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Schools are recognised as key settings for health promotion. This has resulted in resources being allocated specifically for the development of Health Promoting Schools. If the existing level of resourcing is to continue, mechanisms for monitoring the effectiveness of Health Promoting Schools need to be designed that are appropriate for the concept. Currently, there is an emphasis on evidence‐based practice, but the difficulty lies in determining what is acceptable as evidence in the context of Health Promoting Schools, and what are the most appropriate methods for collecting this evidence. The disease‐prevention approach, with its emphasis on controlled trials and discrete outcomes is not appropriate. New models must be developed that reflect the multi‐variant and dynamic nature of the processes involved. Outlines principles that could guide this work and includes consideration of the some key health‐promotion principles, including equity, consultation, collaboration, ownership and sustainability, linking these with some newer concepts, such as capacity building and social capital, which are proving useful in the development, monitoring and evaluation of Health Promoting Schools.

Operating within the “settings” approach of the Ottawa Charter, the European Network of Health Promoting Schools has, since its launch in 1992, been the most powerful catalyst for the development of the health‐promoting school concept across Europe. Founded on a partnership between the European Union, Council of Europe and the World Health Organization, it is now established in 40 countries right across Europe. Its principles have been determined by a range of key meetings, conferences and documents, while the evaluation of its practice increasingly suggests that it is highly effective. The network is based on the principles of empowerment, partnership, democracy, equity, action competence and sustainability, and sees key areas for action as being teacher education, links with parents and the community, and evaluation, to move health promotion in schools on to a sound evidence base. Targets for the future development of the network include extending it to the few remaining countries that still fall outside it, and the widespread dissemination of its learning and goals, so that every child in Europe can have the benefits of being educated in a health‐promoting school.

Highlights the challenge of evaluating the healthy or health‐promoting school and describes the development of an instrument for profiling and monitoring the development of such institutions. The adaptability and scope of the instrument is discussed at length and this includes use of the instrument to undertake valuations of existing health‐promotion assets within schools and evaluation of the health‐promoting school. Examples of how the instrument has been used, both nationally and internationally, are provided. A detailed description of the methodology introduces the notion of profiling the health‐promoting/healthy school, and health‐promoting assets in schools, using a multiple‐axes radial profile graph. Discusses the challenges of creating an evaluation instrument that recognises the practical difficulties of undertaking evaluation in schools, the complex nature of the health‐promoting school, and the underlying principles of evaluating health promotion.

The development of a Health Promoting School concept in Hong Kong has faced many challenges, as in other countries. However, there is strong evidence from research findings that there is a need for this development to promote the health of young people effectively. Strategies are currently being developed in Hong Kong to address the key issues and challenges inherent in developing Health Promoting Schools. They include work on teacher training, funding and resources, policy making, the re‐orientation of the education system, participation by the community and parents, and the formation of healthy alliances. All these issues need to be addressed before a school‐based health promotion programme can be developed further. This paper describes current strategies being used by the authors of this paper to tackle these issues to develop a more comprehensive Health Promoting School programme in Hong Kong.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to demonstrate the contribution of whole school approaches embodied by the health‐promoting school approach, to the promotion of school connectedness, defined as the cohesiveness between diverse groups in the school community, including students, families, school staff and the wider community.

A cross‐disciplinary review of literature was conducted to identify strategies consistent with the health‐promoting school approach and the values and principles that promote school connectedness. The review included peer‐reviewed articles and published books and reports identified from the databases spanning the education, health, social science and science disciplines and used search terms encompassing health and mental health promotion, schools, social connectedness, belonging and attachment. The paper is also a framework of the contribution of the health‐promoting school approach to promoting school connectedness and was developed drawing on health promotion strategies at the broader community level known to foster connectedness.

The paper found that the framework developed illustrates how the health‐promoting school approach has the potential to build school connectedness through two major mechanisms: inclusive processes that involve the diversity of members that make up a community; the active participation of community members and equal “power” relationships, or equal partnerships among community members; and supportive structures such as school policies, the way the school is organised and its physical environment, that reflect the values of participation, democracy and inclusiveness and/or that promote processes based on these values.

In this paper the detailed mechanisms outlined in the framework provide practical strategies for health promotion practitioners and educators to use in the everyday school setting to promote school connectedness.

This paper draws together substantial bodies of evidence and makes a persuasive case for the contribution of the health‐promoting school approach to building school connectedness.

Efforts to create a scientific base for the health‐promoting school approach have so far not articulated a clear “Science of Delivery”. There is thus a need for systematic identification of clearly operationalised implementation components. To address a next step in the refinement of the health‐promoting schools' work, this paper sets out to delineate implementation components of health‐promoting schools and to identify their mechanisms.

