Moffat Academy Case Study

Young people generally do not isolate different aspects of their lives and can - with an effective educational and participative process - learn about themselves, and reflect on and develop an insight into how different aspects of their lives influence one another. It is therefore essential that different aspects of health promotion are delivered in a clear and integrated way.

Moffat Academy is in an interesting position of having nursery, primary and secondary schools operating as a combined school from a single campus. This gives the opportunity for working across the whole school age groups on a range of topics including health promotion.

The school has developed many opportunities to promote health and support the work being undertaken within the whole school including, amongst many other examples:

• School Nutrition Action Group (SNAG)
• Eco Schools Group – links to health promotion
• tuck shop – developing a healthy tuck shop
• community/agency involvement – visitors and speakers contributing to learning
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• Moffat Academy Self Help (MASH) – an area in the school where the pupils can get leaflets on a wide variety of topics to help them if they are troubled by emotional, sexual, mental, social or physical issues. There are also trained pupils available to give advice as well as a co-ordinator (teacher).
• physical activity – introducing power walking
• nursery – close links between school and nursery
• involving parents and carers.

The two particular aspects of this case study are:

1. Moffat Academy Health Week
2. S3 Contraception Workshops

Health Week

With Moffat Academy providing nursery, primary and secondary education, the Health Week involves the whole school. A recent programme consisted of the following.

The programme for the secondary school was split into days as follows.

S3 Contraception workshops

The school has used an innovative approach to the personal and social education (PSE) curriculum and its approach to the topic of contraception.

It was decided to deliver this element for the S3 cohort through the use of workshops over five sessions. The pupils were split into groups and rotated round five workshops as follows:

• Contraception – practical, theory and quiz
• Legal issues – theory and quiz
• Wheel of Choice – in teams
• Fact or fiction cards
• Video – ‘At That Age’ (which looks at peer pressure).

The conclusion to the contraception element was a talk by the school nurse on all types of contraception to the entire S3 group.

On completing the workshops the pupils were asked to complete evaluation forms, the results of which will be used to improve and plan for future contraception sessions. In total 45 pupils took part in the evaluation with responses from 17 females and 28 males.

Key findings from the evaluation included:

Content – 64.4 per cent found the content good with 31.1 per cent finding it fair. Some pupils would have preferred separate groups for males and females while smaller groups were liked by some.

Presentation – 93.3 per cent of the pupils stated that the presentation of the workshops was good. The use of video and PowerPoint was seen as good, as well as the explanation of topics.

Presenter – 91.1 per cent stated that the presenter was the relevant person to deliver the subject with key statements being ‘Yes, because she sounded as though she knew what she was talking about’, ‘she got the message across’ and ‘easy to understand’.

Timing – 82.2 per cent of the pupils thought that the timing of the sessions was right although some felt they should have been taught sooner.

Change in attitude – when asked if the sessions had changed attitudes/views about the topic 31.1 per cent stated ‘a great deal’ and 55.5 per cent stated ‘a little’.

Moffat Academy is also involved in the Care Baby programme where S4 pupils, with agreement from parents, can care for a ‘baby’, which is a realistic parenting simulator. The pupil needs to look after their ‘baby’ including taking it home over a weekend.

The ‘baby’ monitors the quality of care it receives, and reports on the number of times each type of care was provided.

The use of the Health Week gives the whole school the opportunity to focus on health and acts as a springboard for other health promotion activity.

With regard to the contraception workshops the findings from the evaluation would indicate that the use of small groups and the workshops over five sessions has been successful.

It is important to have the whole school involved in health promotion activities. In the case of Moffat Academy this includes nursery, primary and secondary staff and pupils, parents, partners and the wider community.

Moffat Academy has found that a positive ethos is promoted by increasing participation in activities by staff, pupils, parents and partners.

As the Health Week laid the foundations for thinking about many aspects of health at Moffat Academy, this route will continue to be built upon in school.

Evaluation is an important aspect of how Moffat Academy operates, with evaluation forms being completed and information taken from the findings which contributes to the constant drive for health improvement.

A recent area of development has been school lunches. As from December 2006, as part of the drive to encourage healthy eating, the lunches changed and came under the ‘Café DG’ logo ‘in the mood for food’.

There is now a wider variety of healthy options available on the menu with baguettes, wraps, pitta breads and pasta being promoted. There are also four meal deals to choose from.

The numbers attending school dinners have increased and all pupils have a pocket-sized leaflet demonstrating the menu available. Healthy eating will continue to be an area which Moffat Academy will work on developing and promoting.

Another area for potential further development is the use of ‘open space’, which is an event which brings together a range of people, to discuss issues around a central theme.

After attending an ‘open space’ event staff have used the approach to discuss:

• values and aims for the school – with parents
• mental health – with staff and parents.

It is clear that Moffat Academy and the primary schools in the cluster will continue to take opportunities to promote health within the school. While many of these opportunities are planned, occasionally some are not. However, taking opportunities and being flexible can provide exciting experiences for the whole school.

Jo Riddick
Health Co-ordinator
Moffat Academy
Academy Road
Moffat
DG10 9DA
Tel: 01683 220114
Email: Jo Riddick
riddickj@aln.dumgal.org.uk