§1.  Since I took up my role of Head at Franley Junior School I have been keen to edqcate our children on the importance of developing healthy habits. I started by working with our restaurant manager to come up with tasty new menus that contain lots of healthy ingredients. We change the menu Monday to Friday to encourage the children to try different things and keep unhealthy fried food to a minimum. The children have enjoyed the meals and eat a wide range of fruit and vegetables.

§2.  We’ve also rented an area of land near the school for a vegetable garden and made gardening a part of the school curriculum. Children now prepare the ground for planting, plant the seeds and watch as these turn into healthy fruit and vegetable plants. We’re planning to create a child-friendly kitchen so our pupils can discover the pleasure of cooking. I believe all this gives the children an understanding of where our food comes from and very important skills that will stay with them for life.

§3.  To support this healthy-eating campaign, we have also made changes to the amount of physical exercise we get our children to do during the day. We start every morning before classes with a ‘wake and shake’ session in the playground when children get the chance to burn off energy with fun exercise routines. We also have different play times during the day so the playground isn’t crowded, which means the children can run around safely. To support this we have also invested in sports equipment such as tennis, football and gym equipment to encourage the youngsters to take up sports.

§4.  But it’s not just the children who are developing a healthy lifestyle. Several of our teachers have signed up for the Franley Fun Run this summer for the first time and have started a training programme in order to get fit. Many of our pupils have joined them and will be taking part in the run as well. I’m sure that seeing their teachers beside them will inspire them to finish. We have even had several parents show an interest in doing the event as well, so this is something we’re all really looking forward to.