Health promotion in education settings
We strongly encourage health promotion in our education settings. When children and young people feel positive about their health and wellbeing they are likely to achieve better academically.
We have a core offer of support for professionals working in schools, academies and other education settings. It is available free of charge and covers resources, workforce support and training, our award programme and access to data and insights.
To access any aspect of the core offer outlined on this page, join the termly email bulletin mailing list, or to ask questions, contact us on healthpromotionineducation@southglos.gov.uk.
Page contents
Resources
We offer resources for staff leading on personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), including:
- a resource and information platform aimed at leaders and teachers of PSHE and RSHE – email us (subject line ‘I want access’) and download our user guide to get started
- a termly email bulletin for education leads on PSHE, mental health and wellbeing and pastoral support – email us to be added to the mailing list
- directories of free services and support on a wide range of PSHE topics and mental health
Free teaching resources such as lesson plans are available on the resource and information platform.
You can find leaflets and toolkits in the related links section of this page.
Workforce support and training
Workforce support and training is available locally and nationally and includes:
- training in a range of health and wellbeing topics
- PSHE and RSHE advice, support and best practice sessions
- mental health training and development courses
- access to the NSPCC Talk Relationships helpline to support teachers delivering RSHE
Award programme
Our award programme is open to all education settings and is made up of 3 stages:
Stage 1: healthy roots quality mark
Stage 2: beacon setting status (completion of 3 to 5 awards)
Stage 3: beacon+ exemplar setting status (completion of 6 or more awards)
We run the following 3 awards:
Healthy roots quality mark
The healthy roots quality mark is a baseline assessment to show how education settings promote pupil and staff health and wellbeing.
Read this guidance document before starting the online self-assessment.
Complete the online self-assessment.
Mental health and wellbeing award
This award recognises best practice of a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing and identifies areas for development.
Option 1: Complete the online self-assessment and action plan. Our resource and guidance toolkit includes local and national information and support linked to the whole school approach.
Option 2: If you have recently completed a review with your mental health support team or through senior mental health leads training, you may be able to use this as the basis for the award. Contact mentalhealth@southglos.gov.uk to arrange a Microsoft Teams call.
Food and nutrition award
This award recognises best practice of a whole school approach to food and nutrition and identifies areas for development based on DFE guidance and evidence-based practice.
Complete the online self-assessment and action plan.
Evidence: data and insight
Education settings can request bespoke data analyses of online pupil survey data to identify need, support intervention planning and develop whole school wellbeing priorities.
Support is also available to help education settings identify how they might best use other sources of local and national data to address pupil health and wellbeing need.
Data sources include:
- the South Gloucestershire population health intelligence portal for a range of local health and wellbeing information
- the national child measurement programme (NCMP) to understand trends in physical health and healthy weight both locally and nationally
- the national active lives survey to explore physical activity levels
- the national oral health survey for insights to support targeted interventions
The health and wellbeing online pupil survey
We encourage education settings to participate in the South Gloucestershire health and wellbeing online pupil survey (OPS) which is done every 2 years.
The survey:
- is free for all primary, secondary, and post 16 settings, including non-mainstream and special educational settings
- is age appropriate with tailored versions for year 4, years 5 and 6, year 7, years 8 to 11, and years 12 and 13
- has been completed by over 50,000 pupils in 115 education settings since 2015 and was completed by over 12,500 pupils in 2023
Questions asked in the survey cover physical health, mental health and wellbeing, learning and school experience and relationships, safety and support.
The survey gives pupils an opportunity to influence aspects of health and wellbeing education. It provides education settings with a detailed insight into the needs of their pupils to make improvements to their policies and practices.
It can also help school leaders complete the self-evaluation framework form as part of the Education Inspection Framework and provide evidence of key safeguarding responsibilities as detailed in Keeping Children Safe in Education.
Summary report
Read the most recent survey summary report (2023).
Use and publication of OPS data in any context must be strictly in accordance with the OPS data sharing terms and conditions.