Please check out our Draft Healthy Eating Policy. All feedback welcome!

DRAFT Healthy Eating Policy

As part of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) Programme, at St.Brigid’s Convent NS we encourage the children to become more aware of the need for healthy food in their lunch boxes.

What people eat is known to be a key factor influencing health. Research indicates a strong link between diet and performance (e.g. a low sugar intake promotes concentration, lessens hyperactivity, protects teeth, and lessens the risk of diabetes. A low salt intake reduces the risk of heart disease in later life).

To promote healthy eating habits in our school, we introduced a healthy eating policy starting from February 2016.

 Aims

1. To promote the personal development and well-being of the child
2. To promote the health of the child and provide a foundation for healthy living in all its aspects.

 Objectives

1. To enable the child to appreciate the importance of good nutrition for growing and developing and staying healthy
2. To enable the child to accept some personal responsibility for making wise food choices and adopting a healthy, balanced diet.

Lunch is an important meal for school-going children. It should provide one third of their recommended daily allowance of nutrients without being high in fat, sugar or salt.  It should also provide dietary fibre (roughage).

The traditional packed lunch of milk and sandwiches is under attack from a range of convenience foods like crisps, sweets, biscuits, chocolate and soft drinks. Parents and teachers are concerned about this trend but some find it difficult to come up with popular healthy alternatives. We ask you to encourage a healthy lunch right from the start.

The following guide is designed to help you provide quick, appetising, and nutritious lunches for your children

Bread & Alternatives                     Savouries

Bread or rolls, preferably wholemeal                    Lean Meat

Rice – wholegrain                                                          Chicken/Turkey

Pasta – wholegrain                                                        Tinned Fish e.g. tuna/sardines

Potato Salad                                                                     Cheese

Wholemeal Scones                                                       Quiche

Bread sticks                                                                      Pizza

Crackers

Pitta bread

Fruit & Vegetables                      Drinks

Apples, Banana, Peach                                              Still Water

Mandarins, Orange segments                               Fruit juices (low sugar)

Fruit Salad, dried fruit                                              Squashes   (low sugar)

Plum/Pineapple cubes                                             Yoghurt

Grapes                                                                              Milk

Cucumber, Sweetcorn

Tomato,

Coleslaw.

Milk

Growing children should get approximately one pint of milk a day, or its equivalent as cheese, yoghurt or milk pudding.  This ensures that they get enough calcium, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth.  If a child does not drink a glass of milk at lunch, encourage him to have a carton of yoghurt or a small helping of cheese instead. Dublin City Council provide us with free milk and fruit daily as part of their health promotion programme. This is available to every child in the school.

We ask that children do not bring the following to school:

Snacks known to be high in sugar, saturated fat, salt, additives and preservatives, including the following:

• Crisps (including crisp-style snacks)
• Fizzy drinks (including fizzy fruit-flavoured water, juices, etc.)
• Sweets
• Chocolate biscuits/bars
• Cereal bars
• Chewing gum
• Fruit winders
• Hot deli food
• Popcorn
• Nuts

So as to take a proactive approach to healthy lunches, teachers will from time to time, reward children who can show a piece of fruit or other healthy foods in their lunchboxes.

A very simple approach to healthy eating is to use the Food Pyramid

TREATS

There will be times during the year when treats will be allowed.

GREEN FLAG SCHOOL

Our green school motto is:

Think Before You Put It In. Always Use the Recycle Bin.

With this in mind children are asked to:

• Take home (in lunchbox) all uneaten food, silver paper, wrappings, containers and cartons
• Not bring in cans and glass – for safety reasons

N.B. Parents/Guardians of any child with a medical condition which requires a special diet should contact the school.

This policy was ratified by the Board of Management on:______________________

It will be reviewed on:_________________________________________________

As we now approach the final weeks of 2015 I wish to acknowledge all the hard work and commitment shown by the school community this term.

The school was presented with the National Flag in October as part of the 1916-2016 centenary celebrations.

Well done to the 6th classes who presented a cheque  for €1,880 to St. Michael’s House in Raheny after their Hallowe’en Cake Sale.

The GAA team were runners – up in their final in Croke Park in early November and supporters won “Best Banner”  on the day!

Our Walk on Fridays is ongoing for our next  flag for Travel. Lots of fun was had and skills taught during our recent scooter workshops.

A tremendous “thank-you” from Team Hope for the very generous donations of two hundred and thirty boxes for their annual shoebox appeal. They were overwhelmed by the number of boxes received, the largest amount collected from any school in this catchment area.

The Parents’ Association will hold their Christmas Raffle on Wednesday, 16th December. This will also include a visit from the man in red himself!

Please check out our website pages above with details of school closures, policies and any other general queries you may have. The Board has reviewed and ratified the policies, which includes the required annual review of our Anti-Bullying Policy.

Please note that our application process for new entrants will begin on January 6th 2016 and will remain open until 1st March 2016. All queries are to be found in the Enrolment Policy as listed above.

The school will close for the Christmas holidays at 12 noon on December 22nd and reopen on January 6th 2016.

Nollaig Shona

Well done to the choir who won the Primary School Choral Competition at Navan Choral Festival.