GONE are the days when being a healthy school just meant serving fruit and vegetables in the canteen and encouraging pupils to take part in sports clubs.
In order to obtain the Government's enhanced healthy school status, teachers must prove they care for pupils' emotional, social and mental well-being as well as their physical.
The first secondary school in Essex to achieve the enhanced status is Moulsham High, which has put in place a wide programme of activities.
Nicola Morrish, head of citizenship, said: "We achieved enhanced status as we run a very comprehensive programme which covers areas such as raising confidence, building self-esteem, tackling any emotional issues such as bereavement, and cutting down on exclusion.
"Ensuring our students are healthy mentally and physically gives them the best possible chance of focussing on their academic studies.
"There are so many projects going on around school that relate to different areas of health and we are really pleased to be the first secondary in Essex to get the status. It's brilliant to know you are leading the way."
And the school has even been asked to e-mail their list of activities to other schools in the county to act as a blueprint on achieving the healthy status.
As part of the project ,older pupils at the school have become youth health trainers following an intensive coaching programme in various aspects of health, such as the damning effects of smoking and alcohol.
They then spread the messages to younger children in the school.
Sixth formers Emma Cooper and Anastasija Majakovaite, both 17, volunteered to be trainers.
Emma said: "We came up with the idea of running a competition at Moulsham Junior School asking pupils to invent a superhero based on healthy food.
"We went in and ran an assembly to teach them about various health aspects such as why we need to get enough sleep, and then laid down the challenge."
Anastasija added: "We've had more than 60 entries and are amazed by the quality of them. The children were really inventive and drew some brilliant characters."
The school is also teaching first aid to every Year 7 pupil, with a refresher course offered to those in Year 9.
Lucy Roberts, 12, enjoyed taking part in the 'HeartStart' course which involved watching a DVD then practising CPR on a dummy and putting friends in the recovery position.
She said: "The course was really useful to me, as straight after I started my rookie lifeguard training. It's good to know what you should do in an emergency."
Despite a loss of national funding, the Healthy Schools Programme in Essex has continued and is supported by Essex County Council in partnership with the NHS public health department.
Zoe Odd, child health improvement leader at Central Essex Community Cervices, helps schools achieve the status.
She said: "The skills, knowledge and understanding that pupils gain from learning about healthy living will help them during their school-years and, we hope, their lives.
"We are currently working with 134 other schools on the Healthy Schools Programme and we hope that they will be as successful as Moulsham High."
