The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), Children's Services and Skills is a non-ministerial department of the UK government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, including state schools and some independent schools. According to Ofsted's inspection, Tackling childhood obesity is a shared problem: By the start of primary school, almost a quarter of children in England are overweight or obese. This rises to over a third by the time children leave year 6. The World Health Organisation (WHO) European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) was established more than 10 years ago to estimate prevalence and monitor changes in overweight and obesity in children. Countries from Southern Europe (Greece, Malta, Italy, Spain, and San Marino) had the highest levels of severe obesity, above 4%. As a result, there is a strong need for educators and parents to work together in order to make young people aware of obesity and healthy choices. Additionally, there is also a strong need to improve language competencies as according to research, language proficiency levels among students at the end of their compulsory education are low across the EU - 14% for the first language and 20% for the second—do not even reach the ‘basic user’ level. Objectives: #1 To develop an educational game for young people in order to prevent obesity and its adverse consequences during childhood, as well as longer-term prevention of obesity in adulthood #2 Explore the use of innovative educational practices and to create technology-rich learning environments for both teachers and students. #3 Create community environments that promote and support healthy food and beverage choices and physical activity. #4 Enable teachers to further develop awareness and use of the conventions of English language, speaking skills and transferable skills. #5 Boost a Europe-wide collaboration among educators as well as education researchers and professionals, exchanging innovative, effective and engaging approaches to obesity prevention and also English education #6 Transfer of innovative teaching methods to numerous teachers, to enable them to explore and share innovative tools and techniques #7 Enable students to improve both their ability to communicate and their linguistic competence in English Target groups: • Students (11-14): Due to the fact, that students are targets of all education efforts, this project will greatly improve students' knowledge of : - nutrition - why healthy choices are important - English - communication skills - digital skills - sport activities • Teachers: teachers must have a stronger emphasis on building capabilities across the key competencies such as digital skills, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the ability to problem solve and make quick decisions. To achieve our objectives, we believe that a positive transformation is best achieved when networking, visibility and recognition are triggered and encouraged. We will provide this by empowering teachers, students and schools with this project and the partnership across Europe, to find a common & valid training method across all the EU countries involved. Intellectual Outputs (IOs): IO1: Minecraft like educational game to teach students nutrition, healthy food, obesity, its consequences and healthy choices. IO2: project website, which will include the lesson plans (IO3) and digital booklet (IO4) IO3: Lesson plans for teachers including the importance of selecting foods which provide the proper balance of vitamins and nutrients, highlighting fun games and activities students can participate in which enhance both emotional and physical development IO4: Digital booklet for parents and teachers including meal plans, and fun and healthy recipes that children can prepare for their families or in school if such facilities are available at school. This booklet will encourage children to consider what they eat and how it affects their bodies. The partners consist of 6 organisations, a STEM Academy, three NGOs, a teacher training organisation and an upper primary school. Some of the impact include: • implementation of community 'health champions' to encourage local participation such as managers of youth or children's centres, school governors or parent groups, or those who organise walking or gardening groups • identification of barriers and facilitators for families engaging in the intervention • optimisation of the programme and delivery to a larger population One of the examples of the short-term impact would be the knowledge gained of nutrition in order to tackle obesity. One of the examples of the medium impact would be addressing obesity prevention and management. One of the examples of the long-term impact would be 2% reduction of overweight and obesity among our children and young people.
To develop an educational game for young people in order to prevent obesity and its adverse consequences during childhood, as well as longer-term prevention of obesity in adulthood. Explore the use of innovative educational practices and to create technology-rich learning environments for both teachers and students. Create community environments that promote and support healthy food and beverage choices and physical activity. Enable teachers to further develop awareness and use of the conventions of English language, speaking skills and transferable skills. Boost a Europe-wide collaboration among educators as well as education researchers and professionals, exchanging innovative, effective and engaging approaches to obesity prevention and also English education Transfer of innovative teaching methods to numerous teachers, to enable them to explore and share innovative tools and techniques Enable students to improve both their ability to communicate and their linguistic competence in English Expected long-term results: opportunities to implement cooking and more PE into the curriculum, provide accessible information to parents about what their child is doing at school, and implement the intellectual outputs into the curriculum.
We applied for this project as we recognised the need to tackle childhood obesity through educational technology. AISR decided to develop an educational minecraft-like game for students aged 11-14 to teach them about healthy choices, nutrition, and the consequences of obesity. Partners wanted to enhance their understanding of nutrition, healthy choices, activities, and English education in a European context; and to develop formal and informal, curriculum-aligned educational materials. Needs addressed: - Tackle the increasing levels of severe obesity among children & the associated health risks & low self-esteem in countries from Southern Europe, UK and Turkey - Improve teachers competencies/skills: use of digital tools in education, knowledge about theories & methods of second language acquisition, nutrition & obesity prevention - Enhance students 21st-century skills: communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and creative thinking; knowledge of English; knowledge of nutrition - To develop an educational game that promotes healthy food and beverage choices among 11-14 year olds - To help students understand the risks associated with poor nutrition and limited physical activity - To innovate nutrition related education