Lessons learned from the Hunter Region Health Promoting Schools Project inNew South Wales, Australia

This paper describes development, over a five-year-period, of the Hunter Re gion Health Promoting Schools Project in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The project implemented the principles and philosophy of the Health Promoti ng Schools concept and evaluated its effectiveness using a randomized contr olled trial involving 22 public secondary schools. An overview of the preli minary intervention model based oil the health promoting schools philosophy and trialed in a pilot study is provided. The authors also outline barrier s to, mid difficulties in, implementing the philosophically based intervent ion model in the secondary school setting. The current intervention approac h, which evolved over five years, is described in relation to the roles pla yed by project team members and school communities. In addition, the author s outline guiding principles arising from the new approach which facilitate d adoption of health promotion strategies in secondary school settings.