Health and wellbeing at Tollcross

Alice Brown

City of Edinburgh Council

Health and Wellbeing at Tollcross

Page 2 Principles and Practice of Health and Wellbeing

Page 3 A framework for Health and Wellbeing

Page 4 Learning and Teaching in Health and Wellbeing

Page 5 Partnership Working

Page 5 A Whole School Health Approach

Page 6 Assessment for Learning

Page 8 Tracking and monitoring of progress for pupils

Page 8 Personal Safety

Page 8 Physical Education, physical activity and Sport

Page 9 Tollcross Health and Wellbeing topics by stage and level

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The Principles and practice of Health and Wellbeing

At Tollcross our whole school community has a role to play in ensuring the development of the health and wellbeing of our pupils. We work in partnership with many agencies to support our children to:

make informed decisions in order to improve their mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing

experience challenge and enjoyment experience positive aspects of health living and activity for themselves apply their mental, emotional, social and physical skills to pursue a healthy lifestyle make a successful move to the next stage of education or work establish a pattern of health and wellbeing which will be sustained into adult life and which

will help to promote the health and wellbeing of the next generation of Scottish children.

A Framework for Health and Wellbeing

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The statements of experiences and outcomes in health and wellbeing reflect an holistic approach to promoting the health and wellbeing of our pupils at Tollcross. Children should feel happy, safe, respected and included in our school environment. Staff are proactive about promoting positive behaviour in the class, playground and school community. We work with parents and carers and pupils to ensure our children are given support to achieve their full potential in this and all areas of the curriculum. Learning through health and wellbeing promotes positive attitudes and confidence for all other learning experiences. It is the responsibility of all teachers to contribute to high quality teaching and learning in this area. The diagram below illustrates our shared vision and common goal.

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Learning and Teaching in Health and Wellbeing at Tollcross

The experiences and outcomes are structured into organisers. These are:

mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing planning for choices and changes physical education, physical activity and sport food and health substance misuse relationships, sexual health and parenthood

Many cross two or more levels in pupil learning and development and teachers take account of the stage of development and understanding of individual pupils and ensure learning is realistic and meaningful for them. Children will learn about health and wellbeing in many ways. Some aspects of personal and social education, such as Sex Education will be taught through programmes of study. Other aspects such as emotional health will be taught through approaches such as Circle Time. Physical Education, which is taught for two hours each week at Tollcross, is delivered through the City of Edinburgh PE Programme by our PE Specialist and Class Teachers. Other aspects such as Food and Health can be taught through Interdisciplinary approaches or short topics which focus on Food and our School Garden or Eco Schools.

Teaching and learning is planned which:

engages young people and takes account of their views and experiences, particularly where decisions are to be made that may impact on life choices

takes account of research and successful practice in supporting the learning and development of children and young people, particularly in sensitive areas such as substance misuse.

Uses a variety of approaches including active, cooperative, outdoor learning, peer learning and effective use of technology

Encourages and capitalises on the potential to experience learning and new challenges in the outdoor environment

Encourages children and young people to act as positive role models for others within the educational community

Leads to a lasting commitment in children and young people to follow a healthy lifestyle by participation in experiences, including outdoor learning, which are varied, realistic and enjoyable

Helps to foster health in families and communities through work with a range of professions, parents and carers, and children and young people and enables them to understand the responsibilities of citizenship

Harnesses the experience and expertise of different professions, including developing enterprise and employability skills

Partnership Working

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At Tollcross we work in partnership with many others to support the health and wellbeing of our pupils. The first of these is parents and carers. We work hard to develop strong links to between home and school to allow pupils to be well supported in their learning. We survey pupils regularly about their wider achievements, including clubs and sports activities. We use this information to continue to develop the activities we offer to pupils. Other partners include Active Schools who support us with offering school based, cluster and City clubs to encourage participation.

We have many outside agencies who work with us to support pupils wellbeing including; health visitors, Educational Physiologists, Educational Welfare Officers, Social Work, Family Solutions, Speech and Language therapists and many other Health Professionals.

We also work with many local businesses to support opportunities for pupils.

A Whole School Health Approach

Our Partnership working supports this approach. However, parents do support us by offering clubs and activities for pupils. Tollcross is fortunate in having an active Parent Council who support the school in many ways. We also have staff who run activities for pupils. At Assembly we celebrate the sporting and wider achievements of both staff and pupils.

Assessment for Learning

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At Tollcross we take a holistic approach to assessment. We take evidence of progress for individual pupils from focussed observation of day-to-day learning as well as specific assessment tasks, activities and summative approaches. We use say, write, make and do as appropriate to the type of learning being assessed. The Learning Context and pupil involvement in assessments allows our learners to show what they know, understand and do.

