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Healthy Schools |
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What is the Healthy Schools approach?
It is an integrated school-based health promotion that incorporates health and health messaging into all aspects of school activities and engages the school community at large.
There are four components:
- High-quality instruction and programs
- A healthy physical environment
- A supportive social environment
- Community partnerships
For more details, please see:
Benefits of the Healthy Schools approach:
There is a close connection between health and learning. The Healthy Schools approach supports improvement in students' educational outcomes and promotes resilience by addressing school health in a planned, integrated and holistic way.
It encourages involvement of all members of the school community (students, parents, school staff, community agencies, local businesses) to work together to make schools healthier places for students to grow and learn.
Here are some success stories from the Ontario Ministry of Education in using the Healthy Schools approach.
School Health Committee
School Health Committee is a key part of the Healthy Schools approach. It provides the structure that enable all members of the school community to work together to create a shared vision of a healthy school and ways of achieving it. The work of a School Health Committee includes:
- creating a shared vision of what is important to your school community
- assessing strengths and needs of the school community
- prioritizing the issues
- developing a plan
- implementing the plan
- monitoring and evaluating the plan
- celebrating success
To be effective and sustainable, a School Health Committee should include school staff, students, parents, a Public Health Nurse, and community partners.
In Toronto, you can find out the liaison Public Health Nurse assigned to your school by calling Toronto Health Connection at 416-338-7600 or email publichealth@toronto.ca.
Here are some ideas and tools to support your current School Health Committee (e.g. Safe Schools, EcoSchools, Wellness Committee) or help you to get one started.
Last updated August 2010
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