Health Improvement and Educational Attainment in Secondary Schools: Complementary or Competing Priorities? Exploratory Analyses From the School Health Research Network in Wales

Abstract

Background. Implementing health improvement is often perceived as diverting resource away from schools’ core business, reflecting an assumption of a “zero-sum game” between health and education. There is some evidence that health behaviors may affect young people’s educational outcomes. However, associations between implementation of school health improvement and educational outcomes remains underinvestigated. Methods. The study linked school-level data on free school meal (FSM) entitlement, educational outcomes, and school attendance, obtained from government websites, with data from the School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ) on health improvement activity collected in Wales (2015/2016). Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients and linear regression models tested the extent of association between health improvement activity and attendance and educational outcomes. Results. SEQ data were provided by 100/115 network schools (87%), of whom data on educational performance were obtained from 97. The percentage of pupils entitled to FSM predicted most of the between-school variance in achievement and attendance. Linear regression models demonstrated significant positive associations of all measures of health improvement activity with attainment at Key Stage (KS) 3, apart from mental health education in the curriculum and organizational commitment to health. Student and parent involvement in planning health activities were associated with improved school attendance. There were no significant associations between health improvement and KS4 attainment. Conclusion. Implementing health improvement activity does not have a detrimental effect on schools’ educational performance. There is tentative evidence of the reverse, with better educational outcomes in schools with more extensive health improvement policies and practices. Further research should investigate processes by which this occurs and variations by socioeconomic status.

Socioeconomic status, mental wellbeing and transition to secondary school: Analysis of the School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children survey in Wales

“…This association was maintained in all models, adjusting for primary school FSM entitlement, secondary school FSM entitlement and both, strengthening in magnitude in the final model. Our previous analyses have shown that the FSM entitlement of a secondary school predicts the largest portion of variance in pupil attainment between schools (Littlecott et al , 2018). In this study, the discrepancy between the socioeconomic composition of a young adolescent’s primary and secondary school explained almost 30% of residual variance in mental wellbeing, after within‐school differences in socio‐demographics had been accounted for.…”

Student health and well-being in secondary schools: the role of school support staff alongside teaching staff

“…A growing evidence base, however, indicates that health and educational attainment are synergistic rather than competing goals (Littlecott et al, 2018). Furthermore, education policy has increasingly diverged between the UK nations since devolution; in Wales, a number of recent policy developments have put support for health and well-being at the forefront of what schools are expected to do.…”

Structure of services and material health resources associated with the School Health Program

“…The origin of these proposals is deep-seated in the influence of the Health Promoting Schools movement, created by the World Health Organization in the 1990s. It proposed a change in the system, with the integration of the health and education sectors, the establishment of adequate settings, and the effective participation of the school community (2)(3) .…”