Health For Life – Primary Schools in Birmingham

The Health for Life programme promotes an ethos and environment which encourages a proactive approach to developing a healthy lifestyle.

The Health for Life in Primary Schools programme is funded by Mondelēz International and delivered by Services For Education. It aims to make a sustained and demonstrable improvement in healthy lifestyles across Birmingham. The Health for Life in Primary Schools programme supports primary schools in engaging their community in healthy active lifestyles and embeds the work in the school culture and curriculum to promote sustainability. It is intended to increase pupils’ knowledge and skills and effect changes in healthy lifestyle attitudes and behaviour.

A Celebration Event is held halfway through the implementation phase (around June) and is a great way to share ideas; to motivate you all to continue, and to showcase the programme to VIPs like the Lord Mayor, MPs, people from the Local Authority, Public Health and the next cohort of schools.

At the end of the implementation phase there is an Awards Ceremony to celebrate and recognise the work that you have all done.

We invite 2 members of staff and up to 4 children to each event to showcase what they’ve done that they are proud of.

Around 12 schools are selected each year to take part in the Health for Life in Primary Schools Programme in order to ensure that each school has a sufficient level of support.

Selected schools will take part in the programme for a period of four terms. During this time they will receive support to plan and implement the programme to suit their particular circumstances.

We do require a level of commitment from each school joining the programme, because if a school drops‑out halfway through the programme their place can’t be offered to another school.

Services For Education recruits schools in the summer term in order to start the programme the following September. Information is sent out by email, post and during an online briefing session to eligible schools.

Autumn Term

With the help of a Services For Education Adviser you will:

• Ascertain starting points and record them
• Get children involved to review current practice
• Complete on‑line baseline surveys with pupils
• Complete a baseline audit of school practice
• Identify barriers and factors that hinder progress
• Develop ideas that will promote change
• Nominate a member of staff to attend the two funded training days
• Prepare an Action Plan that will structure and keep track of resources required, jobs, dates for completion and success criteria
• By the start of December submit your action plan to the steering group for approval. This will trigger the first part of the grant (£3,500 to be paid in two stages).

Spring Term

With the help of your Services For Education Adviser you will:

• Start to implement your Action Plan
• Engage the whole school community in progress and change
• Address all strands in a way to encourage engagement
• Collect evidence of impact (ongoing).

Summer term

With the help of your Services For Education Adviser you will:

• Continue with implementing your Action PlanAttend the celebration event in June to help share good ideas (compulsory)
• Take part in BBC Gardeners’ world wheelbarrow event (optional)
• Continue to engage the whole school community in progress and change
• Continue to address all strands in a way to encourage engagement
• Collect evidence of impact (ongoing).

Autumn term

With the help of your Services For Education Adviser you will:

• Continue with implementing your Action Plan
• Continue to engage the whole school community in progress and change
• Continue to address all strands in a way to encourage engagement
• Take part in the ‘Cookathon’ (optional)
• Collect evidence of impact (ongoing)
• Repeat the online surveys with pupils
• Repeat the school audit
• Collate evidence of impact.

Spring term

You will:

• Continue with sustainable activities in your Action Plan
• Attend the Awards ceremony.

During the Autumn and Spring term there are four courses to be attended by an appropriate member of staff from each school.

Example Activities

The objective is to make a measurable increase in the amount of regular physical activity of pupils in order to promote a healthy lifestyle.

• Active play in school grounds
• Play leader training (and implementation) for pupils

The objective is to make a measurable improvement in the diet of school children through cooking and healthy eating activities.

• Development of a recipe book for use in schools and at home
• Making healthy soups, drinks, picnics snack foods
• Cooking competitions between schools (with focus on healthy eating)
• Practical cooking lessons (with focus on healthy eating) with pupils
• Practical lessons on cooking through the ages (with focus on healthy eating)

The objective is to actively involve parents and families in promoting and adopting healthy, active lifestyles.

• Use of parent partnership workers
• Sharing of information through letters/emails/school website
• Train as walk leaders
• Family bike rides/family picnics
• Sending recipe home to cook as part of homework
• Sending seedlings home to grow at home

Accreditations and Partnerships:

The programme supports Change4Life and offers a range of opportunities to encourage families towards leading healthier lifestyles and works in partnership with Life Education Centres, Birmingham Adult Education Service, Sport Birmingham, Run Birmingham, Let’s Get Cooking, Grow to Learn, the Conservation Volunteers and more.

The programme is funded by Mondelēz International. Health for Life is delivered in Primary and Nursery schools by Services for Education and the community programme is delivered by The Conservation Trust.

“In less than 12 months of running the Health for Life programme, we’ve exceeded everything we hoped to achieve. It’s brought a whole community spirit back into school.”
– Teacher, Lakey Lane Primary

“In light of the statistics, it’s so important that children are educated on the importance of being active and eating healthily now more than ever. The Health for Life programme effectively engages young people in a fun and educational way.”
– Dr Adrian Phillips, Director of Public Health, Birmingham

“You feel really proud that you’ve helped to grow the foods that you’re eating.” – Y5 pupil

“Health for Life has a really beneficial impact on the life of the school. This learning will stay with our children for the rest of their lives and hopefully they will build on what they’ve started here and it will be something that really will be health for life.”
– Teacher, Sladefield Infants School

The main documents that you will need through the course of the Health for Life programme can be downloaded by clicking on the links below.

Why take part in the Health For Life Cookathon?

We are very proud to have such an amazing community of schools across Birmingham. The Cookathon is an exciting event which offers a chance to celebrate and promote healthy lifestyles, whilst working safely and collaboratively.

You can also use the Cookathon to:

• Create or strengthen links with parents and families (if you invite them in to join in).

Offer your pupils a real‑life opportunity to embed your DT curriculum in an inspiring way.

• Promote your school to the rest of your school, group or community.
• Promote healthy eating to others.

Share your successes!

We would love you to share your pictures and stories with us so we can see how you got on, on the day and after the event.

This will also help us to create a real healthy eating buzz on social media in the education community and beyond!

Please tweet your photos and use #Cookathon2025 so we can see what you’re doing and tag us in @SFE_Tweets & @SFE_SS

Who can take part?

Any schools can take part, in fact the more the merrier! The recipe and instructions will be made accessible to all.

Cookathon FAQs

We know the thought and preparation that go into organising school events, so we will make this as easy as possible for all to take part. Please see our FAQs below for some info.

Schools vary enormously in the facilities they have – some schools have a classroom just for cooking, other schools will have portable cooking equipment that goes from class to class. It is up to you where it is best to do the cooking – we don’t mind so long as it is safe for the pupils and also that they have fun doing it.

It would be great for as many children as possible to be involved. You could have several classes either cooking at the same time or over the school day – it’s entirely up to you.

And if you are inviting in parents or other people you could have some children write the invitations, act as waiters/waitresses serving the dish.

When cooking in schools you do need to do a risk assessment ahead of the event. As part of the risk assessment you would need to check on food allergies of any guests that you might invite.