SPHE in post primary schools in the Eastern Health Board : consultation with principals & teachers / [Iris Elliot] Item Type Report Authors Elliot, Iris Rights EHB Download date 26/09/2021 18:01:41 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10147/46166 Find this and similar works at - http://www.lenus.ie/hse EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Priority 2 of the Eastern Health Boards Health Promotion Strategy [I9991 is To develop young peoples ability to promote and maintain their health. In February 1999 an Assistant Health Promotion Officer was appointed to the Health Promotion Department to work with post-primary schools in counties Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare. The post's brief is support schools in the introduction and delivery of the Social Personal and Health Education curriculum, within the context of a health promoting school approach. The Health Promotion Department is concerned with the health of all members of the school community : students, teachers, parents, and the community in which they are located. This report contains the findings of the two strands of needs assessment which the Eastern Health Board has conducted with schools. The first strand was a Health Promotion and Health Education Questionnaire, sent out to all school Principals. This had a 84% response rate. The second strand was a series of fifteen Cluster Meetings held with teachers involved in health education and promotion work, organised within the Eastern Health Boards Community Care Areas. The Health Promotion Department is committed to developing work in collaboration with schools, based on up-to-date information and evidence of best practice. Together, the needs assessment strands have enabled the ~e~artmentto profile the 226 schools, geographically (Community Care Area and Eastern Regional Health Authority Region), and according to school type, size, Disadvantaged Area status and gender. This information will ensure that support work is appropriately targeted. The report will be widely disseminated and is designed to assist others, in the statutory and voluntary sectors, to develop their health work with schools. The needs assessment identified specific supports required by schools ; and thirteen key themes regarding SPHE and health promotion : Organisation of SPHE in Schools ; lssues Regarding SPHE ; the Whole School Approach ; Health Promoting Partners : Parents. Students. Community ; Gender and SPHE ; Training ; Resources ; SPHE Teacher Networks and Support ; Health Issues (teachers and students) ; Support Services (including schools' relationships with the EHB) ; and Questions. The key issues for the successful introduction of SPHE, within a health promoting school approach, are identified as : support from the Principal involvement of the whole staff team quality assurance criteria and systems: at national, regional and school levels . evaluation, based on clear criteria, of the introduction and implementation of SPHE within a health promoting school approach . the need for collaboration between the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Health and Children and the Health Boards This report concludes with the response from the Health Promotion Department, indicating the ways in which it will be tailoring future work with post-primary schools to meet the identified needs of Principals and teachers. Iris Elliott Assistant Health Promotion Officer August 1999 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PROFILES OF POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN DUBLIN, WICKLOW B KILDARE - total number of schools - number of schools by school type - number of single sex and integrated schools - school size by student number - disadvantaged area schools HEALTH PROMOTION & HEALTH EDUCATION QUESTIONNAIRE 6 - response rates 6 (total, by school type, by single-sex Iintegrated schools, by school size) - SPHE teachers within schools - Home School Liaison Service 7 - School Nurses - School Personnel involved in health education and health promotion work - Health related training undergone by school staff - Time tabling of SPHE in academic year 199912000 8 - How many years SPHE time tabled in - When SPHE is time tabled during students school career - Time tabling methods employed for SPHE 9 - Working with the Health Promotion Department - Specific Support from the Health Promotion Department SPHE TEACHERS CLUSTER MEETINGS (I) Organisation of SPHE in Schools (11) Issues Regarding SPHE (Ill) The Whole School Approach (IV) Health Promoting School Partners : Parents (V) Health Promoting School Partners : Students (VI) Health Promoting School Partners : Community (VII) Gender and SPHE [teachers ; students] (VIII) Training (IX) Resources (X) SPHE Teacher Networks & Support (XI) Health Issues [teachers ; students] (XII) Support Services [including relationship with EHB] (XIII) Questions FUTURE WORK WITH POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS: The Health Promotion Departments Response APPENDICES I EASTERN HEALTH BOARD COMMUNITY CARE AREAS MAP 11. EASTERN REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY REGIONS MAP Ill HEALTH PROMOTION & HEALTH EDUCATION QUESTIONNAIRE IV AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF QUESTIONNAIRE V SCHOOL PROFILE TABLES I. Number of Schools IEastern Health Board [EHB] Community Care Areas ii. Number of Schools IEastern Regional Health Authority [ERHA] Regions iii. School Type I EHB Community Care Areas iv. School Type 1 ERHA Regions v. Single Sex & Integrated Schools IEHB Community Care Areas vi. Single Sex & integrated Schools IERHA Regions vii. School Size (pupil number) IEHB Community Care Areas viii. School Size (pupil number) I ERHA Regions ix. Disadvantaged Area Schools ICommunity Care Area x. Disadvantaged Area Schools IERHA Regions VI HEALTH PROMOTION AND HEALTH EDUCATION QUESTIONNAIRE : RESPONSE RATE TABLES VII DISADVANTAGED AREA SCHOOLS [Department of Education & Science Criteria] Vlll SCHOOL LISTS IEHB COMMUNITY CARE AREA INTRODUCTION Priority 2 of the Eastern Health Boards Health Promotion Strategy [I9991 is To develop young peoples ability to promote and maintain their health. To realise this Priority, the Department recruited two Assistant Health Promotion Officers to work with the primary and post-primary school sectors. In February 1999 the first of these Officers took up post, with a brief of supporting post-primary schools in the delivery of the Social, Personal and Health Education Curriculum within the context of the Health Promoting School approach. As a first step in consulting with schools about their support needs, a Health Promotion and Health Education Questionnaire was sent out to the Principal of each of the 235 post-primary schools listed by the Department of Education and Science in the EHB Region. This questionnaire was sent out in March, April and May 1999. The second phase of consultation was with teachers. A cluster meeting of SPHE teachers was held in each of the 10 EHB Community Care Areas during May and early June 1999. In the larger Community Care Areas more than one meeting was held to increase their geographical accessibility. Two meetings were held in Area 8. and three meetings in both Areas 9 and 10. The Assistant Health Promotion Officer made detailed, contemporaneous notes during these meetings. The returned questionnaire and the notes from the cluster meetings form the basis of this report; and proposed future work with post-primary schools in the EHB region. In March 2000 the Eastern Health Board will regionalise into three areas: the Eastern. South-Western and Northern Region, kder the management of the Eastern Regional Health Authority. The auestionnaire results were analvsed usina- both community Care Area and ~egionalboundaries. Iris Elliott Assistant Health Promotion Officer August 1999 PROFILES OF POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN DUBLIN, WICKLOW & KILDARE The Questionnaire was sent to the 236 schools on the Department of Education and Sciences Post-Primary School List 199711998. One hundred and ninety schools responded (84%). Ten of these schools were deleted from the list due to school closure, amalgamation or because they were Post Leaving Certificate Colleges. The Questionnaire established that there are 226 post-primary schools in the Eastern Health Board Region -counties Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare. The first section of this report uses information from the Department of Education and Science to profile these 226 schools, within the geographical boundaries of the existing EHB Community Care Areas [Ito 101 and the ERHA Regions [East. South-West and North]. 1. Total Numbers of Schools From this table, the last line is the most significant. It indicates how many schools are in each of the EHB Community Care Areas. Community Care Area 3 has the lowest number, with 12 schools. The largest number - 30, is in Community Care Areas 2 .and 8. ERHA Regions South-West North East Number of 89 69 68 Schools The South-Western Region will have the most post-primary schools (39%); with the remainder evenly divided between the Northern (30.5%) and Eastern Regions (30%). 2. Number of Schools by School Type 'School Type' refers to the categorising of post-primary schools as Secondary Schools, Vocational Schools & Community Colleges, and Community & Comprehensive Schools. Below the tables identify, by Community Care Area and Region, the numbers of schools in each category. In total, there are 142 Secondary Schools, 55 Vocational Schools and Community Colleges, and 29 Community Schools ; representing 62.8% 24% and 12.8% of total schools, respectively. EHRA Region South-West North East TOTAL Secondary Schools 52 42 48 142 Vocational Schools 8 28 15 12 55 Community Colleges a .I 9 A -.. Communitv 8 - IL 0 ZY ~omprehensiveSchools