Meetings
The National Network is convened by SHPSU several times a year to discuss local and national developments and share information and experience.
Spring 2007
The first National Health Promoting Schools Network meeting of 2007 took place at the Jury’s Inn, Glasgow in February.
Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit Director, Wendy Halliday, welcomed network members and outlined the day’s programme, which had a focus on health improvement priorities and was designed to give those attending the opportunity to hear from a range of speakers.
Craig Cunningham, General Manager (East Kilbride Locality) South Lanarkshire Community Health Partnership (CHP), provided an informative presentation on the work of the CHP.
Anne Lee, Health Improvement Programme Manager (Education), Health Scotland, spoke about the aims and key areas of the organisation’s work and a ‘who’s who’ of the different teams. She then introduced the remaining morning speakers, who focused on aspects of work currently underway within Health Scotland.
Rachael Roberts, Learning and Development Adviser, described the building of local partnerships for the planning, delivery and sustainability of ‘Nutritional Guidance for Early Years’ (Scottish Executive, 2005). Her presentation gave network members the chance to reflect by posing questions that need to be considered if implementation of the guidance is to be effective.
The Walk the Talk initiative was the focus for Nuala Healy, Health Improvement Progamme Manager (Young People). She explained the drivers for this programme, how it is being adopted, research around school nurses and the potential for partnership work in health promoting schools.
Focus on tobacco
The morning session ended with a presentation and discussion about Tobacco Control in Scotland. Anne Kerr, Health Improvement Programme Manager (Tobacco) and Kerry McKenzie, Public Health Adviser (Substance Misuse) provided an overview, which included looking at the current problem, outlining the policy context and exploring what can be done.
There was an opportunity for discussion on the consultation document, ‘Towards a Future without Tobacco’ (Scottish Executive, 2006). Graham Stevenson, network member for Dundee City Council, offered some thoughts to stimulate discussion following his attendance at a consultation event in Aberdeen. A number of important points were made by the group and Bridget Doogan, Development Manager, SHPSU who facilitated the discussion, collated these and submitted the response to the Scottish Executive on behalf of the network.
Later in the day Geoff Huggins, Head of the Mental Health Division at the Scottish Executive, offered the network a national perspective on children and young people’s mental health. He covered aspects of delivering positive mental health and also gave a short history of the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS).
Concluding, he encouraged network members to consider how they might contribute to some of the wider issues, including informing the future direction of the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being and exploring the possibilities within approaches such as social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) in schools.
Network members were then given the opportunity to consider and discuss the implications for work in their local area that had arisen from the wide range of presentations given throughout the day. Key points from these discussions were recorded and collated.
Rounding off the day an update from the national conference planning group was provided by Bridget Doogan and Anne McLaughlin, NHS Forth Valley network member. The conference, ‘Health at the Heart of Learning’, will take place in Edinburgh on 9 November 2007 and a delegation from each council and NHS board partnership will be invited to attend.
