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A toolkit to assist school development planning for health
Informed by the outcomes of the pilot Health Promoting Schools initiative (2002–2006), which worked with 15% of schools across Northern Ireland, the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA) has developed a toolkit to assist school development planning for health and wellbeing taking a whole school approach. The toolkit has been tested by teachers in Northern Ireland with the support of the initiative’s coordinators in each Education and Library Board.
The toolkit is now available to all schools as a PDF file. Click here and complete the request form to download your copy.
Please note: This toolkit is currently being updated. A revised toolkit will be available online soon.
The toolkit has been designed to assist schools to meet the requirements of the Education (School Development Plans) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005, which require schools to ensure that they safeguard and promote the health and wellbeing of their staff and pupils. It will also be useful for those schools working to become extended schools. The toolkit includes:
- internationally recognised and tested quality criteria for a healthy school, which can be used as a benchmark;
- indicators of good practice consistent with Together Towards Improvement - a process of self evaluation for schools (DE);
- a method of rating present school strengths and areas for improvement against the criteria;
- rating tools and approaches for the involvement of or consultation with pupils at all key stages, staff, parents, and outside agencies;
- a step-by-step planning process.
The toolkit will help principals and staff to consider the elements that make a school a healthy place, and aims to fulfil the various outcomes and targets set within Investing for Health, the public health strategy; related policy and strategy for health improvement such as the Fit Futures initiative; and strategies for children and young people such as Our Children and Young People Our Pledge. The 10 year strategy for children and young people in Northern Ireland 2006–2016.
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