Newquay Tretherras Health Month successfully engaged students and staff to make improvements in everyone’s healthy lifestyle.

This year Newquay Tretherras launched a new month-long initiative that offered a series of workshops and activities that were delivered during lessons, at break and lunch times, in after school clubs and over the weekends. A wide variety of sessions were put on by Tretherras staff, external health care professional agencies and community partners covering diverse interests, topics, and lifestyle habits.

Over the month, each week focused on a health theme and delivered activities to support it with the overall aim of making positive steps and awareness for students and staff in improving their physical and mental health.

Week one focused on Mental Wellbeing and Mindfulness, with workshops delivered by Health Cornwall that looked at techniques and virtual lifestyle assessments. Young People Cornwall made Emotional Wellbeing workshops available to students whilst Better Leisure offered Yoga sessions to students and staff.

The second week focused on the Sixth Form students. Drop-in sessions and conversations were on offer from Healthy Cornwall and Brooke regarding relationships and sex education.

In the third week, Wyzup and Healthy Cornwall worked to raise Awareness of Addiction delivering workshops and drop-in sessions focused on Education of harm reduction around substance misuse.

15 Sixth Form Students were invited to take part in a PTI and Survival Skills day and also got to experience basic parachuting training.

In the final week, themed around Nutrition and Activity, South West Chef of The Year, Neil Haydock, delivered a workshop on taste receptors and what makes food taste good. Hall for Cornwall delivered a Creative Movement workshop with all age groups across the school. Cornwall College delivered a range of Nutrition Information workshops and Career and Aspiration talks with Year 9 students. Year 9 students also attended a Forging workshop at the Newquay Orchard where they collected vegetables and wild nettles to make Nettle soup.

Over the course of the month, after school Bike club, with the support of Sustrans continued to offer free bike checks to anyone who cycled or scootered to school. The weekly use of the Tanita Scales, fancy scales that measure body BMI, hydration, % body fat measured and metabolic age proved very popular amongst staff. Wax at the Newquay Sports Centre offered a free family bootcamp morning and the Heron Tennis center put on a family Tennis day.

Newquay Tretherras Teacher, Miss Millatt who coordinated the months’ worth of events commented, ‘It was a privilege to see so many young people and staff engage positively with all the activities and workshops we had running.’

Miss Millatt added, ‘ A massive thank you to all the local businesses and services that came in and ran workshops and lectures for our pupils. Including Neil Haydock from the Watergate Bay Hotel, Louise Trainer from Cornwall College, HFC, Wax, The Orchard and RAF St Mawgan’.

As an outcome of the Healthy Month at Newquay Tretherras, many services are continuing their work in the coming months to provide additional support to all Tretherras pupils.