BOROUGH OF POOLE

MINUTES OF HEALTH SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

8DECEMBER 2003

The meeting commenced at 2.00pm and concluded at 4.00pm

Present:CouncillorGregory (Chairman)

CouncillorAdams (Vice-Chairman)

CouncillorsBrooke, Mrs Deas, Mrs Dion, Gillard, Mrs Hives, MrsLavender and Wilson

1Apoloqies

Apologies were received from Councillors Mrs James and Meachin and DrDawson.

2.Healthy Schools Visits

The Chairman thanked Members for visiting the various schools as part of the Healthy Schools Initiative.

Fred Davies, Policy Director, reminded the Committee of the purpose of the exercise which was to Iook at ways to improve.the health of the school-children in Poole with a view to giving them improved "survival skills" for later Iife. The Scrutiny was to ascertain if what the Council was being told about healthy schools in theory, was being implemented in practice. He proposed that the meeting should listen to feedback from Members following their visits to the schools, this could then lead to a discussion on issues. Finally it would be helpful to consider the recommendations which would be contained in the report to Council/PCT.

The following feedback was made by Members of the Group:-

Councillor Brooke - (Broadstone First School)

The following were highlighted:

  • An after-hours visit was made discussing this with the teacher but unfortunately, due to the timing, children were not interviewed to hear responses/opinions
  • The School was working well on the project which was well structured and it appeared that the children were getting something out of it.
  • It was good to see parents and staff coming on board. There was strong teamwork between teachers and this project.
  • It was easy to pick out good practice but it was essential to ascertain how long this would last.
  • There were still cases of racism/bullying - how do we take them through this to become an integral part of their life rather than merely a subject to learn.

Councillor Mrs Hives - (Merlev First)

Highlighted the following:-

  • The healthy living aspect had been looked at rather than healthy eating, but she was impressed by the atmosphere of the school and good teamwork on the project.
  • She had witnessed a life education class and this was a good introduction to be built on.
  • There was a good policy on bullying and "circle times" were good to resolve children's problems.
  • Healthy walking to school was hard to achieve due to the location.

Councillor Adams (Montacute School)

Highlighted the following:-

  • There were 76 children at the School all of which had varying levels of disability and each child was dealt with individually.
  • The classes were small and there was a dedicated staff. All rules were different and diet was an important issue for them. School meals were brought from Fourways and this was intrinsic to them.
  • Walking to school was difficult and teachers were studying the initiative to see if anything useful could be achieved.
  • Staff were dedicated and parents were on board.
  • With regard to spiritual development aspect -this was mixed with the social development theme. Sexual awareness was dealt with and mixed into the social element.
  • PTA need more help than some other schools.

Councillor Mrs Deas (St Aldhelms)

Mrs Deas put forward the following comments:-

  • Good atmosphere at school but visit was out of hours.
  • Use of coloured lines on playground with "buddy base" was impressive. The School were taking on board the healty eating issue seriously and through the use of "activate week" cards and a contribution by Sainsburys the healthy eating issue was given a high priority.

Councillor Mrs Dion (Lilliput First)

The following points were made:-

  • Systems integration was looked at.
  • Impressed with school atmosphere and space
  • Concerns on pressures on time.

Councillor Wilson

Pointed out that he had not received any communication on this because of problems with his home PC, but highlighted the following:-

  • First schools were loving places and difficult situations were dealt with sympathetically.
  • Caring was a priority but concerns that this situation changed as children progressed to more senior schools and the regime of discipline got stronger.
  • There were problems of transition between the three levels of schools causing problems in view of the different regimes involved.
  • A “talent" show at Rossmore had been held recently which had been run by the students for the students and this had been very impressive. The message was to get them involved in "cool" activities.
  • Year 10/11 were stressed and was this being recognised?

Councillor Mrs Lavender (Aldernev Middle)

Highlighted the following:-

  • No signs that moving from First to Middle Schools was a problem when this was located in the same school but off-site could be an issue.
  • Impressed with School and a teacher had been interviewed who was co- ordinating the scheme and was willing to take on the initiative. The School Council was an important part of the process.
  • The School was a happy place and they were keen on the environment and adjoining heathland. Recycling was also important to the School and various initiatives on litter had been implemented.
  • The School was keen on diet and community issues.

