How do we work?

Teacher training

We conduct at least 8 hours of training of school teachers before they can start teaching our Health curriculum. These can be employees of Tarang Health Alliance, who teach in government schools or teachers of private schools. This is done physically or online.
We promote formation of a School Wellness Committee School wellness committee:

The Wellness Committee should develop a School Wellness Policy. The Wellness Policy should be executed and monitored by a School Wellness committee.

The Wellness Committee should be chaired by the Principal or a designate. Its members should include health education teachers, school counselor, PE teacher, school nurse, person responsible for school food services, two parent representatives and two student representatives. It should meet at least every 3 months.

We implement a Comprehensive School Health Program.

What is a Comprehensive School Health Program?
There are eight components of a Comprehensive School Health Program as shown here.
Health Education (40 Hrs/yr)

Health Education

To develop healthy lifestyle habits, health education of students is most important. This includes topics related to physical, mental and social health as well as life skills. We recommend that forty hours per academic year be allocated to this. Our curriculum has been developed for Class VI-VIII students.

Students Be Physically Active For 60 Mins/day

Physical activity

All students should be active for at least 60 minutes per day. This includes moderate to intense physical activity.

Conduct Family Engagement Sessions

Family engagement

Communicating with the parents of the student is important because they are the role models of physical, mental and social health at home. Since they control the family nutrition they need to be aware of what is healthy nutrition. We recommend that we talk with these parents (online or offline) for one hour every month or at least for one hour every two months.

Teachers be role models

Students look towards their teachers as role models also. Therefore, the teachers should practice good physical, mental and social health habits in school. This includes eating lunch with the students and ensuring that their diet is healthy.

Healthy Nutritional Services At School

Nutritional Services at school

The health services at school i.e. school canteen should only provide healthy food options. No fast foods or colas should be sold. This is monitored by the Tarang staff..

Emotional And Physical Safety At School

School safety

The students should feel physically and emotionally safe at school. There should be no culture of bullying as it can have long-term damage on the children. This should be monitored by the school Wellness Committee.

Health Services At School

School Health Services

The school should have a nurse/doctor and a health counselor on staff. The school nurse/doctor should create a “Health Card” for each student. The height, weight, blood pressure and anemia testing should be done at the beginning of the academic year. This health card should be shared with the parent and recommendations provided. If any of the parameters are not within normal limits, it provides motivation for students and parents to improve their health habits.

Assessment

To determine the impact of the school health program on the students, we conduct two types of assessment at the beginning and end of the academic year. We assess the changes in “Health Knowledge” and “Health Behavior” utilizing OMR questionnaires. We also assess the culture of health in the school. This is called the School Health Index (SHI). SHI is measured twice a year.

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