Health, Fitness and Wellbeing

As a Health Promoting School, St. Mary’s aims to:

• provide pupils with information on a range of health-related issues;
• equip pupils with the knowledge, attitudes, values, skills and behaviours that will empower them to manage their personal health and well-being; and
• enable pupils to reach their full potential in terms of educational and health outcomes.

Health Education within St. Mary’s ensures that pupils have access to information on a broad range of matters such as smoking, healthy eating, fitness, alcohol, drugs, sex, and mental health. Many subject areas contribute extensively to Health Education. Subjects such as Home Economics, PE, Science and Personal Development include a range of health-related topics. In addition, St. Mary’s pupils benefit from the support of various health agencies which deliver programmes within the school, including activities, talks and seminars.

A designated teacher with responsibility for Health Education throughout the school ensures that St. Mary’s adopts a whole-school approach to the promotion of health and well-being.

In St. Mary’s, we are fortunate to have a Student Health Officer who, in addition to responding to the medical needs of pupils on a daily basis, also contributes to the school’s Health Education Programme.

We aim to develop pupils’ awareness of the importance of personal fitness and regular exercise and their understanding of the benefits of a physically active lifestyle.

Our pupils are encouraged to engage in regular physical activity in school through extensive curricular and co-curricular opportunities, including: timetabled PE lessons for all pupils in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4; designated ‘Gym Periods’ for students in Key Stage 5; training for school sports teams and matches; and participation in sporting competitions.