Health and Well-being

Developing the whole child and taking account of their wellbeing in all aspects of their learning is at the centre of the ethos of both schools. We work very hard to make children feel included and appreciated as individuals.

As is clearly seen in the Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” children need to feel well; safe and secure; a feeling of belonging and a sense of achievement before they can achieve personal growth and self actualisation.

We have a well developed and consistent behaviour policy that was carefully developed with input from staff, governors, parents and children. We are always keen to hear from parents about their viewpoint of how their child is progressing in their emotional development.

Miss Kennedy is our personal, social and health co-ordinator and she plans for the many aspects of this education that children experience in school.

We work closely with other services to ensure that children receive the maximum amount of input about keeping healthy and making positive life choices.

The School Nurse works closely with school staff to follow up on any concerns we or parents have about the children and she works with small groups and whole classes on issues around keeping healthy.

Our Clinical Psychologist works very successfully in school with children and families for whom she has received a referral.

Working closely with parents and carers means that the school are able to pick up on any issues concerning a child’s wellbeing quickly and help to make things better.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Christ Church and Holy Trinity Primary Schools endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued. Child protection forms part of the school’s safeguarding responsibilities.

If a parent or carer has any concern about the health and safety of their child at our school, they should share this information with an appropriate member of staff.

Name and Role

Avis Hawkins: Designated Safeguarding Lead

Donna Verity: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Matt Link: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Lesley Palmer: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Rachel Cuperman: Designated Governor for Safeguarding

Nicola Kennedy: e Safety Lead

Keeping Children Safe in Education

These are the key documents about keeping children safe in education. All those that work with children must understand these documents and know what to do if they are worried about a child. Every member of staff who works at Christ Church and Holy Trinity Schools has received training on implementing the information within these documents and will do everything they can to protect children from harm.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education–2

Healthy eating

Exciting Times in the kitchen

In September 2014 we reviewed the school lunchtime meal offering at Christ Church and took the decision to completely change the way that we provided lunch. As a result, we no longer have an outside school meals catering provider, but instead employ our own kitchen chefs directly. The new lunch provision has been very much informed by the feedback from children, staff and parents, and that feedback is continuous and ongoing.

One of the main advantages of having our own kitchen staff, is that they can work more closely with teachers, the school curriculum and the kitchen, to fully promote and educate the children about healthy eating. This really helps to bolster and reinforce the food, and other education topics (such as science and maths) that is already going on in the school. Research suggests that educating children at an early age about healthy food choices, sets them up for a life of healthier, better eating.

Our ingredients are of the highest quality, our fresh food is sourced locally, is seasonal, cooked fresh daily, and from scratch, and is not processed. Our menus are checked and informed by the borough’s schools nutritionist. We also cater for those kids with food allergies and intolerances to certain foods.

In February 2019 we extended our exceptional lunch provision to include making the same high quality meals for Holy Trinity.

Meat Free Days

In line with raising awareness of environmental issues at the school, Mondays and Wednesdays are, and have been from day one, meat free days at both schools. Fridays we serve fish, so essentially we only offer meat on two out of five days. We strongly believe that gently alerting young children to the fact that: consuming fewer animal products, and instead choosing more plant based proteins and sustainable food options, is of global importance. Also, that reducing one’s own consumption of meat and processed foods, has personal health benefits too. Every meal is fully balanced for maximum nutrition and more importantly for excellent taste. We are aware that with so many busy parents and carers, the school lunch is possibly the most important meal of the day for many of the kids eating it. Therefore it must deliver high nutrition, a good balance of all the right food groups, to give energy for the afternoon’s learning, and most importantly, it must be delicious.

Our Suppliers

Our head chef has complete control over the sourcing of all the food that comes into the school. That includes sourcing locally produced, homogenized dairy milk for our breakfast club. We basically see ourselves as no different to Gordan Ramsey’s restaurant situated just up the road and we source local, best quality suppliers, often negotiating excellent deals for top quality produce such as free-range meat and dairy products. Every penny paid into the school for school meals is spent on the best quality possible, raw materials for cooking, and the staff to cook them. We very occasionally change our suppliers when new, better deals or providers become available.

