In 2001 Huddersfield New College (HNC) with Kirklees Healthy Schools Team (KHST) formed a task group to produce the Kirklees Healthy College Standard (KHCS), after identifying that vulnerable young people in colleges had often been neglected in terms of health initiatives.
Students also designed art work for the standard which was published in 2003 with funding from the KHST.
From 2003 the Healthy College Network based at HNC; with representation from colleges and PCT's, were able to share good practice and monitor the effectiveness of the KHCS. It also helped raise the profile of the initiative.
In 2006 over £5000 was made available by the National CAMHS Support Service & LSDA to produce 500 copies of the KHCS for colleges across the country. Significant local work was undertaken by Kate Birch on secondment to the Kirklees Healthy Schools Team from HNC.
The National Healthy College Network (NHCN) held a conference in 2007 attracting interest from department of health. This led to a scoping exercise and announcement by FE Minister Bill Rammell of a nationally funded Healthy Further Education (FE) Framework in July 2008.
HNC piloted the process of achieving the standard over several years and was awarded Healthy College status in 2007.
Many copies of the KHCS have been distributed nationally. Recipients have included general FE colleges, sixth form colleges, agricultural colleges and specialist colleges.
Some colleges (both sixth form and FE) have been accredited through the Kirklees Healthy Schools team, many more have used the standard and local Healthy Schools teams to accredit or support their work.
Kate Birch works with colleges in Kirklees to promote health amongst learners through the Kirklees Healthy College Standard and other approaches.
As a result of national developments with a healthy FE Framework, it is no longer appropriate for colleges to seek accreditation for the Kirklees Healthy College Standard.
You may find the attached files a useful tool for getting started on health initiatives in colleges, although it is no longer accredited.
See below the download criterion paperwork to document evidence against the performance indicators.
A copy of the Kirklees College standard is available for colleges outside Kirklees from Huddersfield New College