EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2006 St Kenneth’s Primary School in Greenock developed an innovative and highly successful approach to tackling a range of issues in order to improve the health and emotional wellbeing of pupils and the local community. What makes St Kenneth’s Primary School stand out is the remarkable breadth of its approach to healthy living.
The Trident Approach consists of the following key elements:
A robust running programme involving every child in the school / Cooking for senior pupils
An innovative programme ensuring every child is well nourished and hydrated / Resilience training for all pupils
Collection of data, used to set targets, motivate children and direct future work / A Boys’ Choir
A range of incentives to drive initiatives forward / Primary School massage
Meditation for all children / Family Pedometer challenge
The Trident Approach has proved to be very successful and has made a real difference to the health and well-being of pupils and the community. Pupils are a lot fitter, the uptake of school meals has increased, senior pupils can all cook a three course meal and pupils and the local community are now more aware about healthy eating and fitness.
PLANNING
One of the main reasons behind the introduction of our project is that the overall health profile of the population of Inverclyde is poor and we wanted to try and improve it. Inverclyde has lower life expectancy than Scotland as a whole, reflecting significantly higher rates of cancers, coronary heart disease, heart attacks, strokes respiratory diseases and digestive diseases. Alcohol and drug misuse are also particular problems. In addition, around 1 in 5 children aged 3, and 1 in 2 adults, are overweight, obese or severely obese.
The objectives of our project are:
- To increase the fitness of pupils through a running programme.
- To increase the uptake of school meals and improve the eating habits of children.
- To provide pupils with a cookery school.
- To improve the emotional well-being of pupils through meditation and our Bounceback Resilience Programme.
- To engage with boys through our Boys' Choir.
- To engage families and counter stress through massage and walking for fitness programmes.
The work being carried out by St Kenneth’s Primary School is helping Inverclyde Council toachieve objectives within its Single Outcome Agreement, Community Plan, Corporate Plan and Children’s Services Plan. For example:
- One of the priorities identified within the Council’s Single Outcome Agreement is to improve the health of local people, combating health inequalities and promoting healthy lifestyles.
- One of the key aims in the Community Plan is to improve the health of the people of Inverclyde
- St Kenneth’s is contributing to the achievement of two outcomes in the Council’Corporate Plan: - Educated, Informed and Responsible Citizens - Healthy and Caring Communities.
- The Council’s Children’s Services Plan states that “It will work in partnership to ensurethat children are healthy, nurtured, achieving, respected and responsible, safe,included and active.”
DELIVERING
The Trident Approach has been implemented across the school using the following robust and sustainable methods:
Running School–All children engagein a weekly running programme, taking part in a 2k Challenge run twice a year. Each child has a personal best running time. Over the past six months we have used a grant from Sport Inverclyde to pay for transport for four of our most talented runners to attend Inverclyde Athletics training. They are now developing their talents in an environment which would otherwise be closed to them.
Water - Water coolers are installed in every classroom so that children are properly hydrated throughout the day. This water supply is particularly important given the high level of physical activity in school.
Dining Room - To increase the uptake of school meals, Headteacher and Depute work in the dining hall monitoring food intake and noting children's habits. We take a low-keyapproach and suggest that children should "practise" a small amount of the unpopular food 12 times before finally deciding if they like a food or not. It is found that, after this period, the food is normally accepted. We devised a system whereby children, who eat all of their dinner, are awarded a tick next to their name on the class chart. Children who achieve 3 or more ticks in the week are eligible for a weekly raffle, drawn at assembly. This system very quickly moved on to the 5 tick clubwhere children who clear their plates 5 times in the week also receive a ticket for a bigger raffle donated by catering services.
Garden Restaurant - We have assigned a separate dining area overlooking the inner courtyard to those children in the 5 Tick Club. They have a restaurant pass which allows them entry without queuing, tablecloths and flowers on the table. This is a very significant motivator and huge strides are being made by children determined to gain access.
Star Packed Lunch Box –A box file system of cards, each one suggesting packed lunches meriting 2,3,4 and 5 stars was devised. Stars are allocated for carbohydrate, protein, dairy produce, fruit and vegetables. A weekly reward system was put in place. In discussion with Depute, the children chose a card detailing a lunch which appealed to them and used it to discuss at home and to help prepare next day’s lunch. As time has progressed, however, the cards are superfluous as the children are now very aware of the constituent parts of a healthy packed lunch and are vocal in expressing their needs at home, thus effecting dramatic and sustainable change.
Junior Chef Academy–We initiated a rolling programme of cookery lessons for children in Primaries 6 and 7. The children learn how to cook three course meals in in our specially designated Junior Chef Academy.
Healthy Snacks - A healthy Tuck shop operates every day. Parents come into school twice weekly to prepare toast, crackers/cheese and bags of wholegrain cheerios. We sell milk every day and potato crisps with less than 5g of fat twice a week. Friday is our Fruit Day. All children have been taught the fat content of popular brands of crisps. Each teacher monitors snacks brought from home each morning.
Emotional Wellbeing Additives - Children are knowledgeable about the sweetener, Aspartame and its effects on mood and the nervous system. They have become adept at looking at labels to find it. All children have been taught that their brains are directly nourished by their food intake. They know the effects of trans fats on the brain and the foods which contain these harmful fats.
Resilience - Bounceback Resilience Programme operates in each class to provide coping skills to deal with life’s challenges. Self assessments were carried out in September 2008 to determine a baseline. We will carry out a second assessment to measure the impact of the programme after one year.
