Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Healthy School?

A Healthy School:

• Is one that promotes physical, social, emotional and mental health and helps equip pupils, staff and families with the skills and attitudes to make informed decisions about their health.
• Is successful in supporting pupils to do their best and build on their achievements; it is committed to ongoing improvement and development.
• Recognises the importance of investing in health and wellbeing to assist in the process of raising children and young people's achievement levels.
• Involves the whole school community, parents, governors, staff and pupils in improving children's health, wellbeing and happiness, helping them to get the most out of life.

What is the School Health Check?

The School Health Check is an online toolkit to help schools self validate against the 4 core health themes of Healthy Schools (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Social, Emotional and Mental Health).

The School Health Check:

• Ensures the school has the fundamental elements of Healthy Schools in place to achieve/maintain Healthy School Status.
• Allows schools to audit health and wellbeing across all 4 themes and grade provision using Ofsted style descriptors to identify and celebrate strengths, as well as next steps.
• Supports schools to understand the links between health and wellbeing and Ofsted as criteria has been matched, wherever possible, to current Ofsted descriptors.
• Has been linked to the statutory guidance for Relationships Education (RE) Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (HE) to support schools to meet this requirement.

What does Healthy School Status require?

Healthy School Status requires schools to meet criteria in four core health themes:

• Personal, Social, Health and Econimc (PSHE) education including Relationships (RE), Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), Health Education (HE) and Drug Education (including alcohol, tobacco and volatile substance abuse.)
• Healthy Eating
• Physical Activity
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)

These criteria relate not only to the taught curriculum but also to the emotional, physical and learning environment that the school provides. Many schools are already engaged in these activities so achieving recognition need not be onerous. Within each of the four core health themes there are 10 strands:

4. Teaching & Learning.

7. Support Services.

8. Professional Development.

10. School Ethos.

Schools are encouraged to take a whole school approach in order to:

• Develop an ethos and environment that supports learning and promotes the health and wellbeing of all.
• Engage, consult and encourage participation of all within the school community.
• Create an extremely effective school improvement mechanism which brings about and embeds cultural and behavioural change in schools.

Who should complete the School Health Check?

The Healthy School Co-ordinator should lead and coordinate the process, with the support of senior leadership. It is best practice for individual sections to be completed in partnership/collaboration with the most appropriate coordinator/person/people for each theme. For example, the physical activity coordinator may complete the physical activity section, in order to adopt a whole school approach. These groups may also include pupils, parents and governors, where appropriate.

How long is Healthy Schools Status valid for?

Healthy Schools Status is valid for 3 years from the date the self-validation is accepted. However, it is recommended that the audit is reviewed and updated regularly after submission to ensure the information is up to date and relevant. This can be done through this website.

How much does it cost?

Annual subscription to this website is £259 plus value added tax (VAT), giving you access to the online toolkit for 12 months.

Service Level Agreements (SLA) for the Health and Wellbeing Service are available and these include annual subscription to the Healthy Schools website. These can be found on Leeds for Learning www.leedsforlearning.co.uk

Schools outside of Leeds are able to purchase an external Service Level Agreement (SLA). A range of options are available which allows schools to tailor the SLA to suit their needs. These can be found on www.leedsforlearning.co.uk

Please note, you will need to register on this site to view the SLA options.

Schools in Leeds: subscription to www.healthyschools.org.uk has been subsidised by Public Health.

All state funded schools in East Sussex are able to access the School Health Check for at no cost. - (Subscription to the School Health Check is currently funded until July 31st 2026 by East Sussex Public Health).

All state funded schools in Buckinghamshire are able to access the School Health Check for at no cost. - (Subscription to the School Health Check is currently funded until 30 th May 2025 by Buckinghamshire Council).

What setting is the programme for?

The programme is for all schools; infant, primary, secondary, free, independent, pupil referal units (PRUs) and special / specialist inclusive learning centres (SILCs). We have a cross section of local, national and international schools who have completed the programme.

Will I have to put a portfolio of evidence together?

No, the Healthy Schools Programme is a non-portfolio based award. If your school does have an external assessment visit, following your self-validation, you will be asked for a number of documents prior to the assessment, such as curriculum plans and a range of policies linked to the four core health themes of the award. The rest of the evidence will be collected via interviews with key stakeholders during the assessment visit.

What is the impact as a result of completing the programme?

It demonstrates to the whole school community a commitment to the health and wellbeing of the pupils and staff in school.

Improved health and wellbeing outcomes for pupils in schools.

A clear focus for key/all staff for all four health areas, informing development planning and practice.

A celebration of good practice within school around health and wellbeing.

How long does it take to complete the programme?

We do not set timescales. The School Health Check can be changed and updated as many times as it needs to be before submission. For those schools wishing to have an external validation visit, we would aim to do this within 12 months of you submitting your self-validated school health check.

Our school has a Nursery/Post-16, does this need to be included in our Healthy Schools work and will it be externally validated?

A Healthy School Early Years setting:

• Is one that promotes good physical, social, emotional and mental health and helps equip children, staff and families with the skills and attitudes to make informed decisions about their health.
• Is successful in supporting young children to do their best and build on their achievements; it is committed to ongoing improvement and development.
• Recognises the importance of investing in health and wellbeing to assist in the process of raising children and young people's self confidence and achievement levels.
• Involves the whole school community, parents, governors, staff and pupils in improving children's health, wellbeing and happiness, helping them to get the most out of life.

