Educating children to lead healthy lives

Primary school children have been exploring the benefits of healthy living as part of a GP practice awareness raising initiative.

gtd healthcare’s Millbrook Medical Practice in Stalybridge visited Millbrook Primary School as part of an exercise to educate pupils on the importance of healthy living.

The event included the practice nurse and manager delivering a health awareness talk during the school assembly, followed by four to seven-year-olds visiting the GP practice for a presentation and activities.

Pauline McGonigle, practice manager at Millbrook Medical practice, said the event was a huge success.

"It was such a great opportunity to educate the children about the work we do at the practice and how we can all contribute to our health and wellbeing by taking simple steps, such as eating fruit and vegetables and exercising,” she said.

"Following our talk at the school, the children walked to the practice and we shared a picture PowerPoint presentation with them on good and bad food, immunisations and the importance of sleep.

"Further activities included stories read by the practice nurse, the children listening to their heart beat with a stethoscope, which they found fascinating, and the younger children were shown how to brush their teeth properly. The visit culminated with a tour of the practice, being presented with a certificate, bottle of water and a box of raisins.”

Elizabeth Turner, headteacher at Millbrook Primary School, said everyone was grateful to Millbrook Medical Practice for investing their time in this valuable exercise.

"Feedback from the children and teachers following the visit has been extremely positive,” she said.

"We are keen to encourage and embed a pro-active approach to developing healthy lifestyles among our children and look forward to working with Pauline and her team again in the near future.”

Millbrook Medical Practice is passionate about engaging with and meeting the needs of its local community. The practice recently organised basic life support training for St Raphael Primary School in Millbrook and has received a Gold Pride in Practice Award in recognition of staff commitment to strengthening and developing the practice’s relationships with their LGB patients.

Core to our values is contributing to the wellbeing of our local communities – we aim to be more than a health care provider alone. We look for opportunities to bring wider health benefits to the communities in which we work.