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Supporting young people to feel good and live well
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Sign up for the Mini London Marathon
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Download policy guidance and templates
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Supporting staff and pupils' mental wellbeing
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Support available for parents and carers
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All the dates you need for next half term
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Bronze
St Augustine's Nursery
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Silver
Packington Children's Centre
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Welcome back to the new school year! I hope you are feeling refreshed and looking forward to the opportunities - and challenges - that the new term will bring.
This term we will be encouraging schools to consider how you support your pupils to have the healthiest possible start in life; giving them the foundation to make good habits and decisions to enable them to lead a healthy, happy life. The results of the health related behaviour questionnaire, which will be shared with schools in the next few weeks, have highlighted the importance of this.
Gaining recognition as an Islington and Camden Healthy School (and thus also receiving the bronze Healthy Schools London award) is an excellent way to demonstrate and feel confident that your school does this.
Each school has a dedicated member of the health and wellbeing team who can support you to complete the review towards gaining this recognition. The team will be in touch this term but in the meantime do contact us or come along to the ‘how healthy are Islington pupils?’ event on 5 October and/or the ‘health and wellbeing hub’ on 13 October, the details of which you will find in the diary section below. I hope to see you there!
Janine Killough
Interim Health and Wellbeing Manager
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Food and healthy eating
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Families for Life for your parents
Families for Life is a healthy lifestyle programme to support families with children aged 2 – 11 years to be active and have a healthy lifestyle. The programme supports parents to gain the skills and knowledge they need to help their children (and wider family) live active, healthy lives. This programme is free to attend by families, and schools and early years settings are supported to run the programme at their site.
Families for Life provides a great opportunity to extend work with parents, focussing on supporting families to ‘feel good and live well’. Early years settings and schools can run programmes for their families or refer families to the programme.
See also Families for Life training in the Dates for your diary section below.
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Bring on breakfast
The results of Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ), completed by 1,400 primary pupils, showed a significant drop in pupils not eating breakfast in the morning (from 7% in 2017 to 12% of primary pupils reporting not eating breakfast in the morning of the survey).
Eating breakfast been found to improve cognitive function, particularly memory, attention and executive function. It also has been shown to improve academic performance and increase on-task behaviour in the class.
Schools can support pupils to have breakfast by encouraging attendance of their breakfast club, and providing subsidised or free places to vulnerable pupils, or even providing a universal offer. It is also important that schools teach pupils about the importance of breakfast.
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Free water fountain for 20 schools in London
The results of Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ), completed by 1,400 primary pupils, showed that 1% of year 5 and 6 pupils did not drink any water on the day before the survey. The results also showed a decrease in the number of pupils who reported that they could get water during breaktime from 93% in 2017 down to 83% in 2021.
Twenty water fountains are available to support schools to become water only. Being a Water only School means that only water or skimmed/semi skimmed milk is consumed during the school day. Research suggests that increased water consumption will have a positive impact on weight and health outcomes in children and adolescents. Good hydration is also essential for good brain function and cognitive performance.
Deadline to submit your expression of interest is 30 September.
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Competition Calendar 2022-23
Our inter-school event calendar has been shared out and is available online.
Competitions start again from Monday 26 September with Year 5/6 Boys Football tournament kicking us off.
- 5/6 Boys Football: 26-30 September
- 5/6 Girls Football: 3 - 7 October
- 3/4 Boys Football: 11 - 14 October
- 3/4 Girls Football: 18 - 21 October
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The Mini London Marathon 2022
The Mini Marathon takes place between Monday 26 September and Friday 21 October – around the time of the TCS London Marathon on Sunday 2 October 2022. It is a great opportunity to inspire children to be physically active together as a class, key stage or whole school community.
Schools across the UK can sign up for free and children and young people can run, jog, walk or wheel 2.6 miles in their schools. Children of all ages can take part and can complete the distance in one day, two days, three days or more! The first 500,000 children to take part will receive a free commemorative pin badge and there are lots of resources on the website to help make the event a success, including downloadable running numbers and certificates. Schools just need to head over to the website and take just two minutes to sign up.
