This Is Guernsey

THREE schools were awarded with Healthy School Standard yesterday. Amherst Primary, St Mary and St Michael and Vale Junior pupils were presented with certificates. It was the third time that Amherst had been accredited and the second time for St Mary and St Michael and the first for the Vale.

Amherst head teacher Tracey Moore was delighted with the accolade, which also saw PSHE subject leader, Sally Rickard awarded.

‘Sally has been really instrumental on the programme,’ she said.

‘The good thing about it was making sustainable changes so things will carry on.

‘Years 5 and 6 have been doing buddy reading, which they love, and it’s good to make the school feel like a family, now we are one school.

‘It’s been a really exciting programme to be involved with and we get a lot out of it for the school.’

Children from each establishment presented their work in front of parents and teachers at a special ceremony at Rue Mainguy Activity Centre.

Each school carried out a year-long initiative, implementing activities and projects as part of their curriculum.

An assessor from the Hampshire Local Education Authority then validated each school.

At St Mary and St Michael the children were involved in a spirituality week, took trips around the island and learnt through their geography lessons about things such as the growth of bananas. They were also recognised for creative projects undertaken as part of their trips around the island.

Vale Junior made its pupils become more active by giving them pedometers to see if that increased the amount of walking they did.

It also raised money for Comic Relief by letting the pupils come to school in their pyjamas and older pupils helped younger students with their reading.

Amherst looked at healthy eating by swapping unhealthy snacks in their tuck-shop for fruit.

A new scheme to improve behaviour was set up by children getting a teacher to check a box when they had behaved.

If they reached 50 boxes they would receive a bronze badge, 100 and they were given silver and 150 gained them gold.

Deputies Martin Ozanne and Peter Roffey presented the awards to the children, as well as the school nurses and teachers who spearheaded the scheme this year.

‘I think this a brilliant initiative and an excellent presentation from the young people today,’ said Deputy Roffey.

‘All the children have done brilliantly and those involved have done an awful lot of work outside their working hours.

‘It was really encouraging looking at the work around the walls.’