Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1) Category:
• General program
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
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
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