Nelson Park Primary School
- School location Napier
- School decile 3
“It’s not just about nutrition and physical activity, it’s about helping children make cool choices. That’s what we are trying to achieve” – Principal
The school ethos and organisation
The principal of Nelson Park Primary School has a vision for 'developing the whole child' – he wants children to leave the school with a toolbox of experiences they can use at their next school. “It’s not just about nutrition and physical activity, it’s about helping children make cool choices. That’s what we are trying to achieve.”
Health promotion is woven tightly into the ethos and activities of this primary school, but the change has happened slowly, targeting a couple of key issues at a time. This realistic approach to change has been one of the big success factors. “It’s a matter of stepping back and supporting the staff to further grow health promotion.”
The principal is fully behind health promotion work, and has allocated teacher funding for health promotion for the equivalent of one afternoon a week. Health promotion is firmly integrated into Nelson Park’s environment and is written into the school’s strategic plan as one of four main goals.
Curriculum programmes
The principal also sees helping staff enjoy their work as important in helping children learn: “Happy teachers are happy kids and happy kids are happy teachers.” As principal he tries, as much as possible, to consult with teachers about the school’s direction and to empower them to create that same direction for their classroom. “Staff see the benefits of healthy kids to their jobs. They want to teach. Students now come with so much baggage from the media and dysfunctional families. We try to provide a culture that deals with that collectively.”
Co-curricular health promotion opportunities
One of the first changes the principal made was to encourage teachers not to use sweets as rewards for good behaviour or academic performance. The second was changing the canteen menu. Both of these have been successful. Each day, the school stops at 11:30am for Energiser Breaks. All students are encouraged to eat fruit at this time, and individual classes may also undertake some activities.
The school community and environment
Fizzy drinks are not allowed at the school, and parents are discouraged from sending these with their children. Water is considered ‘brain juice’ and is promoted as healthy and important for the children to adopt as a habit. Teachers, aware of families that are under significant financial stress, occasionally provide students with lunch. There is no stigma attached to this, and hungry children are often brave enough to ask for food.
The canteen service did not provide healthy options and lacked parent support, so it was closed and replaced by Subway orders on Fridays. Prior to the closure of the canteen, the older students surveyed other students about food for the canteen and investigated healthy drink options.
School and community partnerships
The school has a strong parent group called Friends of the School, whose main objectives are:
- informing parents on matters of interest pertaining to the school community
- bringing parents, teachers, and the community together for social activities
- raising funds to provide facilities, opportunities, and resources for members of the school community.
They also play a hands-on role in helping coordinate the Friday lunch orders from Subway, fundraising, and encouraging other parents to play a more active role in the school.
Another successful venture has been the establishment of gardening clubs for students. These clubs are run by parents and have culminated in several awards, with the vegetables that are grown eaten by the students, sold, or given away to staff or parents. Parents of current and former pupils donate fruit and vegetables from their orchards and farms, and these are distributed throughout the school. Classes also visit local orchards for their school projects.
Nelson Park intends to start working with Napier Intermediate School to try to provide a more coordinated approach to learning about healthy lifestyles.