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Developing Girls' Football in school
The England team's success at Euro 2022 inspired a nation and now is an exciting opportunity to build a legacy for more girls to be active and enjoy playing football.
Islington are part of the Barclays Girls Football School Partnership programme seeking to increase opportunities and improve girls' football in schools through a mixture of training, resources, programmes and coaching.
Join our mission and start by registering on the Girls' Football in Schools website for access to the following;
- PE curriculum resources for Girls Football
- Extra-curricular Girls football resources
- Girls Football CPD and training for staff
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Grants available for youth-led social action
GameChangers is awarding grants to London classes for youth-led social action suitable for Key Stage 2 and 3.
Book your place at a Letters to London online workshop alongside other London schools this September and find out how you can receive a GameChanger grant.
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Handy policy guides!
Schools are required to have a Relationships policy so we have developed an RSE policy template for you.
Several schools have also asked about statements of intent for PSHE, which can be part of a wider policy.
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Virtual yoga - express interest!
The YogaBugs whole school programme supports children and staff with mental health and well-being through interactive, fun classes in yoga, mindfulness, breathing and relaxation. These link to the curriculum and Islington's physical and mental health lessons in You, Me, PSHE.
YogaBugs are offering free access to the online platform to a limited number of primary schools.
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Mental health and wellbeing |
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Free NHS mental health and wellbeing programme for Year 4
Take part in a free research trial evaluating a brand new, online programme, where children learn about how to look after themselves and their mental health and develop life-long skills to help manage difficulties. it is designed to fit the statutory guidance on mental and physical health and is delivered to the whole class by the teacher in 2-3 short weekly lessons (of approximately 20 minutes each) across 12 weeks. The fun content uses real-life video and animation, alongside fun, interactive activities and teacher-led discussion.
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- Resources to support positive mental health in the classroom
Our updated web page on Islington CS has lots of resources to support mental health in the classroom. These resources are great to integrate into your daily routine at the start of the year and as children get familiar with them they can then use them independently when they feel they need to. Resources include:
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Supporting staff mental health and wellbeing
As we start a new academic year, staff wellbeing is as important as ever. We hope our range of resources on our staff wellbeing web page will celebrate staff and their hard work and offer a little support in creating positive habits that support wellbeing. Below are some ideas you might like to try as a staff group or share with individuals:
Please contact Louise Jones with any staff wellbeing success stories that we can share on our website!
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Do you know anyone who would make a great Families for Life Community Champion?
We’re looking for inspirational champions to encourage families in Islington to feel food and live well. Families for Life web page offers free healthy lifestyle programmes for families with children aged 2 to 11 years.
Families for Life community champions should be Islington residents, be committed to improving the health of their community and available to volunteer two to three hours a week.
Champions will learn about health and wellbeing. They will have access to free training and ongoing support. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people, improve communication skills and boost confidence.
If this sounds suitable for someone you know, please ask them to complete the application form.
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Families for Life newsletter to share with your parents
The Families for Life newsletter is published three times a year and is aimed at parents. The autumn publication is now available to share with parents or to use to populate your school newsletter.
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Free sessions at The Parent House
The Parent House has lots of fun and welcoming events for parents and carers in your school community to join, including:
- SEND Friends Coffee morning, Tuesdays, 10-11 am
- Mindfulness drop-in sessions (meditation, reflexology and aromatherapy), Wednesdays 1.00 - 2.30
- Parent Ambassador course for 9 weeks, starting Thursday 29 September from 9.30 - 12.30 (sign up now!)
- Drop-in Walking Project, every Friday 10 - 11.30 at 55 Calshot Street, N1 9AS.
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Support your parents and carers with a workshop from the Direct Action Project
The Direct Action Project @The Peel offer free mental health workshops for parents and carers or for staff on how to support parents, specific to the needs of your school community.
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Families, food and feelings parenting programme
Free 6-week healthy living programme for parents/carers of children and young people who struggle with excess weight and healthy eating.
The programme is free for Camden & Islington parents of children aged 5-17 years. Next online programme starts 14 September, 10 - 11:30am.
