Health-Promoting Upper Secondary School

-Automatic translation

Health-Promoting Upper Secondary Schools promote health and prevention from a broad and positive perspective. The aim is to promote the well-being of all in the school community, both students and staff.

The approach provides opportunities to strengthen contact with the local community and thus increase support and opportunities for students and staff to adopt a positive and healthy lifestyle.

Participation provides

• Access to the online system heilsueflandi.is, where each primary school manages the school's health promotion activities

• Guidelines on the process and the use of heilsueflandi.is

• Access to lectures and educational material

What is a Health-Promoting Upper Secondary School?

Health-Promoting Upper Secondary School is not a project with a beginning and an end but an approach that will be useful in future work. Each upper secondary school works at its own pace, and the school is expected to take up to a year to prepare.

Main emphasis

The main emphasis is on the following topics: exercise, nutrition, mental health, tobacco-, e-cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, equality, sexual health, and safety.

In addition, there are two subjects about personnel and work procedures.

Numerous studies support this approach, showing that a health-promoting environment improves student well-being, contributes to improved academic performance, and reduces dropout rates.

Preparation

The preparatory work is to

• forming a steering committee

• checking the status of the upper secondary school

• drafting a health policy

• filling in a checklist on a website that participating upper secondary schools have access to. Each school can evaluate its status and track targeted health promotion activities.

• Here is a checklist that upper secondary schools work with.

Cost

Participation is free of charge, and no preparatory work is required before applying.

Application process

Applying implies that the primary school has committed to working systematically on health promotion and that the school administrators confirm this by signing the application. After the application is received, the primary school will get access to the website heilsueflandi.is as well as other information to help them start their work. 

• Council of Health-Promoting Upper Secondary Schools