Month: November 2022

In 2014 the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model (WSCC) – a collaboration between the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ASCD – was launched. It was a response to the “call for greater alignment, integration, and collaboration between education and health to improve each child’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development.” (ASCD, 2014, p. 6).

In the following years the model has become the preeminent school health framework in the U.S. and is used by the vast majority of states, districts, and schools. And while the use and expansion of this model has grown over the years there was still something missing.

School’s culture

A school’s culture – resulting from the school’s climate, the actions, interactions of everyone in that environment – plays a very large role in the success or failure of any new initiative. Culture is influenced by everyone inside the school but if there is one role or one group that has a huge influence it’s the principal, the school leader.

By focusing attention towards the school leader we prepare them with the skills and mindsets to implement change and to enhance their influence across the school community. We engage these key drivers of change in the process of change, and help ensure that the policies, processes, and practices across the school align, blend, and compliment.

A focus on the transformative skills of our school leaders is necessary and when adjusting or building a whole school initiative, the role of this type of leader is imperative.

Read more: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whole-school-community-child-culture-sean-slade/

The world’s 1.2 billion adolescents (young people aged 10-19 years) now represent almost 16% of the world’s population; yet this group has received limited attention from global agenda-setting initiatives, such as universal health coverage and sustainable development. This needs to be addressed, given that adolescence represents a critical period of the life course during which many factors contributing to lifelong well-being are set.

The BMJ, in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), launched the first tranche of a special collection on adolescent well-being, arguing for greater priority to be placed on the needs and well-being of adolescents globally. This BMJ collection examines how the domains of adolescent well-being impact on future outcomes, and how these can be supported and promoted by evidence-based policymaking and programming. Within the collection, the argument is put forward that the world’s adolescents cannot be supported to reach their full potential without addressing the multidimensional nature of well-being in this group, and by working across sectors such as health and education.

Read the full collection here:
https://www.bmj.com/adolescent-wellbeing

Breaking down silos between health and education to improve adolescent well-being

In the article “Breaking down silos between health and education to improve adolescent well-being” Nicola Gray (co-Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education) and colleagues examine the mutual reinforcement of adolescent health and education, the challenges of intersectoral working, and the joint investment needed to secure well-being during adolescence, into adult life, and for the next generation.

On 17 November 2022, 10.00 – 11.00 AST, 15.00 – 16.00 CET, the UNESCO Chair and WHO Collaborating Center Global Health & Education and the University of Puerto Rico, will organise the webinar: Towards a regional agenda for School Health Promotion in Latin America. The webinar will be held in Spanish.

Speakers are Dr Pilar Campos Estéban, Regional Health Promotion Advisor at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Dr Hiram V. Arroyo, Professor at the University of Puerto Rico. They will reflect on the significant progress and great experience in the development of new initiatives for School Health Promotion in Latin America. At this time we wish to take stock of the achievements and outline plans and actions for the future. Some of the questions and reflections of this webinar are:

1. How relevant is it to outline the regional agenda in School Health Promotion (PSE) at the regional level?
2. What affirmative steps are being taken at this time to strengthen PSE at the regional level?
3. What should be the political, structural and programmatic priorities to configure the regional PES agenda?

Register here. Registration is free. After registering, you will receive a login link for the webinar.

More information

Webinar series

This webinar is the first of a series of five webinars around the theme “Towards a new agenda for School Health Promotion in Latin America and Spain”. The following webinars are planned:

Date	Topic off the webinar
17 November 2022	Towards a regional agenda for School Health Promotion in Latin America.
19 January 2023	Assessment and opportunities to strengthen research in Health Promotion on children and adolescents in Latin America.
16 March 2023	The curricular experience in School Health Promotion.
11 May 2023	The Promotion and Education of Comprehensive Sexual Health in educational systems.
28 September 2023	The importance of inserting the gender perspective in educational systems and school curricula.