AN initiative aimed at working towards improving children's health and well-being has been launched at schools in St Helens.

The St Helens Healthy Schools Standards is based on a partnership between the health and education authorities and its main aim is to set up a framework against which schools can gain accreditation for those areas which are not formally recognised.

The standards look at school issues, curriculum entitlement and support mechanisms and acknowledge the importance of involving parents, carers, pupils and the community.

The schools will each set their priorities and work towards them with support from Healthy School teams and a number of local statutory and voluntary agencies.