Butcher (free-range meat and eggs)

9 Elystan St, Chelsea, London SW3 3NT http://www.jagobutchersofchelsea.co.uk/

Fishmonger (fresh fish)

Brixham Sea Fish Brixham Sea Fish Ltd, Unit D, New Fish Quay, Brixham, TQ5 http://www.brixhamseafish.com/

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (and some dairy) Euro Harvest Ltd New Covent Garden Fruit & Vegetable Market, Nine Elms, London SW8 5HH

Dairy (unhomogenised Jersey and Guernsey milk) The Estate Dairy www.theestatedairy.com

Italian produce, dry pasta, larder products/tinned produce Prestige Food and Wine Ltd Fairway Trading Estate, Unit 10, Green Ln, Hounslow TW4 6BU www.prestigefoodandwine.com

Allergies and Food Intolerance

Although our kitchen teams are relatively small, we do our very best to deliver an equally outstanding lunch provision to those children with specific food allergies and doctor certified food intolerance. This is achieved by carefully studying and adhering to the individual’s medical notes and meeting with the parents of the child, to fully discuss and consider suggested alternatives available.

It would be true to say that the kitchen will do it’s best to cater for food preferences throughout the school. Our head chef, along with Mrs Hawkins, discusses menu preferences with year classes to obtain valuable feedback about favourite meals at school (and at home) as well as less favoured meals. This valuable information helps us to best plan and determine the ongoing seasonal three week rolling menu. We also monitor daily the whole schools eating patterns to determine which meals are successful and which meals might require further tweaking. Essentially if meals do not inspire the children to eat, we do remove them from the menu. Clean plates and contented kids inspire us hugely. The proof is in the eating.

On the first day of the new academic year Reception parents or carers are invited to join us for Reception Class’ first school lunch. This is terrific fun and allows all new parents a chance to see and sample first hand the type of food their children will be eating for the rest of the Reception year. All parents are also invited to join the children for lunch in regular “Parents to Lunch” sessions over the year. This is an opportunity to enjoy lunch with the children and to see for themselves just how buzzing the school hall is at lunchtime, how each unique sitting is served, and how delicious the food is.

Staff regularly eat lunch with the children. They encourage slow or hesitant eaters and set an example on good eating habits and healthy choices. There are three sittings for lunch so that all the children have a positive experience and have lots of time to eat and spend time at the dining table with their friends. There is an emphasis on manners and best food etiquette, which is very much promoted by our lunch time supervisors, kitchen staff and teaching staff.

There is a rolling three-weekly menu that is regularly revisited, adapted and led by the seasons, but that is also in line with Government healthy eating requirements. As previously mentioned, children help review and shape this evolving menu. Each new term sees a new seasonal menu reflecting changes in seasonal fruit, vegetables, meat and fish etc. We are delighted to say that we are also lucky enough to use produce grown by the children, in our own school gardens. This food is by far the most delicious and exciting to taste. Furthermore, the children get to develop an acute understanding of how their food is grown, how seasonal food is relevant to sustainable living and how rewarding healthy food choices really can be when shared with others. Fantastic life skills and great lifelong learning.

Packed Lunch Guidance

Christ Church and Holy Trinity Primary Schools are committed to ensuring the health and well-being of all children at the school. We have developed a Whole School Food Policy in order to improve food and drink across the school day. Within this policy we have included guidance on which food and drinks are allowed and not allowed within packed lunches.

We hope that this guidance will help you pack a healthy lunch for your child.

The Eatwell Plate

Your child’s lunch box should be based on the Eatwell Plate. The Eatwell Plate has been developed by the Food Standards Agency in order to help us to understand the proportions of the different food groups that make up a healthy, balanced diet.

No single food group will provide us with all the nutrients that we need. The table below gives you examples of foods that sit under each of the food groups. Those foods that are high in fat and/or sugar have been restricted within packed lunches.

Food Group  – Function

Starchy Foods – Provide sustained energy to help kids run, play and learn

Fruit & Vegetables – An important source of vitamins and minerals

Milk & Dairy – Provide calcium, which helps to build strong bones and teeth

Meat, Fish, Eggs and Beans – Protein and iron in these foods are essential for strong blood and repair of body tissues

Foods High in Fat and/or Sugar – Are low in other nutrients, damaging to teeth and can lead to weight gain

Lunch Menu

First aid

We aim to provide a safe working environment for all staff, children and visitors to the school so that accidents very rarely happen. All activities are carefully risk assessed and possible potential accidents are anticipated.

Having said this accidents can happen and children do get ill during the school day. We have three fully trained first aiders in the school who always deal with and accidents or injuries that occur in the school.

We have a health and safety policy that incorporates First Aid procedures that the school follows.Please refer to this for further information.

