Identifying needs
The first step in the Healthy Schools Plus process is to use school, community and local health data to identify needs. The information sheet Collecting analysing and interpreting data will help you.
School data
Your school is a data rich environment. You already have lots of information available to you, for example through RAISEonline, your SIMS data (including school travel survey data), behaviour and attendance records and much more.
We're working very closely with the Schools Health Education Unit (SHEU), who have developed surveys for use in schools. Through our collaboration with SHEU we're offering schools the use of a survey tool to gather data to support needs assessment for Healthy Schools Plus. Use of the survey tool also provides robust evidence for a school's pupil wellbeing indicators. Read more about our SHEU surveys. If your school would like to use the SHEU surveys, contact us, putting school surveys as the subject of your message.
Young people into 2008: web edition
Across the UK more than 32,000 young people aged 10-15 responded to SHEU's health-related behaviour survey in 2007. SHEU has analysed the results and made them available in nine chapters through the webpage Young people into 2008.
TellUs surveys
Tellus is a national survey which gathers children and young people’s views on their life, their school and their local area. A sample of schools is selected within each local authority. TellUs3 was carried out in spring 2008 and TellUs4 in 2009. Here are the reports for TellUs3: Cornwall report and national report. The first of the TellUs4 reports has been issued; it contains full information at local authority level, read more.
Local health data
The Association of Public Health Observatories produces health profiles which use key health indicators to provide a snapshot of health. These are available for Cornwall Unitary Authority 2009 and for each former local council area (2008):
The South West Public Health Observatory has developed a mapping tool specifically for Healthy Schools Plus.
The Child and Maternal Health Observatory, Chi Mat, is a national public health observatory established to provide wide-ranging, authoritative data, evidence and practice related to children's, young people's and maternal health. It is part of the Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory which is a member of the Association of Public Health Observatories. Chi Mat has compiled Healthy Schools Local Area Profiles. These are nineteen key indicators, arranged using the five ECM outcomes, to help schools identify health and wellbeing issues. Data for each authority can be viewed and regional and national comparisons can be drawn. The information is also available in a tabular report: under Area Type select Top level local authority, under Select Area make sure Cornwall is selected, under Select Theme choose Healthy Schools Local Area Profile.
The Kernow Matters research provides information on the needs of children and young people and informs the priorities for the 2008-11 Children and Young People's Plan. Cornwall Council has also produced some focus papers, see for example Healthy children and young people.
The Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly seeks to improve health and reduce health inequalities. Of particular relevance to Healthy Schools are the actions listed under emotional health and wellbeing (which include promoting social and emotional learning and implementing anti-bullying procedures in all schools), the actions to reduce unintended teenage conceptions and the aim to end child poverty in Cornwall and IoS by 2020.
There is some good guidance being developed to support schools going through this process as part of the Healthy Schools enhancement model; visit the national Healthy Schools website to download the support materials by clicking on the national programme logo on the left of any page.
We are creating some summary pages of local information that might be of interest to you (where the data is available).
Making good use of the data you gather for needs analysis
We are in the early stages of developing some ideas for schools around Results Accountability and Turning the Curve.