Taken from the Lichfield Mercury - 23/11/09

A SECONDARY school in Lichfield has been recognised for its efforts to promote healthy living.

The Friary School was presented with a nationally recognised award during a recent Staffordshire County Council ceremony.

Pupils collected the trophy from Councillor Janet Eagland, chairman of the county's health scrutiny committee.

All of the authority's schools have signed up to Healthy Schools, a national long-term programme which aims to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of children.

To date, 279 of them have successfully gained the status and others are still working toward it.

The Friary School, off Eastern Avenue, was one of the latest to be presented with the award.

Councillor Veronica Downes, county council cabinet member for schools, praised those who received trophies at the ceremony. She said: "Congratulations to everyone involved. This is a wonderful achievement.

"These schools have shown that they have invested in being healthy and are dedicated to ongoing improvement and development in this area, equipping pupils with the skills and attitudes to help them make informed decisions."

A county council spokesman added: "Schools have worked closely with the county council and its local primary care trusts to achieve National Healthy Schools Status, which promotes the link between physical and emotional well-being.

"The National Healthy Schools programme recognises the achievement of schools within a whole school approach and is focused on four key themes of personal, social and health education, healthy eating and drinking, physical activity and emotional health and well-being."

'Spirited Dance' a triumph!

'Spirited Dance' was the brainchild of the School Improvement Division's Innovations Officer, Caroline Holder.  This project, focusing on building relationships between secondary schools and their partner primary schools, combined the grace and skills of dance with knowledge and understanding of faiths and belief systems.

The aim of the work was to explore the way in which dance is used to express beliefs in many of the world's faiths, and how individuals can use movement to develop their spirituality.  Dance artist Charlotte Edwards was brought in to work with students in their own schools on examples from the major faiths and all the pieces were brought together in a moving and professional production at The Friary.

The performance began with a Buddhist meditation walk featuring all those taking part.  This spiritual procession culminated in the stage being filled with young people in calm and respectful pose, setting the tone for the evening.  Younger students at The Friary then performed a piece focusing on Christian prayer which was full of symbolism.  Chadsmead Primary School presented their work on Hinduism through a lively performance based on the story of Divali.  The pupils of St. Stephen's Primary School had been studying Islam and incorporated complex patterns into their skilful combination of dances.  'Fiddler on the Roof' provided the music for Willows Primary School to demonstrate with enthusiasm their study of rites of passage in Judaism.  A rousing finale was presented by older students from The Friary who brought the exuberance of bhangra to the theme tune from 'Slum Dog Millionaire', providing a Sikh element to the programme.  To complete the evening, the pupils gathered together on the stage once more through their meditation walk.

The hard work that had gone into 'Spirited Dance' was evident and the student's' pride and enjoyment was self evident.  Comments of 'excellent and 'amazing' were heard from all quarters on the way out of the theatre.  No charge was made for the evening, but the audience gave generously to the Anthony Nolan Trust, a charity working to assist bone marrow transplants for those suffering from leukaemia.

Many thanks go to the staff and pupils of all the schools involved.  The performance exceeded all expectations for the project, and was nothing short of a triumph.