London’s Deputy Mayor Victoria Borwick visited Charlton Manor Primary School in Greenwich today, Tuesday 9 September, to see firsthand the work it has done to achieve the Mayor’s Healthy Schools London Gold status.
Healthy Schools London is an awards scheme funded by the Mayor Boris Johnson, which supports and recognises schools’ achievements in pupil health and wellbeing. More than 1,000 schools across the capital have already signed up to the scheme; so far 447 schools have achieved Bronze award and 54 Silver. Charlton Manor is one of just two schools to achieve the Gold accolade.
Recent statistics for London found that between 2012 and 2013, 23 per cent of children in reception class (aged 4 – 5 years) were overweight or obese, and 37 per cent of Year 6 children (aged 10 – 11 years) were overweight or obese. Healthy Schools London aims to help reduce childhood obesity in the capital by encouraging schools to work with children from aged four to when they leave, to teach them about the importance of healthy eating, regular physical activity and general wellbeing.
Charlton Manor has succeeded in promoting a healthy lifestyle to all pupils at the school, teaching them about growing and cooking fresh produce and making healthy food choices. They have introduced a healthy dinner club, where parents can study with their children and then cook and eat a nutritious meal in its teaching kitchens led by a chef; spot checks on packed lunches; food diaries and an after-school gardening club.
Deputy Mayor Victoria Borwick said: “To receive the Gold Healthy Schools London award is a huge achievement and the teachers, staff and pupils should all be extremely proud of themselves. I’m honoured to have been able to visit and see all their brilliant initiatives first-hand. It’s great to think that the children who attend the school now understand where food comes from and why it’s important that they eat healthily and get active.”
Tim Baker Head Teacher at Charlton Manor said: “At Charlton Manor we believe the health and wellbeing of the children is paramount. Because of this we ensure that the pupils have a dedicated PE teacher and take part in physical activity regularly. We also welcome the free school meals for infant children as this provides a good start to pupils. This and the introduction of cooking in the curriculum helps them to develop healthy habits for the future. We also have a full time gardener and two chefs working with the children and parents to support them to deepen their understanding of the importance of nutrition. All of this works together through an imaginative, creative and balanced curriculum.”
Notes to editors
Healthy Schools London is one of several mayoral backed initiatives and programmes aimed at tackling obesity and improving health for people of all ages in London. These include:
- Getting more Londoners cycling, including one billion pounds recently announced to boost cycling in the capital, including an east-west 'Crossrail for the bike', a new network of 'quietways' and works to improve safety at key junctions;
- The Sporting Legacy programme has resulted in £40 million being invested to upgrade local facilities and increase opportunities for Londoners across the capital to participate in sport and physical activity;
- The Takeaways Toolkit, which deals provides a framework for dealing with the proliferation of fast food shops;
- Public realm improvements large and small, from the Queen Elizabeth Park to pocket parks around the city, offering green spaces for formal and informal activity from walking to cycling to organised sport.
Healthy Schools London (www.healthyschoolslondon.org.uk) will use a whole school approach to improve health and wellbeing, increase access to healthy food throughout the school day, provide opportunities to be more physically active, and aims to reduce childhood obesity. Healthy Schools London will provide awards for schools to recognise work that they are doing around health and wellbeing and childhood obesity linked to five key themes:
- Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHEE);
- Healthy Eating;
- Physical Activity;
- Emotional health and wellbeing;
- School environment.