Introduction

The network was created in 2008 in the Region of Aragon (Spain) by the Department of Education and the Department of Health of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Aragon and is managed by the Joint Health and Education Commission.

A healthy school promotes health literacy and provides experiences relevant to health. The purpose of a healthy school is to empower students with values, skills and motivations to promote health and wellbeing, fostering the development of basic competences that allow them to enjoy health as a way of living an autonomous, solidarity-based and fulfilling life.

Network approach

The Network voluntarily integrates schools providing education (3-16 years) with a three-year commitment (renewable) to promote the health and well-being of the school community within their educational and curricular project. Schools applying for integration have to complete a situation analysis and an accreditation questionnaire, which assesses four aspects

1) Organisation as a health-promoting school;

2) Actions on health determinants: Nutrition; Physical activity; Emotional health and coexistence; Consumption of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs/ Consumption of screens and internet;

3) School programming; and 4) Health education programmes.

Outcomes

There are currently 191 educational centres accredited as health promoting schools in the network (34.9% of the total in Aragon).

Accredited centers as Health Promoting Schools perform process improvement, innovation and mainstreaming of the integration of health dimensions in the educational project. Health Promoting Schools valued as high or very high involvement of teachers (96.1%), collaboration of families (73.4%), integration into educational programming (93.7%) and action tutorial (93.8%), and the development of life competencies (88.3%).

The 2021 progress report of the health promoting school teams assesses the achievement of the proposed objectives as high or very high in the following areas: emotional health (94%), physical activity (93%), environmental health (90%), nutrition (89%) and consumption of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs and consumption of screens and internet (61%).

Conclusions

The network encourages the exchange of experiences and the recognition of models of good practice. It also supports the mainstreaming of health literacy.  Promotor schools have had good capacities to face the challenges of the pandemic.