Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes (WNHSS)
Description / The scheme is a network of local healthy schools, which recognise through an assessment process, school based activities to promote health. There is a WNHS National Quality Award for schools which have progressed through the local scheme. The scheme covers primary and secondary level schools and has recently introduced a pre-school component. The funding provided supports the employment of Healthy Schools Scheme Co-ordinators and teams and some support to school based activities. Healthy School Teams co-ordinate delivery of the programme locally, provide advice and support to schools, facilitate access to training and materials etc.Priority area / n/a
Life course stage / Early Years, School Age Children
Intervention / This is an award based initiative which recruits schools who then commit to undertake a series of actions to promote health. Schools identify priorities within the scope of the local scheme and develop an action plan. Achievement of the action plan is assessed locally. The theoretical basis of the scheme is holistic action at policy, curriculum and environment level within the schools; inclusive of pupils, teachers and the wider community, to create a health promoting environment. The range of activities undertaken will vary significantly from school to school. The programme is less about specific health outcomes but emphasises the creation of an environment within schools that is supportive of health.
Level of intervention: Targeted Population
Total Costs 2012/13 / £2.3M (PHW funded)
Evidence of effectAII / A II There is some evidence to suggest that whole school approaches to promoting health can be effective. There is no evaluation of the Welsh Network that provides clear evidence that the scheme achieves the outcomes consistent with the evidence base, but the potential for effective intervention exists.
Cost effectiveness RII / Red II no evidence available
No economic evaluations were found for this initiative either directly related to the Welsh Network of Healthy Schools Schemes or indirectly related to embedding health in the school philosophy. Therefore at this time, due to lack of evidence no judgement can be made as to whether or not this initiative is cost effective or cost-saving.
Reach / Practitioners for each local authority area work with teachers responsible for delivering the healthy school programme in their schools. Practitioners provide information, ideas, advice, encouragement and some training sessions. Each school decides its own priorities and delivers the scheme to the children. There is potential to reach large numbers of children as the scheme covers 99% of schools in Wales.
Inequalities / At inception, WNHSS targeted schools in disadvantaged areas, but it is now open to all schools (99% involved in scheme). There is no evidence to show that WNHSS contributes to reducing health inequities.
Mechanisms of delivery / Setting: Primary & SecondarySchools
This school based intervention involves the provision of advice and support to schools to encourage the adoption of whole school approaches to health and well-being, based on assessment of school needs and priorities, and the introduction of actions within the school and wider community to address those needs and priorities.
There is local autonomy with local schools doing different things with advice from WG.
Wider views / Engagement events
Identified positively by all the LPHT’s and the LA HI leads. This is a well established and highly valued initiative with nearly 100% uptake in schools.
Key Issues/ Perceptions:
- An effective example of cross-sectoral collaboration.
- It allows programmes to support the curriculum in a complementary way.
- Integrates well with other health improvement programmes and services.
- It has proved resilient in the face of regular & frequent organizational restructuring.
- Avoids the stigma of targeting whilst meeting the needs of harder to reach individual / groups of people.
25 out of the 51 responders said they were aware of the healthy schools scheme, and 16 said they thought it worked well.
Primary Care:
There was the view that the initiative could engage more with school nurses and health visitors as a key resource.
Alternative delivery as proposed by stakeholders / It is perceived that the WNHSS provides a valuable and appropriate access point for engaging with all school based HI activities including the cooking bus, child heights and weights, youth mental health first aid, Assist, Smokebugs, Designed to Smile, MEND and the teenage pregnancy interventions. At the very least, all of these programmes should have some kind of explicit link. Where schools are recognised as an integral part of a community’s assets and can act as a community hub, then there is further potential to link with broader community focussed HI activities as well.
It is a key means of reaching school children and creating supportive environments. Its outcomes are however unclear and there is very little research to know if it works. Could learn from other approaches to link with wider community.
Policy Context(s) / Designed for Life: Creating world class health & social care for Wales in the 21st Century. (2005)
Identified Action:
All state schools will participate in the Welsh Network
of Healthy School Schemes.
Tobacco Control Action Plan (2011)
Identified action: (Related to Smoking)
“Public Health Wales will undertake a review of existing curriculum materials and make recommendations on the future development of bilingual materials to the
Welsh Government (Action 2.1).”
Child Poverty Strategy for Wales: Delivery Plan (2010)
Identified Action:
“Work to increase the uptake of the Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes (WNHSS) National Quality Award,and expand the concept topre-school settings.”
Our Healthy Future – Technical working paper (2009).
Identified Actions:
“Increase uptake of the WNHSS National Quality Award and expand the concept to pre-school settings and colleges.”
Together for Mental Health – Delivery Plan: 2012-16
Identified Actions:
“PHW to ensure local healthy school schemes support schools in implementing the mental and emotional health and well being indicators as part of the Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes National Quality Award (NQA) by December 2015.”
Working Together to Reduce Harm -The Substance Misuse Strategy Three-year Implementation Plan 2008-18.
Identified Actions:
“Further enhance the alcohol content of the AWSLCP and build links between it and the Welsh Network of Healthy Schools Schemes”
PBMA Report – Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes 22/11/2012 Version 1