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Ever Active Schools

1) Category:
• General program

2) Issues Behind the Program:


• More and more Canadians are overweight or obese (Tremblay & Willams, 2000).
• 57% of children and teenagers are not active enough for healthy growth and
development.
• Active children are less affected by stress, show a more positive attitude towards school
and themselves, are less aggressive, and adopt better behaviours with fellow students
(Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 1992).
• The emergence of comprehensive school health as an effective approach.

3) Objectives:
• To promote social and physical environments conducive to a healthy and active lifestyle
in Alberta communities
• To promote within schools the benefits of physical activity, healthy eating habits and
good mental health

4) Environment:
• Primary and secondary schools
• Community

5) Target Group:
• Students from 5 to 12 years old

6) Key Words:
• Ever Active, coeuréaction, school-family-community partnership, general program,
health, physical education, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, nutrition, mental health

7) Description:
• This program, designed for all students, uses a comprehensive approach towards health.
Student participation and leadership are promoted and students are encouraged to use
multiple strategies. Teaching methods and physical and social settings are diversified.
Promising practices based on proven theories and on evaluated outcomes are applied.

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/. Page 1 of 5
• This program is integrated within the school curriculum. This way, the health
information conveyed at school, at home and within the community is clear and
consistent.
• Two main programs: Physical and health education are the two foundations that offer
student equal opportunities to learn the benefits of an active and healthy life.
1. Physical education program (kindergarten through the completion of secondary
school)
Goal: To encourage individuals to increase their knowledge and to develop skills as well
as the attitudes necessary for a healthy and active lifestyle.
o Activity: Students acquire an array of skills through participation in a variety of
activities (dance, games, gymnastics, individual activities in an alternative
environment, e.g. aquatic, outdoors).
o Health Benefits: Students are given the opportunity to understand, experience and
appreciate the benefits of physical activity: improved physical condition, better
body image, increased sense of well-being.
o Cooperation: Students interact with each other in a positive way: communication,
fair play, leadership and teamwork.
o “Do It Daily – For Life!”: Students take on responsibility for their own active
lifestyle: effort, safety, goals, personal challenge, staying active in the community.
2. Health program and learning life skills (kindergarten to halfway through secondary
school)
Goal: To allow students to make their own informed healthy choices and secondly, to
develop behaviours that contribute to their own well-being and that of others.
o Well-being: Students make informed and responsible choices that allow them to
maintain their health and foster a safe environment for themselves and for others.
o Relationships: To establish and maintain healthy relationships, students develop
effective interpersonal skills that demonstrate responsibility and respect.
o Learning life skills: Students use the resources they have in an effective way so they
can manage and explore career opportunities and the role they will play in life
through learning strategies, volunteering, etc.

8) Steps:
I. Organizing a meeting to introduce the team to the “health evaluation tools” for schools
(Healthy Assessment Tool for Schools), followed by a situational assessment
II. Discussing the results from the situational assessment
III. Planning measures and activities to establish in order to meet specific goals
IV. Holding a feedback meeting on the results of the measures

9) Activities/Actions:
• The Ever Active approach takes into account four important aspects:
o Everyone: Collaborating in a meaningful way with the people involved in the
everyday life of the school, and equal and inclusive opportunities for everyone to
make healthy choices.
 Shared Vision: The school community (i.e. students, teachers, school staff,
administrators, parents and community members) develops a shared vision of
their health-promoting school.

