Facts4Life

About

Facts4Life is a health literacy curriculum for early years, primary and secondary settings (including parents) that provides opportunities to learn about and look after our physical and mental health. The resource is written by experienced teachers and is designed to harmonise with other curriculum areas.

Facts4Life teaches a new way of thinking about our health which challenges commonly held beliefs about illness and builds resilience. We do this by exploring three key ideas:

• Riding the Ups and Downs – sometimes we feel well, sometimes not. That’s normal!
• Keeping Balanced – we often don’t recognise that most of the time, most of us get better from most illnesses without medical help 
• Smoothing the Path – we can learn to take greater responsibility for our health and respond positively to life’s challenges 

We work in a range of settings:

We provide online training programmes and resources for early years (including childminders), primary and secondary schools. We also run workshops for family support workers and pastoral teams including teaching assistants and SENDCos.

Our work with settings in Gloucestershire is funded by Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board and is currently free to all Gloucestershire settings. If you would like to find out more, please contact us.

What does Facts4Life do for schools?

• Complements key elements of the Science and PSHE curriculum
• Helps children to look after their mental health;
• Facilitates openness about safeguarding by promoting coping strategies to manage risk;
• Can be used to promote good attendance;
• Encourages participation in physical activity and addresses diet and healthy weight;
• Supports schools in the Ofsted judgement on Personal Development

What difference does Facts4Life make?

Research by UWE, Bristol into the effectiveness of Facts4Life has shown statistically significant changes in attitudes towards the need for GP visits and medication, improved confidence in managing mental health and overall a growing resilience. 

What do children say about Facts4Life?

“The lessons are interesting and help me to feel control over my life.” 

“I do have a mental health thing, it’s anxiety, and sometimes my anxiety can get really bad. It was nice to talk about it and to let other people know, instead of just keeping it a secret.”

“My favourite thing was learning that I can work things out for myself and do things to help myself.”

What do teachers say about Facts4Life?

“I can’t wait to get started and I think it will make a big difference. I’m also very impressed that there are resources that parents can access as a lot of our parents struggle to know how they can support their children at home.”

“Great resources for our setting, children, practitioners and parents. Access to online resources is great. I can share with other practitioners.”

“I feel empowered to run sessions for children who are experiencing mental health issues.”

Further Information and Contact:

For further information on the work of Facts4Life, please contact:

John Davis, Director                                    john@facts4life.org        

Hugh van’t Hoff, Director                           hugh@facts4life.org    

Liz Bastock, Project Development            liz@facts4life.org  

or visit the website                                      http://facts4life.org