Meditation - All children from P1 to P7 are involved in a Meditation Programme. Children are led todevelop self-awareness, concentration, inner peace and security. It is hoped that these regular sessions will have a positive impact on relationships, self-confidence and creativity.
Boys’ Choir - Taking into consideration the incidence of mental health problems and high suicide rate among young men in Inverclyde and also knowing the positive effects of singing, we formed a Boys’ Choir three years ago which has really engaged our boys and given them an outlet for their feelings.
Pedometer Challenge – This is a walking programme that promotes family exercise in a non threatening and fun way.
Primary School Massage – According to Sister Mary Ross of Notre Dame’s Child Guidance Clinic, modern children suffer from lack of touch. Our Massage in Primary School Programme builds bonds between Peers and Family.
IMPROVING +EVALUATING
The Trident Approach is highly innovative and this is evidenced through the following:
- St Kenneth’s is not only improving the health of its pupils but is reaching the wider community by raising awareness of its practices both locally and in newpapers.
- Other schools have visited to observe our approach and NHS Inverclyde and Acitve Schools are taking steps to roll out our practices to other schools.
- St Kenneth’s is witnessing a remarkable increase in schools meals uptake against a falling tend nationally. In 2006 65 pupils had a school meal and this rose to 110 in 2009.
The Trident Approach is an example of leading practice having achieved national recognition:
- Named Health Provider of the Year at the Glasgow Herald Society Awards in 2008. We were also named Herald Society Champions for 2008 – the overall winners – due to the contribution we have made to our community.
- Won the Health and Wellbeing Award at the Scottish Education Awards in 2009.
- Received a commendation in the MJ Achievement Awards 2009.
- Reached the finals of the APSE Annual Service Awards 2009.
- Awarded Rights Respecting School status in 2008.
- We were one of the first schools in Inverclyde to achieve Health Promoting Schools status.
- Weighing Waste: We decided that the best way to measure how much food was being eaten was to weigh what was left over at the end of each lunchtime. At the outset we were recording weights of 5k but, as the system has become embedded, our lowest recorded waste is 0.5k.
- Clean plates: Each day we record the percentage of clean plates and note specific problems.We keep a daily log of the % of children eating a school meal, the % of clean plates, weight of the waste and reason for the leftovers.
- Improvement in personal best running times and a steady rise through medal bands in running competitions
- In the number of children going on to achieve in the Sporting Field in Secondary School
- Improved eating habits and awareness of the importance of making Healthy Choices
- Improved willingness to try different foods and increased competency in cooking
RESULTS + IMPACT
The Trident Approach has achieved the following results / impact:
- All children in p2-7 can run 2k without stopping and child has a personal best running time over this distance and is aware of the fuel that the body needs to function at its optimum best.
- Our Primary 7 Boys team are now taking the gold medal at Cross Country events.
- All children are properly hydrated
- As many as 110 now eat school lunch compared to 65 in 2006.
- Many children now eat all of their food every day. At its best 79% of children regularly clear their plates.
- At the outset we recorded weights of 5 kilos but now our lowest recorded waste is 0.5 kilos.
- Children know the constituent parts of a healthy packed lunch.
- All senior pupils can now produce a 3 course meal.
- 100% of children eat a healthy snack in school every day.
- All children examine labels for fat/sugar content and know the effects of trans fats and aspartame on the brain.
- “Please be sure to inform your community of your success because you are an exemplar of good practice.” Lesley Kirkwood HMIe
- “I wish that every school in Inverclyde did what your doing in St Kenneth’s. Our canteen staff know that the food they so long preparing is going to be respected and appreciated. I tell people about you wherever I go.” Esther Foster, Catering Services.
- “Health impacts on the school are dramatic and there are very few children who are overweight in an area of social deprivation. We have had positive feedback from the associated Secondary School’s PE staff observing that the S1 pupils are much fitter than previous years.” Becky Stokes, Active School Coordinator
COSLA EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2010Page | 1
THE COSLA CHAIR’S AWARDThis category is awarded at the discretion of the Chair and is open to submissions under any of the seven categories. It is awarded to those submissions of exceptional standards or merit demonstrating achievements above the limits stipulated in the assessment/judging criteria for the relevant category. Alternatively, submissions can be considered which can demonstrate being conducted in exceptional circumstances.
Do you wish your submission to be considered for the Chair’s Award? / YES
In about 300 words, please highlight the reasons why this submission should be considered for the Chair’s Award:
St Kenneth’s Primary School in Greenock has developed an innovative and highly successful approach to tackling a range of issues in order to improve not only the health and wellbeing of pupils but also the local community. One of the main reasons behind the development of The Trident Approach is that the overall health profile of the population of Inverclyde is poor and the school wanted to try and improve it. What makes St Kenneth’s Primary School stand out is the remarkable breadth of its approach to healthy living.
The Trident Approach consists of the following key elements:
- A robust running programme involving every child in the school
- An innovative programme ensuring every child is well nourished and hydrated
- Collection of data, used to set targets, motivate children and direct future work
- A range of incentive to drive initiatives forward
- Meditation for all children
- Cooking for senior pupils
- Resilience training for all pupils
- A Boys’ Choir
- Primary School Massage
- Family Pedometer Challenge
The Trident Approach is highly innovative and this is evidenced through the following:
- St Kenneth’s is not only improving the health of its pupils but is reaching the wider community by raising awareness of its practices both locally and in newpapers.
- Other schools have visited to observe the school’s approach and NHS Inverclyde and Acitve Schools are taking steps to roll out the approach to other schools.
- St Kenneth’s is witnessing a remarkable increase in schools meals uptake against a trend of falling numbers nationally.