A special ceremony was held on Thursday (22 March) to recognise those schools who achieved the accolade and to present them with their awards in the shape of a brand new national plaque.
A little over a year after the launch of this new enhanced National Healthy Schools initiative, 28% of all schools in East Sussex have now achieved the new ‘Healthy School’ status and the County Council is now expecting to exceed its own and the national target of 55% of schools achieving Healthy School Status by December 2007.
Councillor Rupert Simmons, Lead Cabinet Member for Learning and School Effectiveness, said: “A school has to work very hard to achieve the Healthy School Status. I am extremely proud of everybody’s efforts and the fact that the Council is ahead of its own targets for this important initiative. We are committed to promoting healthy lifestyles, particularly among our young people, and this is a very important part of that work.”
Representatives from more than 30 of the schools were able to attend to collect their awards in person. Catherine Dooley, Acting Head of ESCC’s Inclusive Learning & Development Team, was among those present to congratulate the schools on their achievement.
By 2009, the Government requires that all schools should be working towards the National Healthy School Status, as the key indicator of which schools are meeting the health and well being requirements of the ‘Every Child Matters’ Children Act.
To qualify, a school must collect and present evidence under all four of the programme’s themes: Personal, Social and Health education; Emotional Health and Well Being; Healthy Eating and Physical Activity. And they must also demonstrate how they involved the whole school community in the initiative. The ‘School Improvement Service’ within East Sussex County Council actively supports schools in this endeavour, led by dedicated Healthy Schools advisers and consultants, who work in close partnership with the two PCTs for East Sussex.
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