School Superzones Prospectus

Threats to health such as poor air quality, fast-food takeaways, betting shops and low access to green space and walking and cycling routes tend to cluster in areas of high deprivation. These challenges make it more difficult for children and young people from the poorest backgrounds to stay healthy, further disadvantaging their life chances and leading to inequalities in health outcomes.

School Superzones are place-based interventions around schools in areas of the greatest disadvantage. They aim to protect children’s health and enable healthy behaviours through the place-shaping powers of local authorities and local partnership working.

The GLA has provided funding for up to 50 grants to establish School Superzones across the capital by 2024.

The School Superzones concept was piloted during 2018 and 2019 with 13 London Boroughs. Pilot boroughs created 400 metre radius zones around schools where actions were taken to create healthier places for children, young people and their families to live, learn and play. Some examples of pilot initiatives include working with local fast-food takeaways and convenience stores to create a healthier local food environment, promoting active travel, reducing the flow of traffic in streets outside schools to improve air quality and restricting the advertising of harmful products.

The School Superzones brochure provides more detail about the pilot programme including the process for establishing a Superzone, the principles underpinning the Superzones model, a summary of common actions taken by pilot boroughs, success factors, short-term and expected long-term benefits and case summaries from the 13 pilot boroughs.

Fifty grants of up to £30,000 will be allocated to boroughs by 2024 over four rounds of funding. This funding will be paid in two instalments of up to £15,000.

In the year 2022/2023 twenty-nine grants were made to twenty boroughs.

Round 4 is now open and up to twenty-one grants can be made in April 2023. Grants are open to all London boroughs. The funding must be used for the establishment of new School Superzones.

Applications for the School Superzones grant funding will only be accepted from London Boroughs.

Applications for up to three grants from a single borough are welcomed although we will expect the second and third to build on learning from the first School Superzone or be more ambitious. Each grant application must be for a geographically distinct Superzone.

School Superzones grant applications must be made through our online portal.

Any queries relating to the application form or process should be directed to [email protected] or call 020 3291 3026.

Applications for funding in round 4 are now open and will close on Friday 24 March at 4:00pm.

Feedback from pilot broughs indicated that a flexible approach was key to the success of their School Superzones activities. Therefore, minimal restrictions will be placed on the grant funding to enable boroughs to spend the money in ways that meet their specific local needs.

The grants can be used to provide revenue and/or capital funding. The grants must be used to improve at least two of the seven determinants of health outlined set out in this brochure in the area surrounding the selected school although we will fund school gardens within the school grounds as these increase access to green spaces.

We encourage all School Superzones to implement a Healthy School Street scheme.

There are a number of existing initiatives which may complement local work on developing Superzones. Boroughs may want to consider such initiatives as part of their Superzone planning and application. Some of these opportunities are outlined below.

Health determinants that School Superzones must address and examples of local action:

Active travel

• implementation of the Healthy Streets approach to improve walking and cycling routes 
• improved wayfinding and signage
• promotion of the use of Transport for London’s STARS resources by the school​.

Air quality

• enforcement of anti-idling policies, engaging with the London Vehicle Idling Action campaign.
• School Streets (street closures at school opening and closing times) 
• pupil engagement in air quality measurements.

Food and drink environment

• promotion of the Healthier Catering Commitment to local food businesses 
• installation of water fountains in the community and engagement with the Refill London scheme
• encouraging water-only schools
• restrictions on unhealthy food and drink advertising on council-controlled boards
• work with local convenience stores to increase the range and prominence of healthier options.

Community safety

• improved lighting 
• safe spaces/safe havens for young people to go to after school.

Access to green space 

• installation of green infrastructure in and around the school
• promotion of the Capital Growth* initiative to increase engagement in local food growing.

Planning and licensing 

• planning policy to restrict concentration and location of hot-food takeaways 
• consideration of Superzones in alcohol / gambling council licensing decisions.

Tobacco and alcohol

• Smoke-free zones around schools
• enforcement/test purchasing of tobacco and alcohol products in retailers within Superzones.

There may also be opportunities to explore with schools how involvement with a Superzone could support work towards a Healthy Schools London award. 

Each application will be scored by at least two assessors. Each of the following equally weighted criteria will be scored out of 3 (with a maximum total score of 21):

• engagement with stakeholders and the local community
• value for money (determined by the project reach and sustainability)
• impact on health inequalities
• evidence-base / justification for the location and proposed activity
• short- and long-term benefits of the project and how these will be measured
• long-term sustainability of the proposal
• overall credibility of the proposal and likelihood of success.

Additionally, higher scores will be awarded to applications that:

• are multifaceted, with multiple planned initiatives (see Table 1 for examples of Superzone action)
• address multiple health determinants
• are established in areas of high deprivation. We encourage boroughs to select schools in the 30 per cent most deprived areas (as measured using the English indices of deprivation 2019)
• demonstrate a high level of local stakeholder engagement.

Successful boroughs will be expected to commit to the following:

• submit a high-level project plan (including a summary of how the grant funding will be spent) approximately three-months following allocation of funding, using a supplied template
• provide a brief six- and nine-month progress report via the programme coordinator and/or grant management organisation, using the supplied template
• develop and share a case study of their Superzone activity and achievements approximately 12-months into project delivery, using a supplied template
• support peer learning throughout the process through School Superzones network meetings and via the Programme Coordinator
• attend a facilitated workshop to support the development of an evaluation methodology
• work with and support the activities of the evaluation provider, Programme Coordinator and Rocket Science in order to support the evaluation of the School Superzones Programme.

For the School Superzones pilot, boroughs were encouraged to create 400 metre radius zones around schools within which to focus their Superzone activity. Feedback from pilot boroughs highlighted the importance of flexibility to adapt Superzones to their local context.

Therefore, we are no longer stipulating that a School Superzone needs to be a 400m radius zone around a school and instead are giving boroughs the freedom to define a small geography following an assessment of the health challenges relating to a specific school.

School Superzones Steering Group

The School Superzones Steering Group is comprised of experts in healthy place shaping from the GLA, local authority, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), London Councils, Town & Country Planning Authority (TCPA) and NHS London Healthy Urban Development Unit (HUDU). The role of the group is to support London Boroughs to maximise the value of their grants through achieving the greatest impact on health and health inequalities as possible, providing advice and guidance with regards to any issues encountered and facilitating learning from the programme. The group will also provide strategic oversight for the programme including the responsibilities of the Grant Management Organisation and Programme Coordination.

Programme coordination

Southwark Council has been commissioned to support the planning and network coordination of the programme. They will act as the key point of contact for participating boroughs, provide support and advice, facilitate peer learning, signpost to useful resources and relevant opportunities, and facilitate input and support from the School Superzones Steering Group.

Grant management and support

Rocket Science has been commissioned by the GLA to provide management of the School Superzones Grants. They will develop and manage the grant application process, support boroughs with their grant applications, ensure grants are administered on time and support with programme monitoring and evaluation (up to 1 year post grant payment).​

Evaluation support

Funding has also been secured to commission an external provider and/or academic partner to support participating boroughs to evaluate the effectiveness of their School Superzones.

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