Health & Wellbeing in Integrated Learning Communities

Part of my work at the moment is developing a ‘Lifestyle Survey’ in Highland in order to monitor our progress in Health and Wellbeing and our Children’s Plan. The final product will be a bi-annual survey for P7, S2 and S4 young people. Some national surveys we have been asked to conduct in our classrooms e.g. SALSUS focus on negative behaviour rather than lifestyles in general. I really wonder how young people feel about being asked about these things rather than what they positively do, enjoy and take heart in.

The current national paper-based questionnaires seem to ’glean’ information from our pupils and certainly don’t employ any ‘active learning methods’ and to be honest, what do young people get out of it? So how does our Highland survey differ?

The lifestyle survey in Highland has been developed to be a supportive learning process, rather than ‘gleaning’ data. So this is how we hope it will go…Firstly through a class-based session, the teacher will explain the purposes for needing information and the importance of health and a sense of wellbeing. Pupils will keep a diary for a week, which is completely private, recording aspects of lifestyle. After the week is up each pupil will complete an anonymous online survey which provides a snapshot of their lifestyle in that past week based on their diaries. After-care is provided, support will be there for anyone wishing to discuss any aspects of the survey. A multi-agency approach will be adopted involving school staff, School Nurses, Youth Workers, Active School Co-ordinators etc and signposts to web links.

The questions in the 10-minute online survey cover many aspects of lifestyle. The pilot we recently carried out with 6 schools showed how crucial it is to ensure the questions are posed accurately. I can’t reveal the results of the pilot as it was a fairly small sample but it did make us significantly change the questions.

I’m particularly interested to see our results in the category of ‘communication’ which covers internet access and usage. We are mirroring the national data collected by CEOP regarding SNS sites etc, so it will be great to have our on Highland perspective, it will also be incredibly useful in informing our new E-safety Steering Group.

The techy bit!

A website has been purchased to host the online survey in Highland, password protected of course. The survey uses limesurvey software. We chose limesurvey as you can have unlimited amount of participants and the data will be able to be transported to SPSS and MS Excel, it’s also free of charge and developed by research specialists who are constantly looking to refine their software by offering it as shareware. After having a scoot around with my colleague Andy McNeil at all the different types of survey software we really found this to be the best one to use.

As soon as we conduct our survey I’ll  post the results, but for now, please see some excellent research conducted by the threebillion project, it really puts thing in a global perspective.

Thanks to Jim for linking me the threebillion.com project and their video on youtube

Pic - Kilchoan Primary School on Sanna Beach

The Highland Council has launched a fantastic online resource for anyone wanting to know more about Gaelic, it has superb downloadable audio clips for phrases and special guidance for those who want to promote Gaelic in the classroom.

We’ve just been lucky to secure funding through NHS Highland to provide our Health and Wellbeing guidance for primary schools in Gaelic.  I’m happy to share with other Scottish authorities as soon as it’s printed. However, any documentation we produce always promotes Highland’s cultural identity by carrying translated headings and straplines, but having the funding to wholly translate our materials means we can serve our first Gaelic school, Bunsgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis, and Gaelic medium units across Highland with specific Health and Wellbeing resources.

A few words from the toolkit…

Gaelic is Scotland’s oldest spoken language and is associated with a rich and varied culture. At one time Gaelic was the main language of the nation, but since then it has been subject to periods of persecution and neglect. Remarkably, Gaelic has survived into the 21st century, more than 1500 years since it was first established in Scotland, and now strenuous efforts are being made to ensure that the language continues to be used for generations to come.

At the same time the language’s associated culture is experiencing a renewal of interest and the vibrancy that it currently enjoys will help shore up the fortunes of Gaelic itself. The Highland Council supports and encourages people to develop their Gaelic.

Browse through the toolkit to find lots of tools to help you learn Gaelic and use it in the classroom.

Math dhà-rireabh!