A Healthy School as defined by the World Health Organization is said to be one that consistently strengthens its capacity to be a healthy setting for living, learning and working.

Healthy School Assessment Tools are designed to use an organized way to think about, integrate and build on the many healthy school ideas and activities that already influence the culture of schools and assist a school to identify and prioritize areas for improvement as they relate to the components of a healthy school.  Use of an Assessment Tool does NOT dictate any particular course of action.  Neither is it intended as an external evaluation.

This year, NEW members of the Healthy Schools Network will be using a new assessment tool, the online Joint Consortium for School Health - Healthy School Planner.  Previous year members may continue to use the BC Healthy Schools Assessment Tool to ensure consistency and ability to measure year over year progress and results.

The Joint Consortium for School Health (JCSH) Healthy Schools Planner is an online tool designed to help Canadian schools create healthier environments.  It offers individual schools a way to access the overall state of their environment as well as the choice to zero in on one of more specifice topics such as healthy eating, physical activity or tobacco use.

Use of the Assessment Tool is intended to:

• stimuate discussion between and within systems
• confirm the value of existing healthy school policies and practices, and
• support schools to design a plan for creating positive change and improvement

For more information about the JCSH Healthy Schools Planner click her for a downloadable "How to use the JCSH Healthy Schools Planner" and click here to view an information video