Please read our 'School Food policy' and pass any comment through the school office or to ht.nayland.p@talk21.com

 

Draft

Nayland Whole School Food Policy

Mission

The educational mission is to improve the health of the entire community by teaching students and families ways to establish and maintain life-long healthy and environmentally sustainable eating habits. The mission shall be accomplished through food education and skills (such as cooking and growing food), the food served in schools, and core academic content in the classroom.

 

At Nayland School we provide valuable role models for pupils and their families with regard to food and healthy eating patterns. Through effective leadership, the school ethos and the curriculum, all school staff can bring together all elements of the school day to create an environment which supports a healthy lifestyle.

Aims

Food Across the Curriculum

Food is covered in the formal curriculum and through a wide variety of learning activities the school ensures that a consistent message is given to promote a healthy lifestyle. (See appendices for examples.)

 

All staff will receive adequate food hygiene training.

Snack

All FS and KS1 classes eat a morning breaktime snack of  fruit or vegetables as part of the Government ‘5 a day’ initiative. KS2 children are encouraged to bring a healthy snack to eat at playtime or to purchase a healthy snack from a tuck shop operated by Suffolk County Catering which adheres to the national guidance regarding nutritionally balanced meals for children of school age.

 

School lunches and packed lunches

All our school meals are provided by Suffolk County Catering. Where possible, this includes the use of food lower in fat, sugar and salt and fresh fruit and vegetables each day as a choice for the children. They provide choices which pay regard to nutritional balance and healthy options.

 

Many children bring packed lunch to school. Through the formal curriculum children learn the importance of a healthy lunchbox. We will regularly include newsletter items about the contents of these and have an information page available on our school website to support parents. We do not allow fizzy drinks and actively discourage the inclusion of sweets and chocolate bars in lunchboxes.

Pupils, staff and visitors are encouraged to eat in school and the school will.…

Water for all

Cooled water is freely available throughout the school day to all members of the school community. No water fountains are located inside toilets. Every class has fresh water jugs and each child has their own labelled cup. Regular water and brain breaks are built into the school day and curriculum by class teachers and children are also reminded to drink water at break times.

Partnership with parents, carers and other stakeholders

The partnership of home, school and the wider community is critical in shaping how children and young people behave, particularly where health is concerned. Each must reinforce the other. This is not always easy but our school is well placed to lead by example.

 

Parents and carers are regularly updated on our water and packed lunch policies through school and class newsletters. We ask parents not to send in fizzy drinks and we remind them that only water may be drunk during the school day, except at lunch when children may drink juice or squash.

 

We recognise the importance of food as part of celebrations and it is provided by the school at particular events e.g. Christmas parties, cross-curricula themed days. It is unnecessary for parents/carers to send any foods into school except for snacks at KS2 and packed lunch boxes. To meet the aims (e.g. religious, ethnic, vegetarian, medical, financial and allergenic needs) of this food policy we cannot accept any food to be shared in class.

 

During out of school events, eg Summer Fete etc., the school will encourage parents and carers to consider the Food Policy in the range of refreshments offered for sale to the children.

 

The school will encourage the use of community resources and expertise to promote healthy lifestyles. Visitors to school will be expected to follow the Food in School policy.

Role of the Governors

Governors monitor and check that the school policy is upheld and are kept well informed by our designated Healthy Schools Governor.

Monitoring and review

The Senior Leadership Team and subject leaders are responsible for the curriculum development of the Food Policy.

The Headteacher and PSHE Manager are responsible for supporting colleagues in the delivery of the Food Policy.

The LEA are responsible for ensuring the quality of the food offered as part of the contract with the caterer.

This policy will be reviewed annually to take account of new developments.

 

Appendix 1

Examples of food topics covered within curriculum areas…

Art, e.g. observation drawings of food, healthy eating poster design

Personal Social and Health Education, e.g. menu planning, nutrition

Design and Technology, e.g. cooking, designing tools

English, e.g. food diaries, following instructions

Geography, e.g. what food grows where, food miles, transporting food, waste

History, e.g. past diets, discoveries

Information Technology, e.g. recording results of a food survey, website review

Maths, e.g. weights and measures

Physical Education, e.g. links between healthy eating and exercise

Science, e.g. effects of heat on food, plant growth, nutrition

 

 

Examples of cross-curricula links…

Nutrition

Dining

Cooking (any out of hours activities? external demonstrators?)

Menu planning skills

Food hygiene (e.g. common food poisons, bacterial growth, contamination, washing hands, temperatures, storage, cleaning and disinfectant, pests)

Cultural diversity

Food production, marketing and labelling

Recycling

How plants grow

 

Examples of activities that could support curriculum work…

Relationships with local food businesses, e.g. farms, shops and restaurants (encourage food professionals such as chefs to come into the classroom, and arrange for pupils to visit their premises).

Tasting sessions (integrate a range of eating experiences into classroom work, e.g. tasting fresh, dried, juiced, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables)

Cooking demonstrations

Healthy eating drama activities

Healthy eating projects

School website with pages on food issues and links to other related sites

Guest speakers

Eating experiences integrated into the curriculum for all subjects.

School gardens (give pupils the opportunity to plant, harvest, prepare, cook and eat the food they grow).