The implementation components were identified through a narrative synthesis of documents describing implementation of health‐promoting school approaches. Studies were included if they were published between 1995 and June 2010 and could be identified in publicly accessible peer‐reviewed articles and grey literature, published in English. Eight sources were extracted, representing reports from all continents with the exception of Africa.

Eight components were identified: preparing and planning for school development; policy and institutional anchoring; professional development and learning; leadership and management practices; relational and organisational support context; student participation; partnerships and networking; and sustainability.

The components provide a practical tool/guide for schools to use in the implementation of health‐promoting schools. In a parallel paper theoretically and empirically based practice guidelines for the actual implementation of the components are articulated (“Filling the black box of implementation for health‐promoting schools”, this issue).

The identification of specified theory‐driven implementation components for health‐promoting schools aims will help practitioners to understand the function of each component, so they can execute them with fidelity and thus contribute to rigorous implementation of the health‐promoting school initiative.

The editorial aims to provide a brief overview of the individual contributions to the special issue, and a commentary positioning the contributions within research relating to the health‐promoting schools initiative in Europe.

The members of the Schools for Health in Europe Research Group were invited to submit their work addressing processes and outcomes in school health promotion to this special issue of Health Education. Additionally, an open call for papers was published on the Health Education web site. Following the traditional double blind peer review process, nine submissions were accepted for publication. Five of these are selected to be published in this issue and the rest will be published in a future issue of the journal.

The five articles in this issue take a comprehensive approach to health promotion in schools and reflect on the related processes and outcomes. Although diverse in focus and research methodology, the five contributions all emphasise that the question about the outcomes of the health‐promoting schools cannot, and should not be limited to narrowly defined health outcomes achieved through single health‐promotion interventions. Directly or indirectly the articles reiterate the idea that health promotion in schools needs to be linked with the core task of the school – education, and to the values inherent to education, such as inclusion, democracy, participation and influence, critical literacy and action competence in relation to health.

This special issue endorses the idea that health promotion in schools would do well to reconnect with the traditions of educational theory and to develop innovative forms of educational practices and interventions in the face of complex societal challenges concerning health and health promotion. It can be beneficial for stakeholders who work towards school based health promotion, assisting them in bridging the gap between health and education sector.

The health promoting school concept is now a well‐established framework for the development of health promotion initiatives in schools. Increasingly, attention has focused on the evaluation of school‐based health promotion and debate continues over appropriate evaluation designs for the school setting. The authors argue that the case study design provides a useful approach because of its ability to explore the real‐life complexities of social contexts using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, with a strong emphasis on process as well as outcome measures. The current ENHPS project in Scotland uses a multiple‐case study design to evaluate healthy eating initiatives in four schools, based on the principles of the health promoting school. Provides a description of the project and highlights the advantages of case study methodology in addressing key issues around effectiveness of school‐based health promotion based on the health promoting school concept.

This article is based on an evaluation of The Implementation of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools (ENHPS) in six countries carried out by the author and colleagues. It describes key elements of the health‐promoting school concept, the challenge of evaluating an international health promoting school project and selected findings taken from the research. The findings of the research described in this paper focus on two comparative aspects of the health promoting school: first, the formal curriculum and second, the social and physical environments. The research is based on formative evaluation and the methodology is mainly qualitative, using a multi‐focused approach to the data. This research draws on political, social and managerial factors which can influence institutional change in the context of creating a health‐promoting environment in schools.

The purpose of this study is to explore educational perspectives towards the concept of health promoting schools and its potential benefits for schools in more depth.

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study based on interviews with school staff including principals, and teachers with responsibility for health promotion from 18 primary schools in Sydney, Australia, examining their understanding of the health promoting schools concept, and their perceptions of its advantages for schools.

The study documents the variety of school staff perceptions. Further examination of the data led to the emergence of four broad categories to accommodate diverse perceptions on health promoting schools. The findings point to several challenges that need to be addressed by advocates of the health promoting schools concept, most notably developing a shared understanding between health and education sectors of the practical elements and potential benefits.

Sustaining school health interventions, including health promoting schools programs and maintaining their positive outcomes, is likely to be more achievable in circumstances where schools can identify benefits that fit with their core business of education, and their local needs and priorities.

This study adds depth to the understanding of the diversity in educational perspectives regarding the meaning and benefits of health promoting schools. This study also revealed an understanding among school leaders that there is scope for realizing both health and educational outcomes from school health promotion programs.