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Our First Aiders

Health checks

Our School Nurse

We have a school nurse who is provided by the Local NHS PCT. Her name is Cherie Bowerman she visits the school weekly and follows up on any referrals from staff or parents with concerns about children’s health. She is also able to sign post other health services that a parent may need to access.

The school nursing service supports class teachers in the delivery of all health related teaching including sex and personal relationships.

The school nurse performs hearing and sight tests for all children in Reception class and provides parents with a report on their findings and any concerns they may have or issues that need further investigation.

The school nurse also completes height and weight tests for children in Reception Class and Year 6 and these results contribute to local authority health data as well as being used to report to parents on their child’s weight.

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Our School Nurse

E-Safety

The purpose of the Internet in school is to increase the opportunities for pupils to access a wider range of resources in support of the curriculum.

It supports the professional work of staff and enhances the school’s management information and business administration systems.

Access to the Internet is a necessary tool for staff and pupils. It is an entitlement for all pupils as it helps them to develop a responsible and mature approach to accessing information.

Internet access is purchased from a supplier that provides a service designed for pupils. This includes filtering appropriate to the age of pupils. We have an extensive internet usage policy that gives more detail about our practices to ensure children use the internet safely.

Pupils using the Internet are always supervised appropriately. They are taught to expect a wider range of content, both in level and in audience, than is found in the school library or on TV. Pupils are taught to validate information before accepting it as true and to discriminate between fact and opinion.

Issues of cyber bullying are explored with children and they learn how to use messaging systems safely.

We run internet safety sessions for parents that explain our processes, checks and policies and very importantly look at ways to keep children safe when using the internet and messaging technology at home.

More information on Keeping Children Safe on the Internet can be found here.

Road safety

As part of her role as Personal, Social and Health Co-ordinator, Mrs Webb leads the schools on issues of Road Safety.

We are part of the Junior Road Safety Scheme. We have road safety officers each year who help to educate the whole school about keeping safe on and around roads.

The JRSOs and all their helpers are a huge help to the Road Safety Officer for the local area, as they help promote road safety issues within the school and local community.

Every November we have a road safety awareness week where we focus on how children keep themselves safe when out and about and crossing roads.

Health Advice

On this page we have links to outside health organisations which may be helpful to you. One of the most common ailments within schools are tummy upsets/bugs which have a tendency to be passed on more viruently amoungst pupils and staff! At our school we ask parents/carers to keep their children away from school for at least 48 hours after an episode of vomiting or diarrohoea.

Please see the helpful link buttons below and the table of information provided by our school nurse and produced by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Health Education Working Group.

Air quality

We are actively engaging with ongoing research at both schools looking into the quality of the air our children are breathing. We have measured the air quality inside and outside the schools and are looking at ways to improve our practise so that the quality of the air our children breathe is enhanced.

It is very important that the school environment protects children’s health and does not increase exposure to air pollution. School-aged children spend a great deal of time inside school buildings. They are more vulnerable to airborne pollutants than adults not only because of their narrower airways, but also because they generally breathe more air per kilogram of body weight. The exposure of children’s developing lungs to air pollution can result in reduced lung function that persists through to adulthood, increasing susceptibility to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Research suggests that ventilation rates keeping carbon dioxide (CO2) levels between 600 and 1,000 ppm may improve cognitive performance of students. Ensuring good air flow in classrooms and around the school is important and also maintaining temperatures as close to 20˚c is thought to also help with creating the optimum learning environment so all classrooms have a thermometer to check the temperature in classrooms at different times of the day.

Both schools, being in London, and both near busy roads mean that we need as educators to be actively thinking about how we can ensure that the air that our children is breathing is as clean as possible. Year 6 have taken part in a project looking at the importance of having a green wall of ivy surrounding a playground as it forms a ‘barrier’ along busy roads and in playgrounds to ‘block’ out toxic fumes. Research on urban vegetation suggests that it can help reduce the impact of pollution on people and buildings by acting as a pollution sink. The transport of pollutants from nearby traffic sources in urban areas can be effectively reduced by using green barriers. We have installed green wall infrastructures at both schools around the perimeter of the schools to reduce the impact of pollution in near road environments.

When we engage in the many outdoor activities and visits to places in and around the local area we do consider walking routes to attempt to take children using a route that has the cleanest air.

The clean air route finder is really useful.

There are two monitors outside the schools to measure the air quality outside our schools. This information is being collated over an extended period as we will benefit from advice on how to respond to the findings over the coming months.