Mission: To make health a top priority for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Schools are key settings in which to improve both health and educational achievement. Good health and effective learning go hand in hand, and schools have the potential to play an active part in shaping attitudes to health. Central to this is the importance of investing in a healthy school.

From 2002–2006, a pilot Health Promoting Schools initiative led by the Health Promotion Agency in association with a Regional Planning Group, tested out an approach to plan for the development of healthy schools with 15% of schools across Northern Ireland. The pilot was developed in line with principles, approaches and standards recommended by the World Health Organization through the European Network of Health Promoting Schools.

What is a healthy school?
A healthy school is one in which the Board of Governors, staff, members of the wider community and relevant agencies work together in a planned way to promote the health of everyone in the school community. This is achieved through developing policies, practices and structures that will underpin a sustainable programme of action.

A healthy school adopts a process of self-evaluation and action planning against a set of internationally recognised and tested quality criteria which aim to improve school health and wellbeing in relation to the three key elements of work for a healthy school:

• Ethos and Environment
• Quality of Learning and Teaching
• Quality of Management

These key elements are closely linked to educational policies for school improvement. See www.deni.gov.uk

How can you tell if you have a healthy school?
Based on the pilot initiative, the Health Promotion Agency has developed information and guidance materials to support the development of healthy schools. These include:

• A toolkit to assist school development planning (including Indicators of good practice)
• A case study database.

Healthy schools also share the common aim of supporting children’s health, safety and wellbeing with extended schools. Consequently they have many common benefits, and schools that are working towards offering extended activities are encouraged to aim to develop into a healthy school at the same time.