Lilleshall Primary School has achieved a Gold Healthy School award as part of completing the active lives survey.
The Healthy Schools Rating comprises four key areas identified as important to creating a healthy school: food education, school food standards, physical education and active travel. Depending on the answers to these questions, schools receive either no award or a bronze, silver or gold rating.
As a result of Lilleshall Primary working together as a whole school, they were awarded a gold rating, to recognise the work they have undertaken to make and embed health and wellbeing as a priority within the school.
The Healthy Schools Rating was first launched in the 2018/19 academic year and was developed by the Department of Education. It replaces the old healthy schools award that many schools across the borough managed to achieve.
The Healthy Schools Rating is conducted through the children and young people’s Active Lives Survey. A certain number of schools are randomly sampled to take part in this survey each year, but it is also possible for your school to opt-in to complete the survey.
The survey is organised through active partnerships, in Telford and Wrekin our active partnership is Energize. The results from the Active Lives Survey give schools a good understanding of the activity levels and attitudes towards physical activity that represent the pupils at the school. The teacher survey accounts for the Healthy Schools Rating that the school achieves.
Christobel Cousins – Headteacher at Lilleshall Primary School, said:
“When I took over co-ordinating PE, the Healthy Schools Award came through, and we had Bronze. I wanted to know why we only had Bronze, and what we weren’t doing.
“I looked into the award and found that we were doing most of what was required but needed to just make a few amendments or developments.
“So, I worked on the areas such as the school gardens and developing something called Lilleshall Explorers, which is guided local walks for pupils and staff (using the PE funding).
“The school was very pleased to receive the award. To be honest, most elements of the award we already had in place. Sometimes the person filling in the application doesn’t know what happens across the school, so I think it is helpful if a member of the SLT can support the completion of the document.
“I will need to look at the award again now and see what we do next. I think it will be raising the profile of the pupil voice and working with the school committees to drive change. As I have been revisiting the criteria, I have noticed that some of the items we are no longer doing as things move on and change in the school, but this now gives us an opportunity to pick these up again.”
Achieving your schools Healthy School Award:
Whilst celebrating Lilleshall Gold Healthy School Rating, we are also launching the Schools Health and Wellbeing Toolkit, designed to support schools enhance their health and wellbeing offer to children and families and also achieve their Health School Rating with a helpful guide and resources of services to be a Healthy School.
If your school has also achieved one of the Healthy Schools Ratings awards, please let us know by email or on twitter using #TelfordHealthySchools, so that we can celebrate your hard work and success as well!