Registered Health Coach, Joanna Shurety from Shurety Coaching is collaborating with the team at ELSA to help bolster their “Healthy Only Please!” campaign and share her expertise on how to live a healthier lifestyle.
Created to teach secondary school aged children how to understand, embrace and implement a healthy lifestyle, the Healthy Only Please! campaign covers everything from mental and physical health and the positive effect it can have.
The campaign feeds into the government’s ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ initiative and helps schools to add a wellbeing aspect to the curriculum without needing to pull staff away from their timetable and specialist subject.
Speaking of her role at ELSA, Joanna said; “Working with secondary school aged children has been so rewarding as you can see how much fun they’re having. Our sessions are often very interactive and you can see their confidence build as they engage with the content and each other. Students explore what it is to view food in a healthy way and understand what food does for them, in a positive and supportive environment.
Sharing the message about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to this age group has been a completely new experience for me, but one that I wouldn’t change for the world. There are so many conflicting opinions when it comes to nutrition and so much information out there that can be really overwhelming, so it’s no surprise that parents can struggle with what to teach their children. By working with schools we can help take that burden away from the parents and empower the children to make better choices,” added Joanna.
The Healthy Only Please! campaign focusses on all areas of self including:
- Mental health
- Physical health
- Social care
- Choice
- Self-esteem
- Self-expression
- Self-care
The key message is to focus on the things that be can be added into your life to make it better. It’s about making informed decisions and moving towards a more balanced way of living.
The Healthy Only Please! campaign launched in January at Marriotts school in Stevenage, Hertfordshire and was a roaring success. Here’s what the Assistant Head Teacher had to say:
“Jane and her team from ELSA delivered a ‘Healthy Only Please!’ day to 240 year 7 students, focusing on the 5 Ways to Wellbeing: Connecting, Being Active, Taking Notice, Keep Learning and Giving. This was delivered through a serious of workshops that involved the students in a number of different activities, including a work out with trainers from Nuffield Health, a Health Coach explaining healthy relationships with food and an activity requiring students to consider their current attitude and relationship with their phone, social media, television and gaming.
The students thoroughly enjoyed the day, and were fully engaged throughout.
The messages in this programme are an integral part of any school curriculum and helps us keep a focus on mental health and well-being, which is very important to us. We thank all of those involved for delivering such a thought-provoking, informative but also fun day for our young people.”
The campaign is currently being rolled out across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and will soon launch in Essex and East London too.
To find out more about the campaign and how it can be introduced into your school please visit www.elsa.education.
