Comprehensive School Community Health

The Comprehensive School Community Health (CSCH) approach allows for families, students and communities to work together to ensure that the school is a healthy environment to support student success.

CSCH encompasses four integrated components:

1. High-quality teaching and learning
2. A healthy physical and social environment
3. Family and community engagement
4. Effective policy

When creating a healthy school environment, it is beneficial to use the CSCH approach when addressing:

• mental well-being;
• nutrition; and
• physical activity.

The ministries of Education and Health develop the CSCH e-Newsletter to raise awareness, understanding, and support of CSCH with key stakeholders throughout the province. The CSCH e-Newsletters are released three times a year (October, January, and May) and highlight:

• current government initiatives;
• provincially or nationally produced tools and resources;
• health promotion events and supportive resources;
• CSCH local stories from the education and health sectors;
• local grant funding opportunities; and
• professional development.

The Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health (JCSH) is a partnership of provincial and territorial governments from across Canada, working together to promote the well-being and achievement of children and youth in the school setting. The JCSH offers tools and toolkits, reports and resources to support schools and community members. The resources address specific topics such as mental health or youth engagement or are used to share their success with others across the country.

To learn more about the Joint Consortium for School Health and to access their resources, please visit the JCSH website.

Research shows there is a relationship between positive health behaviours and increased student success. The JCSH has developed a free assessment tool, the Healthy School Planner, that schools can use to assess their current health environment (i.e., nutrition, mental health, tobacco and physical activity) and develop a plan to make improvements.

To learn more about the JCSH Healthy School Planner and to access the tool and additional resources, please visit the Joint Consortium for School Health website.

Anna Grumbly
Student Supports Unit
Student Achievement and Supports Branch
Ministry of Education
anna.grumbly@gov.sk.ca
306-787-4350