Healthy hillingdon

Hillingdon is the beautiful healthy environment with 165 parks and open spaces and nearly 1,000 acres of publicly accessible woodland. There are many outdoor activities centers, aimed to provide outdoor and environmental education for the whole community but with priority given to young people and those who are disadvantaged or disabled. However, what is most interesting about this suburban settlement is that local government offers a range of services to help children and adults keep healthy and active. Healthy Hillingdon, one of the most important health promoting programs in England, is a partnership between NHS Hillingdon and the London Borough of Hillingdon.

The basis of Healthy Hillingdon program is a voluntary work of many different organizations, individual health advisors and organizations, to promote healthy habits and create different environments able to support and maintain good health especially in schools.

Why Healthy schools?

Schools are excellent places to shape the future generations and promote health, education and well-being in children. Healthy schools program is aimed to create environments where physical activity and healthy eating are easy to get to and encouraged. Healthy schools are especially important in communities with such a great cultural diverse, as it helps all of the children, no matter of their backgrounds, to develop the same healthy habits. School is the important institution able to shape the basic patterns of behavior, which may have a great impact on health and overall well-being. Healthy Hillingdon Schools' Scheme involves collaboration with other agencies and communities that have the collective will to bring about positive change.

What are healthy schools?

The Schools’ Team is developing a comprehensive school approach to health in schools. Goal is to reinforce health education, but not only in school but also within the wider school environment. The School’s Team provides different kind of services that may be summarized as:advice and guidance on policy and curriculum development, training on appropriate teaching strategies and learning styles, provision of resources to support health education, support on handling difficult issues (e.g. drug related incidents, pregnancy),development of quality standards in peer education, peer support and counseling services.Hillingdon Healthy Schools’ Scheme was first accredited in 2002, and two years later the scheme was recognized by the National Healthy Schools’ Scheme as an example of good practice.