School’s ‘good health’ awarded

Staff and pupils at Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School are celebrating receiving the National Quality Award for Healthy Schools.

The National Award recognises achievement in seven areas of healthy schools, from Food and Fitness, Hygiene, Safety, and Substance Misuse, to the Environment, Personal Relationships and Mental and Emotional Health.

The children have been working hard across all of these areas and are delighted to have their achievements recognised by the Healthy Schools assessors who spent two days visiting.

All pupils and staff from the school’s three sites across Welshpool met at St Mary’s Church to give a presentation on their healthy schools’ journey that demonstrated the many and varied ways in which pupils are encouraged to benefit.

The assessors were particularly impressed with the school’s approach to health and wellbeing, which was noted as being “firmly embedded into the ethos of the whole school and is not seen as an add-on”.

The school was complimented on its approach to including the views of all pupils, despite being spread across three sites.

“There is strong evidence of listening to learners, with all pupils having the opportunity to contribute to many pupil voice groups,” the report stated.

The report from the assessors also noted that there were ‘so many highlights during the visit that it would be impossible to name them all!’

The use of the outdoor environment was noted as an excellent feature which contributes significantly to pupils’ health and wellbeing.

“The passionate use made of the Forest School areas to improve pupil outcomes is exceptional,” it went on to. “Such is the desire to continue with this initiative at the new school site, the pupil committees have worked hard to ensure the protection of a small copse so that this outstanding work can continue.”

During the visit there was a meeting with parents, Governors and members of the community who support the school and their comments demonstrate a high regard for the school.

Head teacher Justine Baldwin said: “I am delighted that the assessors saw how passionate all our children and staff are about being a healthy school!

“It is especially rewarding when the school has only been open for a year and we are still split across three sites. It just goes to show what can be achieved when there is dedication and enthusiasm towards reaching a shared goal – to be a happy healthy school!”

Chair of Governors, Councillor Francesca Jump said “This has been possible due to the hard work of the children and the staff and is much more than simply an award; we should celebrate helping these children on their way to becoming healthier and happier people.”