The Healthy School Awards

There is no set time – schools can determine their own time commitment, with the knowledge that the Healthy Schools team will support them as they progress. The average time, however, for completion of the universal Healthy Schools award is 6 months and it is recommended that a school should aim to achieve the award within 12 months or an academic year.

No – the Healthy Schools Award is fully funded by both Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council. Similarly for those schools wishing to seek Ambassador status, no costs are charged.

Healthy School Status requires schools to meet the universal criteria as outlined for the Healthy Schools Award.

The criteria relate not only to the taught curriculum but also to the emotional, physical and learning environment that the school provides. Many schools are already engaged in these activities so achieving recognition need not be onerous and lots of current practice can be cross-referenced to the standards of the award.

Schools are encouraged to take a whole school approach in order to:

• develop an ethos and environment that supports learning and promotes the health and wellbeing of the whole school community.
• engage, consult and encourage participation of the whole school community – pupils, staff, governors as well as parents/carers.
• create an effective school improvement mechanism which brings about and embeds cultural and behavioural change.

Healthy Schools Status is valid for 3 years from the date the self-validation is accepted and approved by a member of both the Healthy Schools and Public Health Children’s Commissioning team. However, it is recommended that the standards required for the Award are reviewed and updated every 12 months following verification to ensure the information is up to date and relevant.

Achieving the status of a Healthy School within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough demonstrates a commitment to the health, wellbeing and resilience of both the pupils and the staff. It also:

• provides a clear focus for informing future development of the school’s health agenda through policy, planning and practice.
• accords with the personal development strand of the revised OFSTED framework (implemented in September 2019) which states that a  school is required to demonstrate evidence of providing opportunities for its pupils to learn how to be active, healthy and engaged citizens.

No, the Healthy Schools  Award is a non-portfolio based award. Following a school’s self-evaluation, a meeting will be arranged at a mutually convenient time with the lead staff member/s. This can be face to face or online (as preferred); the aim being to validate the school’s fulfilment of the required criteria and to identify actions to be taken as necessary. The emphasis is on dialogue and the brief documentation of activities/initiatives/interventions that are in place that satisfy the standards of the award. Digital referencing to policies, plans and information associated with the core health themes is encouraged along with use of the school’s website for promotion of the school’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of its community.

Schools achieving the universal criteria for the Healthy Schools Award will be entitled to use the Healthy Schools Cambridgeshire and Peterborough logo for 3 years and will be presented with an individualised plaque.

Thereafter the schools will subsequently be invited to upgrade to Ambassador status; this is optional  and requires the schools to promote the benefits of the accreditation process, to share best practice and to champion the importance of embedding a whole school approach to health and wellbeing. In so doing the schools will ultimately help to direct the future development of the Healthy Schools award.