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/. Page 2 of 5
 Ever Active Committee: Students, teachers, school staff, administrators,
parents and community members are active participants on the Committee,
whose primary purpose is to develop and implement an HPS plan.
 Equal Opportunity: Students, teachers, school staff, administrators, parents and
community members, regardless of gender, age, ability, race, religion, or
socioeconomic status, are invited to participate. All events are accessible to all
students.
 Community Involvement: The Committee fosters partnerships and
communication with parents and community members to support the school’s
health-promotion plan.
o Education: Supporting a culture of learning for all school community members,
including wellness-related programs for students and health-promotion learning
opportunities for teachers, staff and parents.
 Curriculum Implementation: Students are engaged in quality learning
experiences to achieve the outcomes included in all wellness-related programs.
 Adult Learning Opportunities: Teachers, school staff, administrators, parents
and community members have consistent access to learning opportunities
related to health promotion.
o Environment: Fostering safe social and physical environments in the school, home
and community, implementing policies that enable healthy active lifestyles and
cultivating a place where everyone knows they belong.
 Healthy Social Environment: Students, teachers, school staff, administrators,
parents and community members are engaged and feel connected to the school
environment.
 Healthy Physical Environment: The school environment provides physical
support for healthy living, and facilities are maintained for safety and access.
 Policies: Policies, requirements and initiatives are developed at the provincial,
regional, district and school levels to support a health-promoting school
approach.
o Evidence: Collaboratively identifying goals, planning for action and gathering
information to indicate the effectiveness of actions to support healthy active
lifestyles throughout the school community.
 Health Promoting School Plan: The Committee develops a plan to ensure that
goals, initiatives and resources support the school community’s shared vision.
 Assessment: The Committee, in partnership with Ever Active Schools, gathers
and reviews data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the HPS plan.
• Examples of activities for the program:
o Projection of workout films
o Parent-child cooking class
o Police Boot Camp
o School Olympics
o Walking school bus: Adult supervisors follow the school bus route and pickup
children at each stop, but the route is travelled on foot.
o Writing activity on ways to keep active

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/. Page 3 of 5
10) Resources Required:
• Human resources:
o Parents
o Community
o School staff
o Health professionals

11) Roles of the Participants:


• School staff and health professionals:
o make recommendations for the practice of physical activity;
o develop programs;
o encourage young people to be physically active and to eat well;
o encourage parents to get involved in the activities of their children, to serve as
models and mentors for their children, to take part in physical activity and to adopt
a healthy lifestyle;
o propose strategies;
o ensure a healthy environment;
o offer school facilities for community use.
• Community:
o makes recommendations on ways to stay active;
o encourages young people to stay active and to eat well;
o serves as a model and as mentor for children by having its members stay active and
adopt healthy lifestyles;
o proposes strategies and ensures that children grow up in a healthy environment;
o gets involved in the decision-making process.
• Parents:
o get involved in the activities of their children;
o spend time doing physical activity on their own and with their children.

12) Scientific Basis or Validity:


• According to the Howard Research & Management Consulting Inc. evaluation report, the
2005 program benefited all parties involved and was effective in meeting its goal.
• The structure of the Ever Active Schools program is based on various scientific findings
from research and from evaluations: http://www.everactive.org/research.
• Howard Research & Management Consulting Inc. evaluated the 4th year of operation in
131 schools.

13) Program Material:


• Website: http://www.everactive.org
• Promising Practices guide:
http://www.everactive.org/uploads/files/Documents/EASPromisingPractices.pdf

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/. Page 4 of 5
• Support tools for teachers:
http://www.everactive.org/resources
• Educational material for young people, “Healthy Active School Communities”, summer
and winter editions:
http://www.everactive.org/uploads/files/Documents/2008HASCsummer.pdf
http://www.everactive.org/uploads/files/Documents/2008HASCwinter.pdf

14) Additional Information:


• The information contained in this factsheet was taken from:
o http://www.everactive.org;
o http://www.everactive.org/uploads/files/Documents/EASPromisingPractices.p df.
• This general program was used in over 200 schools in Alberta in 2010.
• It is financed by three ministries: Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, Alberta Health
and Wellness and Alberta Education.
• It is a comprehensive health-based approach (CSH).

15) Contacts:
• Ever Active Schools
Percy Page Centre, 3rd Floor
11795 Groat Road
Edmonton, Alberta
Tel.: (780) 454-4745
Website: http://www.everactive.org/contact

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/. Page 5 of 5

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