Health Promoting Schools A Success

Media Release 25 September 2007

Manukau City Council’s Health Promoting Schools project (HPS) has been a success.

The 11-year old project has been assisting schools in Manurewa to identify school health needs and develop projects to address these. Schools are supported to use a ‘whole school approach’ to promote health, says Shelley Edwards, Manukau City Council’s coordinator for the project. ”This encourages schools to promote health through three key areas; teaching and learning, organisation and culture of the school, and community links.”

The project started as a three-year pilot in 1996 with the Ministry of Health funding, serving three schools - Clayton Park School, Clendon Park School and Finlayson Park School. It now includes 11 schools.

The Ministry of Health provides funding across the entire country for the HPS initiative. Manukau City Council is the only territorial local authority to be selected to deliver the HPS programme. “The ministry have indicated a high level of satisfaction with the progress of the Manurewa Cluster and further funding has been secured until June 2008,” says Ms Edwards.

This has allowed Manurewa schools to develop links to work together closely and support each other through the ‘cluster’ approach “It also allows me to gain a greater understanding of the community.”

The project operates at three levels. Ms Edwards meets regularly with coordinators from each school. Students form a health team that supports these coordinators. And the direction is provided by an advisory committee made of representatives from the community and schools.

The project’s outstanding success is underpinned by many achievements. Earlier this year, Clendon Park School received Gold Heart Beat Award in March 2007 through the National Heart Foundation’s School Food Programme. “This award has only been given to five schools throughout New Zealand,” Ms Edwards says.

The Randwick Park School student health team has decided to change the school canteen menu to include healthier meals. The team carried out classroom surveys to identify healthy food that students would prefer to buy from the school tuck shop.

“Manurewa schools have developed school vegetable gardens and orchards to teach children how fruit and vegetables are grown. Clendon Park School hosted a parents’ evening, teaching parents how to prepare easy-to-cook, healthy meals using vegetables from the school garden. Other schools distribute vegetables and fruit they have grown to families in the community.”

The programme also maintains networks with various Maori health service providers to support Maori health through the initiative.

-ENDS-

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