SCHOOLImplementation & Sustainability

Noreen O’HaireApril 22, 2008

HEALTH

Advice for “Health Advocates”

How to approach schools (principals and teachers), educational systems (Ministries of Education, School Boards, etc)?

Do your homework!!!

Would a teacher choose your program?

Stages:

Successful Implementation and Sustainability of Health Promoting Programs for Schools.

• Development of Program

• Implementation: Introduction of Program

• Sustainability: Building Capacity

PHASE 1: Development of Program

• Scope of program – national, provincial/territorial, local- Comprehensive school health?- Whole school program?- Meet needs of all kids?

• Know and understand the school context (general and specific)- Is it a “solution” to a real problem?- How will it fit the culture of the school?- Does it fit with the school goals?- Time and timing

• Evidence based programs- Demonstrate the research

• Curriculum fit – curriculum relevance- Educationally sound materials

- Developmentally appropriate- Attractive, kid friendly- Meets the needs of all kids – but considers the whole child- Engagement of youth

• Does it fit into a comprehensive program for school health? cluster?

PHASE 2: Introduction and Implementation of Program • Promotional material

- Who is your target?- Ministries of Education, school board personnel, principals, teachers,

parents. (demonstrate stuff from phase 1)• Find a champion and some allies

- Specialists subject councils- School Board consultants- Principal groups

• Websites, magazines ads, flyers, posters• Teacher Professional Development (inservice)

- Present at teacher conferences, PD Days.- Online

• Build school teams• Support(s) for teacher’s

- School visits- Online – web based

• Relationship to health services

PHASE 3: Sustainability – Building Capacity

• Does it fit with other programs?• Design in levels – new connected materials• Engage and empower youth to take ownership• Involve the family, community; create a community• Involve health professionals• Understand how schools/school systems work:

- Open- Loosely coupled- Decision making

• Focus on prevention and improvement long term• Monitoring and reporting

- How do we know it is working?

CTF Health AND LEARNING MAGAZINE

Do you have something to say about school health?

Audience: teachers, principals, health advocates (K-12)Articles: 1500 words, feature articles 3000 wordsGraphics: high-resolution (300 dpi), JPEG, TIFF, PDF or PNG formatsStyle: blend of research and practical adviceReferences: 5-6 selectedDeadlines: June 15 (2008), October 15 (2008), January 15 (2009)

Please send your article to nohai@ctf-fce.ca for consideration. Articles may be edited for style and clarity.