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Free seminar on understanding emotionally-based school avoidance
29 September 2022, 4.30 - 6pm, online
This free seminar from the Anna Freud Centre introduces emotionally-based school avoidance, looks at the current picture for school-aged children and explores the role of schools and parents and carers in supporting those who are affected.
"Aspire to Engineer" - opportunity for students to join world-renowned engineer Linda Zhang online
29 September, 2 - 3 pm, online
Give your students the opportunity to hear Linda speak about her revolutionary work, ask their questions, and take part in an engineering challenge to design a car of the future during the event.
Every class that submits to the challenge will receive an Aspire to Engineer certificate.
Classes that take their designs further will be in with the chance of winning an exciting prize.
This event is open to students in KS2 and KS3.
How healthy are Islington pupils?
5 October, 2 - 3.30 pm, The Lift (and hopefully hybrid)
Come and hear about the results from the recent health related behaviour questionnaire with nearly 3000 Islington pupils.
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Free Youth Mental Health Awareness Course
7 October, 10am – 1pm, online
Run by Rethink (usually worth £125 per person), this CPD course is free for schools to help staff understand pupil mental health and develop skills to support young people.
Health and wellbeing hub
13 October 2022: drop in or book a slot between 1.30 - 5.30. We can meet with you virtually or in person at The Laycock Centre
The hub is funded by Public Health so is FREE to all Islington early years settings and schools – it is a time when the whole team is available so we can work with you on more than one aspect of your work: from PE and school sport to mental health, PSHE, healthy eating and food.
PSHE education Network Meetings
18 October and 9 November, 4 - 5.30pm, at The Laycock Centre
Come and share priorities, hear about projects and resources and spread inspiration with other Islington PSHE leaders!
Food growing network meeting
18 October, 4 - 5.30pm at Pakeman Primary School
The food growing network meeting provides a great opportunity for staff at Islington schools and early years settings to share information, ask questions and network with other educational settings who do food growing at their setting. The meeting will include a tour of the growing site.
Oral health training
20 October, 9.30 - 11.30 am, online
The free online training will:
- Improve staff awareness around oral health, its importance and links with general health and well being
- Enable staff to promote oral health in their settings with staff, children and families
Families for Life Family Kitchen training
20 October, 9.30am - 4pm, Williamson Street community centre, 76 Parkhurst Road, N7 0FF
Families for Life provides a great opportunity to extend your work with parents, focussing on supporting families to ‘feel good and live well’. The most popular Families for Life programme is Family Kitchen. This training will equip staff to set up and deliver Family Kitchen programme. The training covers nutritional education messages to share with families as well developing practical cooking skills.
Taste Education training
For early years, 10 November, 10 - 12 midday, venue tbc
For primary, 10 November, 1 - 3pm, venue tbc
Taste Education is about giving children the opportunity to experience the joy of fresh vegetables and fruit. TastEd is based on the Sapere method and is a form of sensory food education that delivers the National Food Strategy recommendations.
Small Steps for Big Change training
22 November, 1 - 4pm, venue tbc
Small Steps for Big Change training provides an overview of healthy weight, healthy life messages starting from birth to age 5, covering the different developmental stages relevant to feeding for babies and children. The training will also touch on topics such as sleep, physical activity and screen time. Once completed the course, all attendees will have access to the resources to use with families they are in contact with to support families to make positive changes in their lives for themselves and their children.
Voluntary food and drink guidelines training
25 November, 1 - 3pm, venue tbc
This training covers the importance of healthy food for the under 5s, what the statutory duty is as part of the early years foundation stage and what this looks like for meals and snacks served at the setting.
Menu planning workshop
25 November, 3 - 4pm, venue tbc
The menu workshop is only suitable for staff who have attended the food and drink guidelines training on the same day or previously. It will be a supportive time to review your menu or start developing a new menu.
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For support and guidance please contact the health and wellbeing team, we are funded to work for free with Islington maintained schools, academies and free schools.
If you know somebody who would be interested in this newsletter, please forward it to them and ask them to subscribe.
We also have a newsletter for secondary schools, you can subscribe here.
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