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Healthy Eating Policy

POLICY ON HEALTHY LUNCHES

The aim of this policy is to:

Develop the pupils’ healthy eating habits

How?

By seeking parental support, co-operation and direct involvement.

Through education.

Many of the choices parents/guardians make for their children today will influence their health in the future. Healthy eating habits developed in childhood, will stay with your children forever and will increase their chances of a healthier life.

Food and nutrition is a strand of the Social and Personal Health Education

Curriculum. Lessons have been taught in the school about the Food Pyramid – foods

that are good for us and foods that should be kept to a minimum. Children learn

about eating healthy foods in order to develop healthy eating patterns and in turn

healthy bodies.

Action to be taken:

From September 1st 2006 we will be introducing a healthy eating policy in our school, similar to that already in place in the junior school. We will be asking parents not to include biscuits, bars, chocolate, crisps or fizzy drinks in their children’s lunch boxes. However, on Fridays one of the aforementioned foods may be included in order to reward the children for their efforts during the week.

What should an ideal lunch contain?

An ideal lunch would contain some bread or cereal food, some fruit or vegetables, some milk or yoghurt and some protein rich foods from the meat group. Implementing this healthy eating policy may appear severe but children adjust very soon to it once they see that everyone else has the same kind of lunch as them. Your co-operation in implementing this policy would be much appreciated. We also hope that you will support our efforts to reduce waste in our school by using lunch boxes and by sending as little packaging to school as possible.

This policy was initially drafted by Joanne Walsh, Pádraic Corcoran and Margaret Murphy on a School Planning Day. It was further discussed and agreed by the teaching staff. It was presented to representatives of the Parents’ Association – Lorraine Coffey, Maria Byrne Carter and Martina Comerford who met with teachers Colette Brady and Tomás Ó Reachtabhra and ratified by the Board of Management on 19/6/2006. It will be reviewed in four years time or as need arises.

17/09/2007

19/6/2006