Schools are powerful settings to build healthy communities, reaching nearly all children during critical developmental years. Schools are central hubs and link directly to home and community; and can model wellness promoting environments for all.
Creating healthy school communities entails enhancing the implementation and success of taking a comprehensive school health (CSH) approach. Wellness is a precondition for learning, and CSH has proven effective in improving health behaviours while also improving educational outcomes. CSH is an internationally recognized framework that incorporates individual, interpersonal, community, and organizational factors to address school health holistically.
The purpose of the SIRCLE Lab is to advance and mobilize knowledge in the area of school health. We do this by delivering and evaluating school- and community-based healthy living programs.
More specifically, the SIRCLE Lab:
- Advances evidence through school-based intervention research and program evaluation
- Uses evidence to inform both policy and practice to enhance CSH action and build healthier communities
- Works directly with school communities and their allies to identify school health priorities, strengths, and barriers to taking a CSH approach
- Strengthens collaboration among stakeholders working to advance healthy school communities across Canada
