When you have a baby it is common to have them regularly weighed and measured to track their progress and during these times you can chat to a Health Visitor about the childs progress and any concerns you may have.
As they get older these checks diminish. Sebastian recently underwent a two year check and with the exception of his speech he is perfectly average and as we speak his speech has come of leaps and bounds since.
Eliza has just started Reception class and as such will soon be put through child measurement programme where a trained member of staff from our local NHS will weigh and measure your child in their clothes at school. They’ll ensure that the measurements are done sensitively and in private and then contact you with the results. When Isaac had this done they found that he wasn’t growing as fast as he should be and as such he has regular six monthly checks to ensure that he is following the growth centile in his red book and if he continues to drop then he will be referred to a paediatrician for more tests.
The child measurement programme is then repeated in year 5 or 6 to ensure that the childs weight and growth are still healthy and if your child is overweight then advice is offered from the GP or school nurse on how to deal with it. It isn’t a perfect system but with child obesity reaching record levels it can really help those stuck in a rut.
But does it go far enough, after all there are no checks once the children reach secondary school?
Today Nuffield Health launches a school wellbeing pilot, to explore the concept of a Head of Wellbeing post as an integral part of secondary school infrastructure.
With the school environment being second only to the parental home as the most important influence on children’s and young people’s development, recent research* by think tank 2020 health and Nuffield Health, highlighted that poor emotional wellbeing and high levels of obesity could be vastly improved with dedicated, coordinated support within the school setting.
The not-for-profit healthcare organisation will be working with Wood Green School in Witney, Oxfordshire, following a national competition to find a secondary school to host the pilot. The unique initiative, which is the first of its kind, will be funded by Nuffield Health and will see the two year secondment of a Head of Wellbeing to help develop and implement health and wellbeing strategy at the school.
Dr Davina Deniszczyc, Nuffield Health’s Medical Director, Wellbeing, said:
“We see this pilot as an opportunity to change the way that schools approach health and wellbeing. A Head of Wellbeing can provide effective support and infrastructure, which has the potential to transform pupil and staff wellbeing. The outcomes over the two years will be invaluable in helping to shape the future of school wellbeing.”
According to research*, 75% of school children and young people living with mental illness go undiagnosed, which illustrates a need for wellbeing initiatives to focus both on physical and emotional factors. Further findings call for the provision of additional staff training to help identify the early warning signs of mental health illness in young people, particularly as half of all diagnosable mental health conditions are thought to start before the age of 14 and 75% by the age of 21.
The pilot would also focus on staff wellbeing, taking a holistic, whole school approach. Teachers report some of the highest levels of stress of any profession, with the study showing 73% of teaching staff felt their job had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing and support structures in schools often appear inadequate to meet their needs.
Robert Shadbolt, Head Teacher, Wood Green School, Oxford said:
“We are delighted to have been selected as the pilot school. I believe that in order to provide the best education possible and help young people to be happy and successful, it is vital to consider the wellbeing of students and of staff too. Wood Green School and Nuffield Health will work together to create wellbeing programmes that develop both the mental and physical health of students and help them to make the most of their talents, enjoy learning and achieve even more. Working with young people is a challenging but also very rewarding role and I was also attracted to this project by the interest that Nuffield Health has shown in staff wellbeing. The Head of Wellbeing pilot is such an exciting opportunity to show the impact that strong wellbeing provision can have on the education of our young people in its fullest sense.”
The Head of Wellbeing will help devise a whole school approach to wellbeing by bringing together existing practices at the school, introducing new resources and sharing significant knowledge and expertise. As part of a range of services, a Nuffield Health Lifestyle health assessment will be offered to all staff and a Health and Lifestyle Coaching session for students. The student sessions will help identify anyone in need of extra support, including mental health concerns and will coach them on areas of their health and lifestyle that needs improving. The research identifies that secondary schools could improve overall levels of wellbeing by implementing a regular measurement of pupil wellbeing.
As part of the pilot, Lancaster University’s The Work Foundation is providing independent evaluation over the two years. This will include measuring how health and wellbeing interventions that Nuffield Health is implementing improve both individual physical and psychological health, as well as school outcomes. Alongside these measures The Work Foundation will also be evaluating the process of the intervention, looking at what is working well and where improvements are being made. But just as importantly where any barriers to health and wellbeing interventions are and what can be done to remove these to ensure best outcomes for the staff, students and the local community.
Zofia Bajorek, researcher at Lancaster University’s The Work Foundation, said:
“By evaluating the Head of Wellbeing pilot alongside Nuffield Health, we have a real opportunity to improve our understanding of the link between the school environment and health and wellbeing, and to see where improvements can be made that will benefit the school population and the local community.”
*Figures taken from Head of Wellbeing – An essential post for secondary schools?
I do think that this is a fabulous idea. As a parent of teens I know that they often go against our wishes and don’t listen to advice and feel that having an adult to talk to at school about any health or wellbeing issues would be a real benefit to them.
What do you think, is offering health and lifestyle coaching a good idea for young people?
Image credit: School – Shutterstock
Disclosure: Written in conjunction with Nuffield Health. All opinions are my own.
I think that it would be great to have more emotional support in schools, as long as the teacher isn’t left with the responsibility of all of this. My son needs emotional support but can’t access it due to him being above average in his academic abilities (which I think is a stupid barrier). This sounds like a scheme that would help us greatly.
This is an excellent initiative. My husband works with mentally ill teenagers and young adults. Services are very stretched as more and more people need it for various reasons. If mental, social and health care could be provided earlier it could help people before it became a much more serious issue.
This is so interesting. I think schools have changed so much in recent years and taken on so many more responsibilities that it can be hard for them. But I also think that something like this could really be helpful and make such a difference to young people’s lives.
My sons school has a psychologist that can help with anything from bullying to mental health conditions and everything in between and I love that.
They also encourage healthy eating and exercise. They do a daily mile, which is a mile walk around the playground every day, PE twice a week. I love it. When I went to school none of this really happened apart from PE x
i think its a great idea we also have this in place with our childrens school but unfortunately it is only available for those in desperate need and so even though some children may need things like in school counciling for example , some of their lesser urgant as they put it get forgotton about til its too late
I am very sceptical about the health checks at school. Maxi was weighed and checked etc and found to be overweight and we were informed. Two weeks later he was check at the GP’s and found to be underweight! He had been growing and in those two weeks had grown an inch in height. I am overweight due to my medication, but the whole of my family is spot on including the boys and the husbeast. I would never want my sporty children to be obese
As a classroom assistant, I find it an excellent idea. There is such disparity and lack of communication in the school system at the moment, it is actually shocking! Children often go through school suffering major traumas at home and the staff is usually unable to help as the regulations are cumbersome and prevent rather than protect children’s welfare. xx
What a fantastic idea. What a shame there isn’t the funding to have this in all secondary school.
You’re right, there really is no focus on kids’ health once they get to secondary school and, as parents, we’re only going to take our kids to the doctor if they’re actually ill, but some problems don’t manifest themselves as a physical illness, yet are way more damaging.
Thanks for linking up with the Teen & Tween Round-up 🙂
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