Food Policy

St Joseph’s NS Skibbereen

Whole School Food Policy

Rationale

This policy is necessary because

Our policy needed to be updated.
Our school is dedicated to providing an environment that promotes healthy eating and enables all to make informed choices.
This policy was developed following an audit, staff surveys, children’s surveys and consultation with the HPS team at information days.
Through healthy eating habits, we hope to improve nutrition standards in the school and contribute to our school ethos of fostering a healthy, happy atmosphere where children are better able to learn.

Aims

To take a whole school approach to food in school in relation to the school environment, curriculum and learning, policy and planning and partnerships.
To promote healthy eating across school and home life.
To ensure that food provision in school reflects the medical requirements of staff and pupils (eg medical and allergenic needs)
To make the provision and consumption of food an enjoyable and safe experience.

Objectives;

Children should bring a healthy packed lunch to school.
Taking the children’s oral health into consideration they should be encouraged to drink milk or water. Cordial or diluted water drinks are allowed if a child won’t drink milk or water. Fizzy drinks are not allowed. Fruit juices are not encouraged.
Crisps, lollipops, hard sweets, chewing gum, cans and glass bottles are not allowed for safety reasons.
Children in junior infants are not encouraged to bring yogurts to school. They find these difficult to manage and often end up spilt.
For safety reasons, children at the junior side of the school are not to bring containers out to the yard.
Children are allowed to bring a small treat on a Friday.
Children are allowed to eat either in the classroom or out in the yard.
Staff should try, as much as possible to promote non- food rewards.
Children should be encouraged to wash their hand before eating when appropriate.
The Green School Committee will inform the classes of the compost regulations from time to time.
The culture of healthy eating should be encouraged by staff members in the school. Teachers could model a healthy lunch from time to time.
Eating a healthy breakfast should be promoted.
Teachers should engage with children about their lunches. This is to positively praise efforts made towards healthy eating.

Curriculum areas such as SPHE, PE and Science should be consistent with healthy eating messages.
Through curricular areas, students should develop the skills needed to make informed decisions about healthy lifestyles.
Some staff members should engage in regular professional development.
If the school wishes to use resources to convey any healthy eating messages to students, staff or parents they should be taken from reputable agencies.

This Whole School Food policy should be referenced in other curriculum policies at the time of review – PE, Science, Geography, SPHE.
During one term each year there should be reminders and activities to encourage healthy eating taking place across the school (HPS coordinator)
A nutritionist/ dietician may speak to parents in the school from time to time.
The school nurse may speak to classes.

The school should work and communicate with the following:

Key Measures

Healthy Eating should be taught as outlined in the SPHE curriculum.
Staff members should attend training and professional development when needed.
The school should increase non-food rewards during school time and decrease food rewards.
Class parties are up to the discretion of the class teacher.
Leaflets and reminders about healthy eating should be sent home at various times during the school year (this can be part of SPHE, Science or as a stand-alone lesson)

Communication

Implementation

This policy should be implemented from September 2018
Review at the staff meeting in the third term,
Following this, the policy should be reviewed/ updated after 2 years of implementation.

St. Joseph’s N.S.