the National Healthy School status. This requires schools to meet criteria in four core themes.
These criteria relate not only to the taught curriculum but also to the emotional, physical and learning environment that the school provides. There are a number of specific actions that schools need to take if they are to be recognised as Healthy Schools. Many schools are already engaged in these activities and achieving recognition need not be onerous.
Schools are asked to demonstrate evidence in the core themes using a whole-school approach involving the whole school community. The core themes include:
- personal, social and health education including sex and relationship education and drug education (including alcohol, tobacco and volatile substance abuse);
- healthy eating
- physical activity
- emotional health and well-being (including bullying)
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