IT’S SAID a healthy body means a healthy mind, and pupils at a Witney school will take part in an experiment to ensure they have both.

After being selected from schools across the UK by the Nuffield Health group, pupils at Wood Green School in Witney school will undergo regular health assessments to monitor their emotional wellbeing, activity levels and nutrition.

They will be given specialist advice and support from a dedicated health and wellbeing officer and their progress will be monitored by academics at Lancaster University.

The two-year experiment is designed to see if schools could benefit from having a health officer onsite.

The school was selected from hundreds across the UK after site visits and interviews with pupils and members of staff as part of a national competition.

Headteacher Robert Shadbolt said: “We are delighted to have been selected as the pilot school , it is such an exciting opportunity to show the impact that strong wellbeing provision can have on the education of our young people in its fullest sense.”

Janil Ramesh, for Nuffield Health, said the school was chosen because of the interest it showed in improving health and wellbeing for pupils and staff.

The experiment is based on research carried out by think tank 2020health and Nuffield Health, which suggested poor emotional wellbeing and high levels of obesity could be improved with dedicated support.

The research showed 75 per cent of school children and young people living with mental illness go undiagnosed.

It also revealed half of all diagnosable mental health conditions appeared to start before the age of 14, and 75 per cent by the age of 21 .

Dr Davina Deniszczyc, Nuffield Health’s medical director for wellbeing, said: “The outcomes over the two years will be invaluable in helping to shape the future of school wellbeing.”

Zofia Bajorek, a researcher at Lancaster University’s The Work Foundation, which will monitor the success of the experiment, said: “By evaluating the head of wellbeing pilot alongside Nuffield Health, we have a real opportunity to improve our understanding of the link between the school environment and health and wellbeing.”