School Health and Wellness

CSBA Committee on School Health and Wellness is committed to working in partnership with government, non-government, and community partners to advocate for active healthy lifestyles. Benefits to creating healthy learning environments include: greater overall achievement, well-rounded students, decreased discipline problems and improved attendance, improved lifelong health, reduced disparities.   We are committed to demonstrating leadership and providing a national voice in responding to the health and wellness challenges of students across Canada. Our Charter of Commitment provides a clear mission, terms of reference and a framework for our work.

From our partners at PHE CANADA…

“Healthy children have increased capacity to learn and develop the values, attitudes and skills necessary to be competent, effective and resilient adults. Learning environments that promote and support student and child well-being focus on their cognitive, emotional, social and physical development – a whole child/student approach. This comprehensive approach aims to improve student health and educational success through the creation of healthy school communities.

A healthy school community promotes a culture of wellness for all its members: students, teachers, administrators, principals, staff, parents, and community partners.  Together, the school community implements plans to create an environment that supports healthy choices among its members.”    

The above organization provides resources, frameworks for Healthy School Communities and current research.  Please visit  http://phecanada.ca.

Other links: 

• 2018 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children & Youth (“The Brain + Body Equation”) [NEW Jan 2021]
• Association of supervision and curriculum has excellent resources: www.ASCD.org
• The Joint Consortium for School Health is a Pan Canadian partnership of provincial, territorial and federal Health and Education Ministries to promote student wellness and achievement in the school setting.  There are many useful links and information on current practices: http://www.jcsh-cces.ca
  • Find their toolkit here: http://wmaproducts.com/JCSH/ 
• Public Safety Canada provides services and information on topics such as emergency preparedness, crime and security, diseases (e.g., Coronavirus), and impaired driving. [NEW Jan 2021]

Sites that provide research, guidelines, and resources specific to mental health:

• https://mindyourmind.ca  
• http://teenmentalhealth.org 
• What to Expect from Your Child’s School in Children’s Mental Health [The F.O.R.C.E. Society for Kids’ Mental Health via BC Mental Health and Addiction Service]