A Health Project in IES Valle de Aller

ASTURIAS-SPAIN

The Secondary School IES Valle de Aller has been working in this Health
Project since 2007, but many teachers had previously worked on these
issues. We basically work around 7 areas, which are:
1. Coeducation or equality in education for boys and girls, including
prevention in gender-based violence.
2. Coexistence and bullying prevention in an educative context, together
with the School’s Mediation Programme.
3. Emotional and Sexual education.
4. Drug addiction prevention programme in both legal and illegal
substances.
5. Promotion of healthy eating habits and exercising as a source for
human well-being.
6. Education for responsible consumption.
7. Environmental education including the improvement of the physical
and psychosocial environment.

The main pillar in this project is our blog, which has been shortlisted several
times in different educative contests. And the most relevant part of the
programme is the one dealing with recycling.

The project’s blog is our pillar and database. We have 6 themed sections,
where we upload the most relevant activities. We are going to have a quick
look at the blog and remember the activities we have done through the
years in the different sections.

1
SEXUALITY
The school takes place in the programme ni ogros ni princesas (Not ogres
nor princesses) which works inside the tutorial programme during the four
years of Secondary Compulsory Education, where students approach their
emotional and sexual changes through their adolescence years as well as
they fight the creation of stereotypes around gender, sex and sexual
orientations. We also include activities about contraceptive methods and
HIV International Day (1st December).

WITHOUT DRUGS
Here we have a look about addictions to drugs, both legal and illegal and its
consequences as unhealthy habits. We make special emphasis on smoking
and alcohol drinking, as even if they are legal drugs, they are harmful. A
very interesting activity we carried out some years ago was the so called
“Smoking Bottle”.

HEALTHY HABITS
In this section we have a collection of pieces of news and activities about
healthy habits, how to cook in a healthier way and many other things. Our
main activity here is the already well known HEALTHY BREAKFAST, an
activity that has taken place several times with a great success among our
students. Once or twice a year, our students come earlier to school and they
learn how to prepare a healthy, tasty and good breakfast before they start
the lessons. That breakfast include natural fruit juice (orange mainly), milk,
toast with butter and jam or marmalade, fresh fruit, meat and cheese, etc...
This year with the cooperation from the hotel and catering vocational school,
we have introduced the activity “the fruit clock”
to promote fruit and vegetables in our diets, which hast been a great
success too.

2
ENVIRONMENT
Here, together with all the activities previously mentioned about recycling
we also include topics such as climatic change, global warming and
responsible consumption.
Last year, First of ESO students celebrated the International Environmental
day planting trees and making this short presentation in English.
In the year 2007 the school, from this project and through the natural
sciences department, got involved in a programme for recycling in schools.
We took part in a contest with our activity ecoauditoría de papel y cartón
(paper and cardboard eco-audit), in which 1st year of Secondary
Compulsory Education (ages 12 and 13) made a survey about how much
paper do we waste and what does that cost to the environment, as regards
water and energy consumption, CO2 emissions and trees.

The school was selected and awarded together with other 5 schools in the
region for the most interesting and efficient projects on recycling. With the
award, the students and teachers involved on it decided to make a school
diary where tips on recycling and environmental topics are the main
features.

COEXISTENCE AND COEDUCATION

Here we find a combination of activities about gender-based violence and
how to prevent it, women rights, activities on the International day of
Women (8th March) which include our yearly comic contest Clara
Campoamor as well as activities like our yearly charity run for the
integration of disabled people in a school and everyday life context.
Students run with sponsors, who can be teachers, friends, parents,
relatives... who give money for each run they make, all the money collected
goes to Save the children.

3
This has been a quick and shallow look on the project’s blog about our most
important topics, issues and activities held along these years.