Councillor Gregorv (Hamworthv Middle)

Made the following points:-

  • Had not witnessed any problems on transitions.
  • Impressed with atmosphere of the School and elements on healthy school scheme were being dealt with in a good way. ..
  • Water drinking was important for concentration - concerns on the use of fizzy drinks.
  • Circle time was a good idea and quiet areas were in use.
  • Projects on the environment were exciting/informative.
  • Parents level of education in some instances could be a concern.
  • The initiative would not disturb the current curriculum.
  • Staff were committed.
  • Pastoral care was impressive at the School

Councillor Gillard (St Josephs)

Made the following points:-
  • Impressed with the School and met with teachers and students
  • Environmental issues were important to them and drew attention to one particular student who had taken on board "composting" as a task
  • Quiet area was impressive and parents/businesses had been involved in building a quiet garden.
  • Relationship between staff and children was good and impressed with community feel.

Councillor Gregorv (St Edwards)

The following points were made:-

  • Impressed with the way the School had integrated the Healthy Schools Initiative into the curriculum to enable them to broaden the discussion
  • A quiet area was important to the School.
  • Parents were involved in the process and benchmarking was being used.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their input and in an attempt to move the

matter forward he summarised what had been fedback.

Impressions
  • Enthusiasm, commitment of co-ordinator
  • Happy atmosphere
  • Integration of subjects into the curriculum
  • Peaceful environment/spiritual dimension
  • Circle time
  • Tackling the bullying and racism issue
  • Role of Pastoral Worker/buddy bench
  • Awareness of community issues (such as fire on the heath/drugs/safe environment/awareness of less fortunate in other countries etc.)
  • Broadening of the curriculum by introducing music, poetry, art etc.
  • Breakfast Clubs.
Good Practice
  • Walking to School
  • Imaginative playgrounds
  • Discourage fizz drinks
  • Encourage sipping/drinking water
  • Circle time
  • Pastoral worker involvement
  • Drug caravan
  • Breakfast Clubs where appropriate
  • Use of the wealth of excellent resource for teachers to use e.g. waste CD
  • School Nurse involvement
  • Initial questionnaire for the pupil to take home and for parents to fill in.
  • An area for children to be quiet and away from the hurly burly of the day.
Problems
  • Potential for staff overload
  • Children "car'd" to school
  • Children taken out for holidays during school term
  • Output measuring difficult
  • Home environment not always conducive to healthy lifestyle
  • Transition concerns.

Fred Davies highlighted an issue on funding for the drugs programme which had lost nearly £50,000.

She highlighted the extensive work which had been done over the last four years which had built up a comprehensive programme and essential services. The funding had enabled one person to be employed to work with young people who had difficulties with drugs etc., and this was an important link to support young people. The funding also meant that a programme of awareness for parents etc. had been ongoing in schools. Unfortunately the Government had withdrawn this funding and there would be no budget for this work in future and this would have effect on the support provided. It could also have an effect on the Healthy Schools work. This was a national problem as all funding had either been withdrawn or allocated directly to schools.

The Group discussed this issue and expressed its concern at the withdrawal of funding for this important initiative.

Fred Davies stated that he would, following the meeting, prepare a report for Council/PCT and asked whether there were any specific recommendations the Group wished to make.

The Chairman asked for any suggestions and the following were put forward:-

  • Encourage the establishment of universal criteria -maybe the initial home questionnaire and end of year questionnaire?
  • Encourage more inter-school dialogue to resolve recurring problems eg bullying and racism.
  • Publish the report in the Echo, Poole News etc.
  • Encourage children to try different foods in the school environment.
  • Recognise that there are many and varied outcomes as the subject is so wide.
  • Recommend that Pastoral care assistance be established in all schools where they are deemed to be required.
  • Possible small prizes for the class that have shown most improvement based on the questionnaire.
  • Transition issues need to be addressed.
  • Views of other local authorities should be taken on board and achievement levels of those who participate included.
  • Outcome measurements are difficult but need to be identified.
  • A review of the Initiative be undertaken in approximately 12 months time.
  • Business contribution should be encouraged.
  • Classification of short and long term solutions need to be identified.
  • The Schools should be thanked for their contribution.

AGREED that

(i)this Group feels that the investigation into the Healthy Schools Scheme has been successful and the good practice, problems and recommendations highlighted above be included in the report to Council/PCT.

(ii)this Group is extremely concerned at the withdrawal of Government funding for Drugs Prevention and School Drugs Advisors and that the Learning Overview Group be advised of this concern and it is recommended that the Drugs Programme should continue and asks that this be seriously considered to find a solution. The local MPs be lobbied on this issue.

FOR: Unanimous

CHAIRMAN

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