Across the Aberdare Schools Cluster, ten schools (two secondary, eight primary) completed the SHRN Student Health and Well-being Survey as part of SHRN’s 2023 secondary and 2024 primary cycles. Although SHRN data came from these ten schools, all fifteen schools involved in the Community of Practice contributed to identifying the shared cluster priority, drawing on their local context, experience and wider evidence.
What followed was a structured, collaborative project led jointly by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (CTMUHB) Health and Well-being Promoting Schools Team and informed by SHRN’s school-level data and local Health Board data.
Collaborating closely with schools and wider partners, they established a Health and Wellbeing Community of Practice (CoP) to interpret SHRN findings, identify shared priorities, and coordinate practical action across the cluster. It also offers a model that other clusters can adapt and replicate in their own contexts. This case study sets out what happened in practice, illustrating how schools used SHRN data in everyday decision-making to guide improvement work, strengthen whole-school practice and support activity linked to Whole-school Approach to Emotional and Mental Well-being (WSAEMWB), Estyn preparation and the Curriculum for Wales. It builds on the longstanding SHRN and Public Health Wales partnership, which supports schools across Wales to use high-quality health and well-being data to guide local action.
