Porl-E Competition

What was it all about?

The nasty germ, ‘Porl-E’, tried to spoil Christmas by making people unwell; infecting them and causing upset tummies and nasty coughs and colds. We needed local children to help us with stories about how they can stay well and prevent ‘Porl-E’ from spoiling Christmas. 

The competition offered the opportunity for schoolchildren to play an active role in promoting self-care and prevention. 

What is self-care?

More needs to be done to support people to better look after their own health. Empowering people to self-care has many benefits for their short term and long term health.

Helping people to look after their own health, and their family’s health also helps to manage demand on health services.

Below are some other top tips to help you take care of yourself:

• Be prepared for most common ailments by keeping a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home
• Speak to your local pharmacist – many medicines for minor illness and ailments are available over-the-counter
• Get your flu jab during the winter season
• Keep active to stay physically and mentally well
• Be mindful that sometimes symptoms can last longer than you think – sore throats can last an average of eight days
• Don’t forget, antibiotics don’t work on sore throats, coughs or colds.

Self-care can mean the following things:

• Eating well/healthy eating – Eating well and healthily helps your mind and body to stay well. The right amount and types of food help you to grow properly and your brain develop normally. The NHS.uk website has more tips on eating well.
• Living Well – There are lots you can do with your family to live well, including trips to the park, getting out and about, etc. The NHS.uk website has tips about living well. 
• Take regular exercise – Children should have at least 60 minutes of exercise a day and adults at least 30 minutes. You can visit the NHS.uk website to find out how to keep fit and healthy and encourage your family to join in too.
• Prevention – you can prevent becoming ill with common illnesses, like upset stomachs or colds by regularly washing your hands and using a tissue to catch sneezes, for example. You can download our storybook called ‘What’s Bugging Johnny’ to help inform people how to stop children from catching and spreading nasty bugs.

Other Useful Links

• NHS Stay Well This Winter website – which has a range of self-help tips about how you can stay well in the winter
• Children’s common health conditions – During winter months many children may suffer from common but often treatable conditions, which can worsen if not treated correctly. You can download a free guide to common childhood health conditions to enable parents and carers to have sufficient information when they make a decision about whether to self-treat, visit a GP, or to call NHS 111 and know what to do in an emergency.
• The Self-Care Forum has resources to use in support of Self-Care Week (18-24 November 2019).

Ideas for Lesson planning

• A presentation on keeping healthy from Primary Resources
• Information from BBC Bitesize called 'What do humans need to eat to stay healthy?'