Schools across Wales receive a SHRN school-level report, providing valuable insights into learners’ experiences, behaviours and needs.
Receiving SHRN data is one thing. Turning those insights into action is another. While working on this case study, I found myself reflecting on how schools make that journey. The case study follows secondary schools across the Aberdare cluster as they worked together to interpret evidence, identify priorities and develop a shared approach to improving learner health and well-being.
What struck me was how often the SHRN findings acted as a starting point for wider conversations.
Combined with local knowledge, professional expertise and other sources of evidence, it helped schools move beyond asking “What is happening?” and towards understanding why, and what they could do next.
Starting with the SHRN Data
Through these discussions, schools moved from reviewing survey findings to identifying physical activity as a shared priority. What followed looked different from school to school, but all activity was linked to a shared focus on creating more opportunities for learners to be active throughout the day. Schools introduced active play zones, built movement breaks into lessons, reviewed extracurricular provision using SHRN and School Sports Survey findings, and worked with partners to promote active travel.
Once that shared priority had been agreed, attention turned to planning. Schools developed shared objectives and explored practical ways of increasing opportunities for movement throughout the school day. While approaches varied across settings, a common focus helped keep activity aligned across the cluster.
Identifying a shared focus helped shape future planning and gave schools a common area to explore across the cluster. Rather than focusing on a single statistic, they considered the wider factors affecting participation and where they could work together across the cluster.
To understand the findings in more depth, schools worked with colleagues from the Cwm Taf Morgannwg WNHWPS to build a fuller picture.
Schools combined the survey results with local intelligence, population health information and life-course data. Bringing these different sources together helped build a richer understanding of the factors shaping learners’ experiences and ensured that decisions were evidence based.
Some of the richest discussions centred on the life-course evidence. The SHRN data helped identify where they might want to focus their attention, while the life-course evidence added valuable context. Early childhood experiences, family circumstances, opportunities for physical activity and community influences all formed part of the discussion. Considering these factors alongside the SHRN findings helped schools build a fuller understanding of learners’ experiences and supported a more preventative approach.
The survey results were only part of the picture.
The survey findings helped identify areas for focus, but it was the conversations around them that helped schools decide what to do next. Those discussions eventually led schools to agree a shared priority around physical activity. From there, the focus shifted towards action planning, with schools developing shared objectives, agreeing outcomes and drawing on support from partners to put their plans into practice. Schools weren’t simply reviewing data. They were asking questions, exploring possible explanations and thinking about what the findings meant in their school. The survey highlighted areas for attention, while the discussions that followed helped schools better understand the patterns they were seeing.
Making sense of the evidence together
A real strength of the project was the opportunity for schools to learn from one another.
Through a Community of Practice, teachers from across the cluster came together to discuss findings, share experiences and reflect on common challenges. Each school brought something different to the conversation. They had different contexts, different strengths and different priorities. The aim was never to reach complete agreement.
Instead, schools worked together to understand what the evidence was telling them and how it could inform future planning. The discussions helped bring different perspectives to the table, allowing schools to explore both shared issues and local needs.
As I worked through the case study, I kept coming back to the importance of making sense of the evidence together.
A SHRN report can provide valuable insights, but schools need time to interpret the findings, compare experiences and think about what they mean in practice.
The Community of Practice provided that opportunity.
It gave teachers an opportunity to reflect on the evidence together, ask questions and learn from one another. In doing so, it helped schools move beyond simply reviewing their SHRN findings and towards making informed decisions about what to do next.
Relationships matter
The Community of Practice provided more than a forum for discussing data. It created time and space for schools to come together, share experiences and learn from one another. Schools committed to the process, meeting regularly and working through challenges together. Over time, trust developed, making it easier to have open conversations about priorities, opportunities and areas for improvement.
It also reinforced something we often see through SHRN’s work. Evidence can point schools in the right direction, but its real value often comes through the conversations it sparks and the decisions that follow.
Although the work is still at an early stage, schools spoke positively about the value of working together. Regular meetings, shared action plans and ongoing support helped maintain momentum, while opportunities to share successes and challenges gave staff confidence to try new approaches. Several schools also highlighted the benefits of having a predictable structure and clear timelines, helping the work feel manageable alongside other priorities.
Turning Discussion Into Action
Practical planning tools helped turn discussion into action. They gave schools a shared way to plan, review progress and keep momentum going.
The case study explores some of these approaches in more detail, showing how simple structures helped keep the work focused over time.
What interested me was how straightforward much of the approach was. Clear objectives agreed actions and regular opportunities to review progress helped turn good intentions into sustained activity. Rather than creating additional layers of work, these structures helped schools stay focused on the priorities they had identified through the evidence and keep moving forward together.
The Value Of Partnership Working
The project brought together colleagues from education, health and community organisations, including Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Public Health Wales and Sport RCT. Each partner brought a different perspective, helping schools interpret findings, explore possible approaches and access additional support where needed.
Throughout the project, schools remained firmly in the driving seat.
External partners provided expertise and support, but decisions about priorities and action stayed with the schools themselves. In practice, it became a genuinely collaborative way of working, combining local ownership with specialist expertise.
It shows the value of schools and health partners working together towards a shared goal.
What Can Other Schools Take From This?
No two schools are the same, and what worked in Aberdare won’t look exactly the same elsewhere.
Even so, there are a few things that other schools might find useful.
- Use SHRN data as a starting point for conversation rather than an endpoint.
- Consider findings alongside local intelligence and other sources of evidence.
- Draw on the support and expertise available from WNHWPS.
- Create opportunities for teachers to discuss and interpret evidence together.
- Put in place practical structures that support action and accountability.
- Recognise the importance of leadership, trust and relationships.
- Make the most of partnerships and external expertise where appropriate.
What stayed with me most was the amount of time schools spent making sense of the evidence. Just as importantly, schools created the structures needed to turn those discussions into action and maintain momentum once the work was underway.
Before I started working on the case study, I expected the focus to be on the actions schools eventually took.
Instead, I found myself drawn to everything that happened beforehand. Teachers shared perspectives, asked questions and took time to understand what the findings meant in their own context before deciding where to focus their efforts. For me, that’s one of the strengths of SHRN data. The findings are important, but it’s how schools use them that really matters.
The Aberdare cluster offers a good example of how schools can use SHRN findings to build a shared understanding of what’s happening for learners and decide where to focus their efforts.
If you’d like to find out more, you can read the full Building a Community of Practice: The Aberdare School Cluster Approach to Health and Well-being case study on the SHRN website.