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Morriston Primary School

'To be the best you can be' - Article 29

NQA award for Healthy Schools

Head teacher Mrs Alison Thomas and health and well-being lead teacher Miss White were proud to receive the NQA plaque from Sarah Johnson Healthy Schools Practitioner who works for Public Health Wales and supports schools within Swansea and Neath Port Talbot .

CONGRATULATIONS TO US!
We were awarded the National Quality Award for Healthy Schools! Here is an extract from the report. For the full report click on the button below!

Congratulations on achieving the Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes National Quality Award. We are pleased to confirm that Morriston Primary School has demonstrated meeting all the criteria of the National Quality Award. These criteria are set out against 7 health topics which are shown below.

Schools that achieve the NQA are implementing wellbeing initiatives at the very highest level. In this report we highlight the particular strengths of your school’s approach to promoting the wellbeing of everyone connected with the school. We hope that the report is both an encouragement and a useful guide as pupils and staff at Morriston Primary School seek to maintain and extend the excellent approach and embed it even further into school life.

NQA Criteria

Food and fitness (nutrition and physical activity)
Mental and emotional health and wellbeing, including staff wellbeing
Personal development and relationships, including sex and relationships education
Substance use and misuse, including alcohol, smoking, and drugs (legal, illegal, and prescription).
Environment, including eco-initiatives and improving the school and wider environment
Safety, including a variety of topics such as child protection, sun safety, internet safety, and first aid
Hygiene including across school and non-school settings

The criteria are supported by a number of underlying principles, namely:

The importance of pupil participation in core areas of school life which directly affect the health and wellbeing of children and young people e.g., teaching and learning, environment, pastoral care
The importance of the understanding and commitment to action of the whole school community
The existence of a positive approach to health
Equality

Summary of Visit

The School Vision and Mission Statement, which have been drawn up in consultation with pupils, staff, parents and governors are ‘To Be the Best That We Can Be’ and ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’ this sums up completely the inclusive nature of the school and how diversity is celebrated. It has a very caring philosophy and well-being is at the heart of everything that the school plans and delivers.

All school staff are firmly, and enthusiastically committed to the aims of the school and to the aims of the Healthy School Scheme. The highly committed and enthusiastic staff at the school know their pupils very well and target their work so that each pupil has appropriate support. They deal with their vulnerable pupils with care, wisdom and sympathy. The teachers, the teaching assistants and auxiliary staff are all highly valued and there is a strong feeling that all staff are working as a team. This caring and sharing ethos stems from the careful and sensitive leadership of the head teacher.

The meeting with Key Partners that included a parent/governor, a practitioner of Spectrum and a police officer, further strengthened the prominence of caring and wellbeing within the school and the heart of the local community. The support for parents and the community is a stand out feature.

The behaviour of the pupils within the school was very good; they were polite, courteous and eagerly shared their time with us. They were able to answer questions well and the representatives of the numerous pupil led groups such as healthy schools, school council, eco, digi champions, rights respecting owls and play champions, showed maturity and confidence when explaining their roles. Their behaviour definitely reflected the ethos of the school. The voice of the pupil is very well catered for within the school, pupils shared their roles and responsibilities enthusiastically and were proud of what they had achieved.

The Healthy School Scheme within the school demonstrates strongly a whole-school approach, the headteacher and school coordinator work closely together to ensure the entire school team works together to enhance health and well-being for the whole school community. Not one aspect of work within the school is a standalone project. All the areas of development are planned so that they are one piece of a jigsaw, which when fitted together ensures that the school is working as one composite team for the well-being and nurturing of the pupils. The great enthusiasm and commitment of all staff was definitely evident in all the work we saw during the visit. The work of other projects within the school, is closely linked at all times to the work of the Healthy School Scheme ensuring that all the work melds together very successfully.

Commitment to health and well-being is also shown in the School Development Plan as it is a key feature, in addition the school council have also developed an excellent pupil friendly version. The staff also have many opportunities to extend their skills and knowledge as in-service training has a priority within the school. The school has invested in ‘Thrive’ a well-being programme to improve attendance, behaviour and attainment, each class teacher carries out assessments and develops individual strategies for identified children. Morriston School is also an Empathy School which feeds into and compliments Thrive programme.

One of the strongest aspects in school is the curricular work. All aspects of the Healthy School Scheme had been visited regularly and were strongly embedded across the curriculum. The health and well-being curriculum map was very clear ensuring that all aspects of the Healthy School were delivered well across all the year groups.

The school building is old with very little green space however the best use has been made of all areas making a stimulating environment. Well-kept displays and information abound, and every corner has been utilised for the benefit of the pupils with quiet corners available for anxious pupils.

Morriston Primary School has the welfare, health and well-being of their pupils at the heart of everything that they do. Morriston Primary School is most certainly a Healthy School and fully deserves the National Quality Award. Thank you very much to all the staff and everyone within the school community for all the hard work and for the warm welcome.