Teachers go back to the classroom for Healthy Places, Healthy Children training
19 primary school teachers from across Northern Ireland have completed Healthy Places, Healthy Children training with Belfast Healthy Cities. The programme will help teachers as they deliver lessons in the Healthy Places, Healthy Children programme to Key Stage 2 children, and pass on to their pupils the important learnings about their local area and living an active life.
Alongside the training, which was delivered by the Belfast Healthy Cities team, participants also heard from Melanie Mulligan, Education Manager, Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), and Ms Maria Tierney, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, St Kevin’s Primary School, Belfast. Speakers shared how the programme supports the Key Stage 2 curriculum and tips on how use the resource to gain support for projects to improve the school area.
The Healthy Places, Healthy Children resource has been designed by Belfast Healthy Cities in collaboration with the Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the Education Authority and has been successfully piloted by more than 20 Primary Schools.
The resource, which compliments the Northern Ireland National Curriculum, will introduce children to the links between the built environment and health and well-being. It provides an opportunity for: children to research their local area; develop proposals for how to make their local environment more child friendly; and provides a mechanism to share their proposals with local decision makers.
It is hoped that the training will help more schools deliver the Healthy Places, Healthy Children programme and ensure more children become aware of their surroundings and how it impacts on their health.
Joan Devlin, Chief Executive of Belfast Healthy Cities, said “Since we piloted Healthy Places, Healthy Children, we have had an incredible response from the schools, who see the resource as a creative and interesting way to teach children about their surroundings. Today’s training has been extremely engaging, and the enthusiasm of the teachers is really important as this will help make the lessons successful when they return to the classroom.
“We hope that even more schools use this resource, as it extends far beyond the classroom and will help us all shape our local communities in the future.”
Teachers attending the event said,
"The training was excellent. The example from St Kevin's Primary School was inspirational. All speakers were fantastic and covered areas needed to promote the resource within your school."
"Great morning and programme content. Super scheme with great potential for children to develop and contribute to their community and to be heard and supported within their community."
To register for or find out more about the Healthy Places, Healthy Children resource visit https://www.belfasthealthycities.com/hphc