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Rationale
The educational community has become increasingly aware of its role in helping pupils to develop a healthy lifestyle. There is a growing realisation that health education in the classroom cannot be totally effective unless it is reinforced within the wider school environment. To this end, the concept of a health promoting school has considerable significance.
The health promoting school is one in which the Board of Governors, all staff (teaching and non-teaching), pupils, parents and relevant agencies work together, in a planned way, to promote the health of everyone in the school community.
Teachers, through their teaching methods, classroom organisation and teacher/pupil relationships, need to provide opportunities for pupils to explore attitudes, clarify values and develop interpersonal skills which will enable them to make informed and responsible decisions about their health and well-being.
Health education should also be reinforced within the wider school environment where all aspects of school life are complimentary to the positive health messages promoted in the classroom, and where the enjoyment of school life is valued and celebrated regularly.
Oakgrove College currently hold the Health Promoting Schools Award.
Ethos
The ethos of a school reflects the extent to which the school under the Principal’s leadership promotes the moral, intellectual, social, emotional and personal development of the whole school community. The ethos of OakgroveIntegratedCollege is self-esteem for all. The ethos and environment of the school provides pupils with ‘hidden messages’ beyond the taught curriculum. A health promoting school will ensure that these messages support and reinforce the messages in the health curriculum.
Aim and Objectives
The aim of this policy is to promote the health and well-being of everyone in the school community. This school will work towards enhancing the individual’s ability to manage effectively the physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of life within the context of both the physical and human environments.
Health Education
Health education includes all those planned or incidental learning opportunities which can be used to develop behaviour which is conducive to good health. Responsible attitudes and the skills necessary to make informed decisions in matters relating to health are the intended outcomes of health education in the curriculum.
Health Education is a topic that is taught across the curriculum, and is therefore already well established within our schemes of work and will continue to provide a major platform for the education of “the whole child”. This supports the work established under the “Personal Health” element of the Personal Development schemes.
The following aims reflect those of the school:
1. To develop positive pro-active attitudes, patterns of behaviour, lifestyles, values and skills in the pupils towards their personal health and safety.
2. To give pupils knowledge and understanding of the following in order for them to make informed choices:
I. The use/misuse and dangers of drugs such as alcohol, tobacco, medicines etc.
II. The physical, emotional and social aspects of an individual’s development as a male or female, personal relationships, responsible attitudes and appropriate behaviour.
III. Family life - the value and importance of the family as a social institution, its contribution to the development of attachment, love and concern in caring for others.
IV. The safety of the individual in different environments e.g. at home, on the road, at school, at work, during leisure activities.
V. The importance of exercise in promoting good health.
VI. The association between diet and health, the nutritional value of various foods, the importance of good food preparation and handling.
To put these aims into context:
Objective 1: Health in Context of Personal Development
Personal development
Pupils should develop to their fullest potential. They should develop a positive self-image and self-confidence. They should understand the stages involved and the factors which govern physical and emotional growth.
Physical fitness, recreation and relaxation
Pupils should achieve and maintain an appropriate level of physical fitness. They should understand the role of recreation and the value of relaxation.
Nutrition
Pupils should be able to make responsible decisions about their diet. They should know and understand the contribution of food to growth, energy and health.
Uses of and problems related to drugs and other potentially harmful substances
Pupils should develop their knowledge and understanding of the use, misuse, risks and effects of drugs and other potentially harmful substances. They should develop a critical awareness of the relevant personal, social and economic implications.
Objective 2: Health in the Context of Social Development
Relationships within the family
Pupils should be able to make a positive contribution to the life of the family unit based on their knowledge and understanding of the concept of the family.
Relationships with peers
Pupils should be able to manage relationships with peers in a variety of situations.
Relationships with others
Pupils should understand the nature of relationships with others and, as they mature, be able to establish responsible relationships within a widening community.
Objective 3: Health in Relation to the Environment
Personal safety in the environment
Pupils should be able to cope safely and efficiently with their environment.
A healthy environment
Pupils should understand what is meant by a healthy environment and their responsibility for maintaining and improving it.
Benefits
The school strives to promote a healthy school by:
§ Aerobic/exercise clubs
§ Healthy eating canteen
§ Vending machines that only sell water
§ No tuck shop
§ Water drunk freely by pupils throughout school day
§ Delivery of Personal Development schemes
§ Delivery of Health Education across the curriculum
§ Health information days
§ Visits by professionals/outside agencies (PSNI liaison officer/drug education, RSE education, mental health etc)
§ School nurse & counselling services
§ Poster displays/competitions
§ Awareness of local (Health Promotion Agency NI) and National and Global (WHO) health issues for updating of schemes
§ No smoking school
§ First aid training
Roles and Responsibilities
Pupils
Health education should involve pupils in thinking critically, developing the ability to make reasoned choices and developing skills that are necessary for a healthy lifestyle. Such involvement requires the active participation of pupils in the learning process. They should have opportunities to seek out, develop and apply their knowledge, skills, understanding and competences in order to encourage responsibility, develop self-reliance and make healthy choices.
All staff (teaching and non-teaching)
Actively support, contribute to and be involved in the promotion of good health.
The school has initiated a Staff Mental Health and Well-being Policy. The details of this policy will be decided under consultation with staff before being approved by the BoGs. All staff received emotional well-being INSET training in August 2010.
Teachers delivering the Health Education programme
This role includes creating, structuring and managing the learning experience. When learning is concerned with feelings, emotions, attitudes and values, the didactic approach alone is inappropriate. Teaching staff should aim to create a learning environment which:
· Encourages each pupil to develop confidence and competence;
· Facilitates a participatory approach in which each pupil is actively involved;
· Accepts that everyone has a contribution to make which is valued explicitly; and
· Involves pupils in continuing evaluation of their learning so as to guide them in the recognition of their own development and responsibility for their own learning.
The Health Education Co-ordinator
Mrs Julie Ballantyne is the co-ordinator for Health Education.
The Health Education co-ordinator has an important role to play in:
· Encouraging a Health Promoting school.
· Ensuring the adequate coverage of Health Education within the curriculum.
· Communicating with staff involved in promoting health education.
· Identifying and arranging staff development and training.
· Promoting active learning styles and teaching strategies.
· Promoting any new health messages.
· Monitoring and reviewing the health education policy and programme and evaluating both on a regular basis.
Parents
Schools should seek to ensure that the positive health messages being promoted within the school are supported by parents and the wider community. This school ensures this by the following methods:
· Parents are encouraged at all times to promote good health.
· Home/school links are established and encouraged.
· Parents are encouraged to support the school in the development and implementation of all health promotion policies.
Monitoring and evaluation
This school will ensure that procedures are put in place to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of all aspects of this policy. Information will be regularly collected from pupils and staff as part of the monitoring process, and this will then be evaluated against the aims and objectives of the policy at appropriate intervals.
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