GOLFTYN C.P SCHOOL FOOD AND FITNESS POLICY – December 2023-2026
RATIONALE:
At Golftyn Primary school we recognise the importance of a healthy lifestyle and diet, and understand that establishing a balanced diet and regular exercise in childhood helps establish healthy habits for life. We also recognise that there is a strong link between a healthy lifestyle and effective learning.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
At Golftyn Primary School we aim;
- To promote the 5 Ways to Wellbeing – Be Active across the school.
- To improve the health of the whole school by influencing their eating habits through increasing their knowledge and awareness of a healthy diet and regular exercise
- To deliver a curriculum that provides information relating to food, nutrition and fitness, and ensure we are giving a consistent message about food and fitness.
- To work in conjunction with the school caterer to ensure that the school meals provided meet with the legal requirements and parents are kept informed and up to date.
- To support the provision of healthy packed lunches and snacks.
- To promote healthy lifestyles through active engagement in extracurricular clubs, playtime games and creative choices.
- To assist healthy approaches to learning through the accessibility of drinking water in lessons and its availability elsewhere in school.
- To promote healthy lifestyles through empowering children to make quality informed choices and develop healthy relationships- as discussed in our Health and Wellbeing / RVE discussion groups.
- To enable pupils to take part in our collective events such as sports days, PE lessons and curriculum events.
- To introduce pupils to and forge links with many outside agencies and sports coaches that promote good health.
CURRICULUM
The school will enrich children’s experience of food, physical exercise and healthy balanced diets through its Health and Wellbeing AOLE in the new curriculum for Wales. A range of skills and understanding will be developed through a range of teaching approaches and resources.
We seek to deliver a curriculum that provides:
- Information, understanding and application of the importance of healthy foods and nutrition and the need for a balanced diet.
- Opportunities for weekly indoor and outdoor fitness activities.
- Carefully planned PE that develops pupil’s suppleness, strength, skills and speed.
- Scientific understanding and experiences relating to keeping our bodies healthy.
- A range of Health related units of work in Health and Wellbeing, delivered by the class teacher and enhanced by health experts where possible.
- DT and provision of cooking experiences within the regular curriculum – that promote health and fitness.
- Equal opportunities for pupils in terms of access, inclusion and provision.
- Enhanced PE provision through using professional expertise, where appropriate.
- Theme weeks, reward systems and assemblies will also be used to explore food and fitness related issues.
HEALTHIER CLUBS AND ACTIVITY CHOICES
We seek to promote healthy lifestyles through:
- Daily Mile Track
- Extra-curricular clubs after school hours that develop children’s healthy hobbies and interests.
- The availability of a range of playtime games/equipment for pupils to use every day.
- Developing a healthy playground that includes ball pens and marked out games.
We seek to ensure pupils take part in our collective events through:
- Participation of all pupils in more than one event during our annual sports days for both Foundation Phase and KS2.
- Participating in inter-school sports competitions in several sports all throughout the year.
- Booking regular visitors and sports coaches to run training sessions for classes.
- On occasions taking part in our fund-raising sports activities such as our sponsored skip, penalty shoot-out, etc.
HEALTHIER CHOICES
We seek to promote healthy lifestyles through:
- Empowering children to make quality informed choices, developing skills resulting in healthy choices.
- Developing healthy relationships which are productive and involve teamwork e.g. class jobs.
- Discussions in our RVE lessons, where time is set aside for personal reflection and encourages children to support each other in making informed choices e.g. class rules.
HEALTHIER SCHOOL MEALS
We seek to promote healthy school meals by:
- Working in conjunction with the school caterer and ensuring that the school meals provided meet with the legal requirements.
- Ensuring parents are kept informed and up to date through access to menus and information of school meal developments via Schoop and the school website.
- Displaying menus and positive slogans promoting healthy eating.
- Awarding children with stickers for eating healthy food.
- Encouraging staff to set a positive role model by having healthy school meals.
- We encourage a happy sociable dining area that is orderly, friendly and attractive and encourages the development of good table manners.
HEALTHIER SNACKS AND SANDWICHES
We seek to promote healthy eating:
- By encouraging parents to support the schools healthy eating policy by providing a healthy, balanced pack lunch. The school actively discourages some pack lunch foods and snacks such as fizzy drinks, sweets and chocolate.
- Through encouraging the eating of healthy snacks and fruit at play times and discouraging other less healthy items.
- By providing free milk to all children who want it.
- By encouraging parents to take responsibility for monitoring their own child’s ‘leftovers’ that are kept in the sandwich box to take home.
Everyone has the right to access clean drinking water. We encourage children and staff to drink water at school. We provide a chilled water facility in the staffroom and children are encouraged to bring in their own water bottles from home enabling them access to water.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
As a school we seek to:
- Raise awareness of and promote the activities and policy of the school around Food and Fitness in partnership with key community and health agencies.
- Develop alliances and partnerships with local providers e.g. Sports Clubs, Leisure Centres, Local Colleges and Local Businesses.
- Encouraging involvement in charity events which foster community awareness and participation. e.g. Children in Need and Comic Relief.
IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING
The Head Teacher and Healthy School Co-Ordinator will ensure that there is always adequate training and resources for staff involved in the delivery of the aims and objectives of the Food and Fitness Policy. Progress will be monitored at regular intervals by staff and governors.
N Cooper / D Tinson Version 3 December 2023 with the Vice Chair & Health and Wellbeing Representative of the Golftyn Government