Rationale
for Healthy Eating Policy for GET

 

The Healthy
Eating Policy for GET National School has been devised to promote a positive
and healthy attitude to nutrition for the whole school community at GET
National School. It is an inherent aspiration of the ethos of EDUCATE TOGETHER
in general, and GET National School in particular to provide a holistic
education for its pupils. Education for nutrition is an integral facet of the
Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum. The practical
application of what is taught and learned in this area is achieved through the
implementation of the Healthy Eating Policy.

 

Nutrition is known
to be one of the key factors influencing the health of school children and to
this end, the partners in education at GET have identified the Healthy Eating
Policy as a priority in the development of the school.

 

Healthy lunchbox

 

  • In line with the Food and Nutrition
    Guidelines for primary schools, a healthy lunch for a child of primary school
    age consists of the following:

 

2 or more pieces of bread or cereals

1 or more pieces of fruit and vegetables

1 serving of milk, cheese or yogurt

1 serving of meat fish or chicken

 

The GET Healthy
Lunch Policy endorses these guidelines and recommends that parents adhere to
them in the preparation of school lunches

 

  • Drinks
    accompanying school lunches should be nutritious and should not be of the
    ‘fizzy’ variety. We recommend milk, fruit juice, yogurt drink, soup
  • Healthy
    snacks we can recommend to include in the lunchbox are as follows: fruit –
    seedless grapes, mandarins, bananas, apples, vegetable sticks e.g. carrot and
    cucumber or pepper sticks, scones, flapjacks, also unsalted nuts and raisins
    and popcorn for children over five.
  • In the
    interest of keeping the school environment clean and free from waste it is
    recommended that as little packaging as possible is used in the preparation of
    school lunches
  • Friday
    is a treat day and on this day, a treat such as a bun, muffin, a slice of cake,
    biscuits or a snack bar can be included in the lunchbox
  • Teachers
    and other staff at GET will model healthy eating patterns and provide support
    and encouragement to pupils and parents in cultivating healthy eating habits
  • The
    policy will be reviewed annually.

 

 

This policy has been prepared by the Healthy Eating
Policy committee comprising the following members:

 

Miriam O’Sullivan, teacher

John Tuohy, teacher

Aileen McCabe, parent

Sadhbh McQuillan, pupil, 5th class

Enya Levy, pupil,4th class

 

It is the result
of several meetings of this group, during which a healthy eating survey was
prepared and conducted within the school by the two pupil representatives