Healthy Schools Certification Media Kitfor Schools

Celebrate your schools achievements and show off your banner to yourlocal community by reaching out to media!Local media love community-based success stories and now’s your chance to share yours. Not sure how or where to start? To support you, we’ve developed:

A media release template- to send to local media (papers, TV stations, online bloggers)
A media tip sheet – for when connecting with media via email, telephone or at events
Key messages- to reference when speaking to media about Ophea’s Healthy Schools Certification

Connecting with media is a great way to share your schools achievements with the community. It can also help raise awareness of additional school initiatives/activities and help build new partnerships.

Please do not hesitate to contact Fay Knights() if you have any questions or concerns related to media.

Media Release Template

[Name of School] certified as a [gold/silver/bronze/]Ophea Healthy School

[City/Town], ON (June XX, 2017)

This past school year, Ophea’s Healthy Schools Certification took place across Ontario, and we are excited to announce that [name of school] received gold/silver/bronze/] certification! We are proud to be part of the 174 schools across the province that have been certified as being a healthy school: 86 received gold certification, 68 received silver certification, and 20 received bronze certification.

Ophea’s Healthy Schools Certification recognizes and celebrates school communities for promoting and enhancing the health and well-being of students, school staff, and the broader community. Participating schools across Ontario completed the 6-Step Healthy Schools Process, which aligns with the Ministry of Education’s Foundations for a Healthy School resource. Through a point-based system schools planned their Healthy Schools process over the course of the school year. They outlined the steps needed to achieve certification and applied to be certified as a gold, silver, or bronze.

“Quote from School Staff/Admin about the impact Ophea’s Healthy Schools Certification has made on your school community”, Staff Name, Position.

Over the year our school worked along with community partners such as [public health, local business, the municipality] and implemented the following activities:

Bulleted list of a few of the Healthy School activities your school did this year

Ophea is a charitable organization that champions healthy, active living in schools and communities through quality programs and services, partnerships and advocacy, and is led by the vision that all children and youth value and enjoy the lifelong benefits of healthy, active living. For further information about Ophea and Healthy Schools Certification please see the website

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Media contacts:

Contact Name

Phone:

Email:

Media Tip Sheet

Email to Media

Email the media to generate interest in a story about your schools’ activities.
The email message should be brief and only refer to key information.
Include the media release (see template below) as an attachment, alongside a few of your Healthy Schools photos (high res/300dpi). Ensure media/photo consent form from parents/students has been signed. You could also send in a photo of your school team with the Healthy Schools Certification banner!
In the body of your email, mention that you can provide interviews with school staff, students, community partners etc. and/or can highlight an upcoming Healthy School event or activity your school is doing that they can come out to see.

Sample

‘We are excited to announce that [name of school] received a [gold/silver/bronze]Ophea Healthy Schools Certification! We are proud to be part of the 174 schools across Ontario that have been certified as a 2016-2017 Healthy School.

Please see the attached media release for more information andphotos to see our school in action.

We’d like to invite you to join us at our upcoming [xxx event] or our [xxx activities] on [date]. We’d also be happy to set up interviews with [students, school staff, and community partners]. I’ll follow up shortly with a phone call.’

Follow up Phone Call

Follow up with a phone call the same day/next day – leaving a brief message with contact details and information on your schools success story.
Be ready to speak to a few school activities that have made an impact this school year.

Sample

Sample Message: ‘Our school is celebrating being recognized as a ‘Gold/Silver/Bronze’ Ophea Healthy School. We would like to talk to you about the impact this has made on our school and students. Please call me at [TEL #] or email me at [EMAIL] to chat.’

Interview Preparation – For you, students, colleagues or partners

Think about/write down a few of this year’s school activities that have made an impact on your school.
Think about/write down a few of this year’s school activities that have made an impact on you personally.
Prepare information about the upcoming celebration event (if applicable) – who will be attending?
List ideas/activities on how you want to continue to support healthy schools in your school next year.
When speaking to the media, remember everything is on the record. Do not say anything that you would not want printed/shown.

Key Messages for Media Use

About Ophea and Healthy Schools Certification

Ophea is a charitable organization that champions healthy, active living in schools and communities
We are a leader in supporting, recognizing, and advocating forHealthy Schools in Ontario. We engage schools and communities holistically and work with them to identify areas where they can improve to be healthier
As a result of becoming a Healthy School, the health and well-being of students are made a priority and they are treated as leaders in their school and community. This enables children and youth to excel academically, physically and socially while experiencing a better sense of connection to their school and community
Healthy Schools is an evidence-based approach to community development in a school setting and is supported by provincial, national and international research

About Healthy Schools Certification

Ophea’s Healthy Schools Certification celebrates school communities for planning and taking action to address health topics such as physical activity, mental health, and healthy eating, while promoting well-being amongst staff, students and the community
Year two has just been completed:
278 schools registered to participate in the Fall of 2016 and of those schools 183 completed the process and 174 received Healthy Schools Certification (86gold, 68silver, 20bronze)
Ophea’s Healthy Schools Certification is based on the 6-Step Healthy Schools Process which is in alignment with Ministry of Education’s Foundations for a Healthy School resource. This process guides a school through the steps needed to plan and implement a range of activities that promote well-being in the school community
Each school came together to address local health priorities that are important to them. They selected a priority health topic such as physical activity, mental health, or healthy eating, and then worked throughout the year to implement activities and strategies that would address the needs using the school community’s assets
Community partnerships are key to the success of HS Certification as they support the implementation of activities within the schools while ensuring ongoing sustainability
Each school’s Healthy Schools team was representative of their school community. Team members included students, school staff, administration, parents, public health and a variety of other community partners such as recreation and sport groups, municipalities, local businesses, police and fire services
Through a point-based system schools planned their Healthy Schools process over the course of the school year. They outlined the steps needed to achieve certification and applied to be certified as a bronze, silver, or gold.
Ophea hopes to increase participation for the 2017/2018 school year and encourages those interested in getting involved to visit ophea.net/healthy-schools-certification to learn more. Online registration for next year opens September 2017.