John Scurr Primary School, Tower Hamlets
Why Choose This Project?
School staff observed the unhealthy content of packed lunches over a period of time and were aware that work needed to been done to improve them. The school felt the Advanced Healthy Schools Award was a good opportunity to do targeted work to improve the quality of packed lunches.
What Did The School Want To Achieve Through This Project?
- To eliminate all sugary drinks and go “Water Only”
- To eliminate all crisps
- To eliminate all chocolate products
What Did The School Do To Achieve These Aims?
The Healthy Lives team conducted a packed lunch audit taking photos to provide evidence which were then used to inform our teaching staff training and separate training for Midday Meals Supervisors (MMS). These provided basic healthy eating awareness for all school staff using the Eatwell Plate as a central resource. Schools doing this project are required to go “Water Only” which means parents no longer need to supply a drink as the school provides water for packed lunch pupils in the same way they do for school dinners. Training run by the Healthy Lives team also gave staff information about why eliminating sugary drinks is so important. It is also an opportunity to consult with staff about the Packed Lunch policy and which items of food should be discouraged in packed lunches and ideas for monitoring procedures and the Healthy Lives team supports the development of the new packed lunch policy. MMS also attended Lunchtime Experience training run centrally by the Healthy Lives team. The packed lunch policy was then finalised and “Water Only” was launched followed by the new packed lunch policy with letters and guidelines going out to parents using templates developed by the Healthy Lives team. The school organised assemblies to inform all the pupils and the Quantum Theatre Company performed a healthy eating show to reinforce the whole school message around food.
What Data Did The School Collect and What Was The RESULT?
Packed Lunch Audit
All chocolate snacks, crisps and all other drinks other than water have been successfully eliminated.
The school will need to maintain the monitoring of these items and continue to remind parents on a termly basis by sending out the parent guidelines for a healthy packed lunch. Practical packed lunch sessions will be used to target specific families.
Conclusion
“We were so happy at how quickly all the aims became established and the systems we set up did work and continue to do so. We feel that our school now has children who eat and drink well throughout the school day which can only make them better learners.” Shaheda Khanom – Class Teacher and Healthy Schools Coordinator