Healthy School - Healthy Teachers

  • KA1 Erasmus+ project "Step To the Future School" deals with health as well as the technology. Teacher Siniša Trajbar participated in a course "Healthy School - Healthy Teachers" and got useful materials from eduKarjala, the course organizer. The course was set in Spain, in a beautiful town of Fuengirola near Malaga. The daily schedule was morning exercise or swimming, course activities and lectures and some free time for a cultural event. The course deals with three main topics:

    1. Physical activity of school children
    2. Health and nutrition
    3. How to prevent "burn-out"

    The organizers summarized everything in these presentations and we will present them here for teachers, parents, children and the whole communities to become healthier and fitter.

    One of the aims of our project is to educate people to live healthier at home and in school and by following these simple rules, you are bound to succeed in that! Changing the school menu can also be a part of becoming healthier and choosing the food we eat does not always have to be more expensive.

     

    1. Physical activity of school children

    The organizers of the course are from Finland and they presented the national action programme "Finnish Schools on the Move" aiming to establish a physically active culture in Finnish comprehensive schools. Schools participating in the programme implement their own individual plans to increase physical activity during the school day. Finnish Schools on the Move programme is one of the key projects in the field of knowledge and education in the Government Programme of Finland. The goal of the government is that "the Schools on the Move project will be expanded across the country to ensure one hour of physical activity each day".

    Physical activity and sedentery time

    Decreasing excessive sitting during school lessons is an opportunity to participate in the programme ideology. The promotion of physical activity among school-aged children consists of both increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary time. This requires measures to be undertaken both at school and at home.  During the school day, physical activity can be increased by adding more physical education lessons, promoting active commuting and encouraging physically active breaks.

    During schools lessons, sedentary behaviour can be decreased by implementing active learning methods involving short active breaks, in order to support optimal learning and avoid long periods of continued sitting. Decreasing excessive sitting during school lessons is an opportunity for all school personnel to participate in the programme ideology.

     

    How does physical activity affect learning?

    School makes you move and sit still.

    Changes at the schools on the move 2013–2015.

    Finnish Schools On The Move Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx-oJQCRczELVIYq7OAuF1w

     

    2. Health and nutrition

     

    3. How to prevent "burn-out"

    They say that the "burn-out" is the problem of the modern society. It represents the psychological and physical response to higher stress at workplace. The tips below will help teachers stay positive and happy and remember how to relieve stress when necessary: