The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has praised Tower Hamlets schools for leading the way in encouraging children to live healthily. This news comes hot on the heels of the news announced by Ofsted that Tower Hamlets is among 9, out of 150 council’s in the country, whose secondary schools are all rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.
Five schools in the borough were presented with awards as part of the launch of Healthy Schools London. The initiative – aimed at improving children’s health and achievement – was rolled out following a successful pilot scheme, which Tower Hamlets took part in.
Mr Johnson said: “Congratulations to the schools that have achieved bronze status in Tower Hamlets. I am delighted to support Healthy Schools London, which builds on the excellent efforts many of our schools are already making to tackle obesity and get our young people more active.’’
Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, was proud of the borough’s success.
He said: “I’m pleased that the Mayor of London has recognised the tremendous efforts being made here in Tower Hamlets to ensure our children are living healthy lives. We have continued to invest in our commitment to the Healthy Schools initiative, where other local authorities have cut theirs. As a result we know we have schools which are leading the way in healthy living. Our children are not only leaving school with an excellent education, as we saw from last week’s Ofsted report, but also vital life skills and the important habit of leading active, healthy lives.”
Notes to Editors:
1. Healthy Schools is a nationwide initiative aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles for pupils and to improve pupil achievement. Supported by Tower Hamlets Council’s Healthy Lives Team, schools across the borough have been active participants in the scheme. Ninety per cent of the borough’s schools have Healthy Schools status and a celebration event is being held on July 2 to mark their achievements.
2. The first five Tower Hamlets schools to be presented with the Healthy Schools London bronze award are: St Peter’s London Docks Primary School,Kobi Nazrul Primary School, Cyril Jackson Primary School, Ian Mikardo High School and Redlands Primary School. A further 74 Tower Hamlets schools are also eligible for the Mayor of London’s Healthy School Award, due to their excellent work around health and wellbeing.
3. Healthy Schools London is voluntary and includes an awards scheme. Around 1,500 schools in 20 out of 32 boroughs (62%) currently undertake activity that could make them eligible for an award.
4. More details can be found at http://www.healthyschoolslondon.org.uk/
For information about this press release contact Numan Hussain, Political Advisor to the Mayor, on 07508 352 023 or email numan.hussain@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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