To become a Healthy Schools Early Years setting you need to self-validate using the Healthy Schools Early Years school health check which is available to all schools and Early Years settings in Leeds and beyond. It has been devised in consultation with schools with content aligned to current Ofsted and Early Years guidance.

For our Healthy Schools Early Years programme please visit www.healthyschoolsearlyyears.org.uk/

Post 16 settings in Leeds can now access the Mindmate Champions programme free of charge via the new Post 16 Healthy Schools website.

The Mindmate Champions programme provides a way for schools and post 16 settings to audit and self-validate their Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) provision across the whole setting. It supports settings to understand the relationship between health & wellbeing and learning, and is linked, wherever possible, to current Ofsted descriptors as well as to the statutory guidance for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (HE).

The long term ambition is to add three other themes in addition to SEMH; Personal,Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, Healthy Eating, and Physical Activity. Together, the four themes will enable Post 16 settings to achieve Healthy Schools status in addition to Mindmate Friendly or Mindmate Champion status.

For our Post 16 MindMate Champions programme please visit www.post16healthysetting.org.uk

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Just click on the 'Forgotten Password' link under the Log in tag.

What is a Healthy Schools Health Champion?

The Healthy Schools Health Champion programme is an enhancement model which replaces the Healthy Schools Plus award. Schools who have been externally validated as a Healthy School, can engage in the model to achieve Health Champion status. It helps both primary and secondary schools develop their wider thinking and planning in order to continue to achieve improved outcomes for the health and wellbeing of pupils in their setting. Schools are able to choose to work on any of the four key areas of the School Health Check; Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity or Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH). Using their My Health My School or other data, schools will identify at least one specific area to improve on. They will implement an action plan outlining their focus, which includes qualitative and/or quantitative data to measure impact on either targeted or universal provision. Assessment of outcomes will also include a case study, describing outcomes and impact.

What is a MindMate Champion school?

The Healthy Schools MindMate Champion programme is an SEMH enhancement model. Schools who have been externally validated as a MindMate friendly School, can engage in the model to achieve MindMate Champion status. It helps both primary and secondary schools develop their wider thinking and planning in order to continue to achieve improved outcomes, in SEMH, for the health and wellbeing of pupils in their setting. Using their My Health My School or other data, schools will identify at least one specific SEMH area to improve on. They will implement an action plan outlining their focus, which includes qualitative and/or quantitative data to measure impact on either targeted or universal provision. Assessment of outcomes will also include a case study, describing outcomes and impact.

What do schools say about the Healthy Schools Programme?

"The online tool is really helpful and I like the idea that it can create an action for you."

"The team have really listened to us (teachers) to improve the new website."

"As a coordinator, the website is so easy to use and to see where our strengths are and what we need improve."

"The online tool makes it so quick and easy to self-evaluate and to see where our school is."

"The SHC is great, really easy to use and to have something ready for Ofsted!"

References

• Association for Physical Education quality mark: http://www.afpe.org.uk/
• Design and technology programmes of study key stage 3 National curriculum in England: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239089/SECONDARY_national_curriculum_-_Design_and_technology.pdf
• Design and technology programmes of study key stages 1 and 2 National curriculum in England: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239041/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Design_and_technology.pdf
• DfEE Sex and Relationship Guidance 2000: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eorderingdownload/dfes-0116-2000%20sre.pdf
• Mentor Adepis: http://mentor-adepis.org/
• Modeshift Stars: https://modeshiftstars.org
• National Curriculum for PSHE 2013: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-social-health-and-economic-education-pshe/personal-social-health-and-economic-pshe-education
• Nice Guidance for settings, schools and other educational settings. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2016: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/settings/schools-and-other-educational-settings
• Ofsted Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education survey visits https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/sites/default/files/Ofsted%20Grade%20Descriptors%20for%20PSHE%20education%20Dec%202013.pdf
• Ofsted Physical Education survey visits: http://documents.hants.gov.uk/education/Physicaleducationsurveyvisits.pdf
• Ofsted School Inspection Framework 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-from-september-2015
• Ofsted Sex and Relationships Guidance 2002: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/11549/1/Sex%20and%20relationships%20education%20in%20schools%20(PDF%20format).pdf
• Schools Games Mark: https://www.yourschoolgames.com/your_school/sainsburys-school-games-mark
• Science programmes of study key stages 1 and 2 National curriculum in England: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/425618/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Science.pdf
• Science programmes of study key stages 3 National curriculum in England: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335174/SECONDARY_national_curriculum_-_Science_220714.pdf
• Science programmes of study key stages 4 National curriculum in England: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/381380/Science_KS4_PoS_7_November_2014.pdf
• Sex and Relationships for the 21st Century 2014: https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/sites/default/files/SRE%20for%20the%2021st%20Century%20-%20FINAL.pdf_0.pdf
• Sugar Reduction: the evidence for action. Public Health England 2015 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470179/Sugar_reduction_The_evidence_for_action.pdf
• The Bog Standard Campaign for the toilet standards
• The Core Competencies for children and young people aged 5-16: https://www.nutrition.org.uk/foodinschools/competences/competences
• The Eatwell Guide 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide
• The School Food Plan 2013: http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/the-plan/
• The School Food Standards 2015: http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/actions/school-food-standards/
• 'What works in promoting social and emotional wellbeing and responding to mental health problems in schools?' Advice for Schools and Framework Document. Professor Katherine We are, published by the National Children’s Bureau in 2015: https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/assets/ResourceFinder/What-works-in-promoting-social-and-emotional-wellbeing-in-schools-2015.pdf