Healthy Kids, Eat Right, Play Right

How did the project come about?

In 2003, a small local initiative was tried in which teachers were given the skills and knowledge they needed to help students develop fundamental movement skills (FMS). Health Kids: Eat Right, Play Right grew out of this initiative and will ultimately enhance the programs running at Wellington Public School.

Project overview

Wellington Primary School is a rural primary school and preschool with 30 teachers plus aides and approximately 495 students - 42% of whom are Aboriginal. Healthy Kids: Eat Right, Play Right is a three-year pilot program (2005-2007) designed to get the whole school community involved in improving children's health. Its specific aims include building staff knowledge and skills, increasing active play among students, promoting healthy eating, and building community partnerships.

To start, the school used an action research approach to identify health problems and interventions deal with them. Input from students themselves was invaluable. From there, the project developed into many areas:

• Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Service provided funding to commence the breakfast program and primarily coordinates the day to day operation.
  
• Wellington Shire Council has worked to establish a school vegetable garden.
  
• The Department of Education and Training conducted a half-day training workshop on FMS for all the teachers and aides.
  
• With funding through the Active After-School Communities Program the school began offering one hour of movement skills on Mondays and hip-hop dancing on Wednesdays.
  
• The school implemented health theme days, with indigenous games/sports and nutrition sessions.
  
• The development of a PDHPE Scope and Sequence is in progress and $4,000 of new sporting equipment for the school has been purchased.

What worked well?

The project is well on its way to achieving its aims and is moving closer to accomplishing the tasks set in an action plan that grew out of the action research analysis.

Partnerships are a large component of a many projects in small rural communities, and adopting a community-wide approach has worked well for this project. Both local and government agencies have given support to the school on physical activity and healthy eating. New links with community sporting groups have expanded school sporting options, including karate, indoor cricket and aerobics. One of projects organiser's commented that he is now more aware of the appropriate contacts within the community and that many partnerships have been formed that will sustain the program in the long term.

Where to now?

Healthy Kids: Eat Right, Play Right is currently in the second of its three years. The pilot program will not be repeated in full, but upon completion in 2007 there are plans to expand parts of the program across more schools in the Greater Western Area.

Evaluation has already taken place on students' attitudes to physical activity and nutrition at school. Preliminary findings are that the students would enjoy having a weekly fruit break and be able take water bottles into the classroom. A pos-project evaluation will also be conducted and compared against the first evaluation.

Summary

The project has been very successful to date, and some important lessons have been learned:

• Develop plans with a mixture of short-term and long-term goals.
  
• Do not keep adding new tasks along the way in an ad-hoc fashion. If everything is heading in the right direction, evaluate at set intervals and reset additional targets.
  
• Keep people informed - publicise your project, partners and results widely.
  
• Consult with possible partners when planning, to ensure you are not reinventing the wheel.
  
• Consult with experts in the field to determine the evidence-based literature and best methods of evaluation before implementing a program.

Finally, never underestimate the time it takes to accomplish your goals. Schools are very busy places, so plan for this. The rewards will be satisfying and gratifying.