14 Wandsworth schools earn Healthy Schools Awards in 2025 ceremony

At the 2025 Healthy Schools Award Ceremony held earlier this month, 19 awards were presented to schools from a Wandsworth, with the event celebrating schools across both Wandsworth and Richmond that achieved bronze, silver, or gold Healthy Schools status, reflecting their commitment to supporting students’ physical and emotional wellbeing.

 The programme supports schools to make health and wellbeing a key part of everyday school life, focusing on areas such as healthy eating, physical activity, emotional wellbeing and personal, social, health economics education.

In a further boost to children’s health, Wandsworth Council recently doubled the reach of its Free Breakfast Scheme, now feeding over 5,000 children every morning. The initiative supports the Healthy Schools Programme by ensuring more children start their day with a nutritious meal, promoting wellbeing, readiness to learn, and long-term healthy habits. The council also championed physical activity through record-breaking participation in the 2025 TCS Mini London Marathon in Schools challenge, with 42 local schools taking part, the highest number of any borough in London. Both initiatives support Wandsworth Council’s 19 steps to health and wellbeing strategy, which aims to give children the best possible start in life and help them stay active and healthy into adulthood.

Judi Gasser, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “I’m incredibly proud of the 14 Wandsworth schools that have achieved 19 Healthy Schools Awards in the past two years. Their dedication to prioritising children’s physical and emotional wellbeing shows what can be achieved through a whole-school approach. These schools are helping to create healthier, happier futures for our borough’s young people.”

Attendees heard from several Wandsworth “Gold Award” schools, who presented their journeys to achieving top-level accreditation. The gold award recognises schools that have made sustained, comprehensive improvements across the whole school environment. One primary school received their gold award after making significant progress in improving healthy eating and food provision, including introducing an inclusive, sustainable breakfast offer and plans to expand cooking activities across the curriculum.

Their stories demonstrated how embedding health into the curriculum, culture and environment of a school can make a lasting impact on children’s lives.

Children also enjoyed a dynamic performance from Loudmouth Theatre Company, commissioned to deliver the Helping Hands programme in local schools on the importance of safe, healthy relationships.

The ceremony offered interactive learning opportunities with stalls from organisations including the PSHE Association, Daily Mile, NSPCC, British Nutrition Foundation, PATHs, and Wandsworth’s own Sports Development and Waste Reduction teams. Pupils took part in a wellbeing-themed treasure hunt, with healthy snack boxes, complete with “banana smiles”, as prizes.