Healthy Schools
Harehills Primary School is extremely proud to be a healthy school. As a healthy school, we meet the criteria in four core areas. As a Healthy School, we meet the criteria in four core areas. These criteria relate not only to the taught curriculum but also to the wider aspects and ethos of the life of our school. The four core areas of Healthy Schools are;
- Personal Social Health Education (PSHE)
- Healthy Eating
- Physical Activity
- Social Emotional Mental Health (SEMH)
We believe all four areas within Healthy Schools are interrelated and independent. Our work in this area is a vital aspect of our ethos and approach and is vital in helping our children and wider school community on our quest to ‘Learn, laugh and love’.
For more information on the four areas of Healthy Schools please see the links below.
Healthy Pupil Capital Fund bid success 😊
Our school was given the opportunity to bid for a grant from the Healthy Pupil Capital Fund
(funding provided from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy for 2018-19 only)
We have been successfull in being awarded the full amount of £17,500 which will enable us to complete our dream project: The Gym@Harehills
Children’s views have been a key part of this bid including, School Council, MindMate Ambassadors and Year 6 children on Takeover Day 2018. Checkout the photo of our Head Girl leading the alternative Leadership team to vote on this proposal, click for a larger version.
Please read about our project from the bid we sent to our Local Authority
The Gym@Harehills
Our project is about creating an outdoor gym by fencing off an area of our annexe playground where children can visit our own gym. This will be much more than pieces of equipment in a playground but instead a new facility. The aim is about real-life experiences and addressing health inequalities; Many families in more affluent areas have membership to health clubs, a luxury which for most of our children just isn’t possible.
“it would be free – lots of our families can’t afford a gym membership” (School council)
“we would like a gym at school because you have to be 16 to go to a gym” (School council)
We see the facility as being open from 8am – 4.30pm much like a real gym and we would plan to have a ‘personal trainer’ (member of staff) present to ensure children use the equipment properly as well as challenging themselves.
“can we have someone to help train us…would be motivational and challenging” (Y6)
Offering children, the chance to use a gym and workout daily will have a positive impact not only on increasing physical activity now but by fostering healthy life style choices for the future.
“we could start a habit to last as we get older” (School council)
One of our School Food Ambassadors at the School Council meeting talked about the benefits of having a gym for linking heathy eating to physical activity. The children asked if we could have ‘fitbits’ so they were aware of how many calories they were burning. A gym facility would prompt more awareness of holistic health messages such as a healthy diet and drinking more water. We envisage getting children into a habit of bringing a water bottle to the gym.
“this would help children not to become obese and stop them developing diabetes” (Y6)
As a MindMate Champion school we have discussed the idea with our MindMate ambassadors who pointed out the positive impact using a gym would have on mental health and wellbeing. They described the ‘feel good factor’ that children would have after completing a workout.
There are key groups of children we are aiming to target who would benefit from the physical activity opportunities the gym would offer: Asian girls proven to be less likely to be physical active; children struggling with writing (often boys/ children new to school) - the gym would help develop gross and fine motor skills.
Regular exercise on specific equipment could also offer another way to help children with medical conditions by enabling them to exercise targeted parts of their bodies
“we would be able to exercise different parts of our bodies and learn how to use the equipment correctly” (School council)
The possibilities for improving physical health, mental health and wellbeing of The Gym@Harehills are endless. Children at our Takeover Day SLT talked about sessions with adults from within school and the role-modelling and encouragement would be fantastic.