Assessment should –

focus on significant aspects of learning take account of each learner’s needs and preferences recognise that learners progress in different ways be carefully planned taking account of experiences and outcomes take account of the 4 contexts for learning (i.e. ethos and life of the school as a community :

curriculum areas and subjects : interdisciplinary learning : opportunities for personal achievement)

provide a profile of a learner’s progress across all four contexts give opportunities to apply knowledge and skills in more complex, demanding or unfamiliar

learning or social contexts.

In Health and Wellbeing assessment will take account of the breadth and purpose of the wide range of learning experienced by children and young people in this curricular area. It will focus on children’s knowledge and understanding, skills and attitudes in relation to physical education, food and health, substance misuse, relationships, sexual health and parenthood, and their social and life skills. For example;

to what extent pupils understand the role of healthy eating and physical fitness in contributing to their wellbeing

how well they apply personal and interpersonal skills as part of their daily lives as they grow and mature

through planning, managing and participating in activities in school and their community, pupils demonstrate skills, attitudes and attributes which will be important for the world of work. These include good judgement, resilience, team work and independence.

Assessment at Tollcross

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Questioning

No hands up / Group response

Wait time / Thinking time

Think-Pair-Share

Use numbers to add challenge (eg “Can you give me three examples of….?)

Opportunities for pupils to formulate questions

Good question stems - Why does….? What if….? How would you….? Could you explain…..?

Feedback

Comments: What you are doing well + How you can improve

Oral feedback when returning work, during plenary sessions or while pupils are working

Self-correction

PCP: Praise - Constructive feedback - Praise

Peer Assessment

Opportunities for pupils to reflect

Peer marking or response partners

Groups questions

Traffic lights

Correction codes

Personal targets - non-competitive

Small group work

Self-evaluation

Jigsaws

Modelling

Sharing Criteria

Teachers share aims with pupils

Pupils aware of what makes a good piece of work

Pupils deciding criteria for assessment

Knowing criteria, pupils can Support, Assess and Challenge each other

Review pupil understanding/skills every lesson

Connect with prior knowledge, at the start of the lesson

Carousel

Regular review of what has been taught

Tracking and Monitoring of Progress

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The City of Edinburgh Council document, ‘Health and Wellbeing Responsibility of All’, will inform our practice at Tollcross. Using these planners we will ensure we are giving our pupils well planned learning activities to allow them to develop skills in all aspects of Health and Wellbeing. Pupil progress will be tracked through the experiences and outcomes. This is used to support transition at all stages and report to parents and carers.

Personal Safety

This is an area of anxiety for all parents. Our whole school community works together to allow our pupils to develop knowledge and understanding and skills for life in this important area. At Tollcross we use a wide variety of approaches both in and out of school;

use of the Keeping Myself Programme use of the Junior Road Safety Officers to support learning for our pupils, alongside activities

both in and out of school. Learning about internet safety through use of our School Blog. Sharing internet safety

information with parents at Curriculum events. Participation in the Food for Thought initiative to develop knowledge and understanding

about food safety.

Physical Education, physical activity and Sport

We encourage children and young people to be as active as possible both in and out of school. We work with Active Schools and parents/carers to offer exciting, enjoyable and challenging opportunities to be involved in activities which enhance pupil experience of active living.

At Tollcross, we have a PE Specialist who gives every stage high quality learning experiences to support the development of skills and knowledge and understanding about all aspects of Physical Education. The PE Specialist also supports Class Teachers to develop their teaching in PE. Class Teachers support the delivery of the two hours target of PE for all pupils.

Pupils take part in Cluster and City of Edinburgh Sports events to enhance their enjoyment and skills in PE. Some of these are competitive, encouraging our pupils to aim high in PE.

To enhance the experience of PE at Tollcross we have developed an Outdoor PE Course, which runs alongside the Union Canal beside our school. We use this Community Resource whenever we can with pupils for curricular PE but also encourage the use of it by all who enjoy the Canal. More information can be found at;

www.tollcrosspeproject.wordpress.com/

We are also very fortunate to have a large outside play area, although it is mainly tarmac. This is a wonderful place for pupils to enjoy physical activity outdoors at all times of the year. Our pupils have very purposeful play in these spaces and we are continually trying to update and add to their experience.

Our aim is to encourage and support our pupils and school community to embrace and enjoy daily physical activity, leading to sustained physical activity in adulthood.

Tollcross Health Topics according to Stage and Level

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Nursery Early Level Learning through PlayP1 Early Level Learning through Play

My CommunityMy Healthy BodyLiving Things

P2 First Level HealthHuman BodyFood and FarmingThe Play Park

P3 First Level RelationshipsEnterpriseHuman Body

P4 First Level Product DesignRelationshipsMy WorldGrowth MindsetMy Body and FoodKeeping myself Safe

P5 Second Level Food and HealthRelationships and Change

P6 Second Level JASSFood and the EnvironmentFood LabellingKeeping Myself SafeLiving and GrowingFlour BabiesRelationships and Change

P7 Second Level Keeping Myself safeJASSCareers FairRelationships and change

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