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Healthy Schools

We began the Pembrokeshire Healthy Schools Scheme in 1999.  The importance of 'Health' is central to school. Everyone in school is involved - teachers, catering staff, support staff and pupils. They have all played important roles in making our school healthier. We have successfully completed our 5th phase in 2007 and are now working towards our 6th phase. Pembrokeshire Healthy Schools is part of the Welsh Network of Healthy Schools Schemes (WNHSS) and receives funding from the Welsh Assembly Government.

Nutrition
As a Healthy School we regularly reinforce the message of healthy eating and the importance of making the right choices. Each year, workshops on healthy food groups, and not so healthy foods, are a focus for all Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils. Pupils have enjoyed tasting new fruits, vegetables and smoothies. Recently, healthy snacks and lunchboxes were the nutritional focus for all pupils.  Year 5 and 6 pupils also looked at the effects of salt and fat in food.  The ‘Make an animal' from fruit and vegetables, competition was great fun, with many imaginative entries.Our school lunches are excellent in choice, variety and quality.

Last May, the canteen staff held a food taster session. Pupils were encouraged to try food already on the menu which they had not tried before. This was a great success.

Pupils are offered 4 choices of hot meals at lunchtime. There are also cold choices. The salad bar is very popular. Baked potatoes have been introduced as a regular daily option. Parents are regularly invited to school, to join their children for lunch. Parents are impressed with the choice of food on offer and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.Themed lunch days are also popular with our pupils and staff. A Chinese meal was enjoyed to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

The SNAG, School Nutrition Action Group, members organise the fruit trolley and sell a variety of fruit throughout the morning. Unhealthy snacks at break-time are actively discouraged. SNAG members also sell smoothies daily, at break time to KS2 pupils. The younger pupils have milk. Nurture group pupils and staff make the smoothies – banana and apple is very popular. Our Early Years pupils have a piece of fruit daily. This will hopefully introduce them to the message of eating healthy snacks at an early age. All pupils are provided with a piece of toast in the morning. Our present focus is to encourage pupils to drink water regularly, during the day. Water bottles are provided for all children in school and they are always on their desks.

Breakfast club is free to pupils and is available from 8am as part of the schools Wrap Around Care. Pupils are able to choose from a variety on offer – cereals, toast, yoghurt, fresh fruit, fruit juices, milk, smoothies.
After School Club is available until 6pm. They also have a healthy snack. For more information on Wrap Around Care please click the link below.

The ‘Cook It’ programme has proved to be a great success. The After School Club staff work with the pupils to produce simple, healthy food. The older pupils help the younger children and, together, they learn many new skills. They sit down at the end of cooking and enjoy what they have made. A number of pupils will now eat foods that they once did not like!

Substances

P.C. Bendall, our schools police liaison officer, has become a regular visitor to all classes in our school. She gives us knowledge about alcohol and drugs and how taking these substances might affect our lives. Year 6 had a visit from Theatre Forum Cymru who ran workshops about substances. 'Smoke Bugs' makes Year 4 pupils aware of the dangers of smoking and how cigarettes are made.  It also makes the pupils aware that people who smoke are more likely to suffer lung disease and infections than a healthy non-smoker.

Year 6 attended Crucial Crew where they were shown how fire, Internet, drugs, alcohol and beaches could all be so dangerous. Attending the Nifty Neat Information for Today’s Young People day, is also important to our learning.

Exercise
We fully understand that exercise is essential to a healthy life style.
Early years pupils enjoy playing in the rain. Our school provides waterproof clothing and wellington boots so that we all can go out in any weather. Pembroke Dock Bowls Club invite year 6 annually to join a four week training session as part of a National scheme to introduce young people to the game.

In school, we are encouraged to participate in ‘out of school learning’ activities in addition to the PE curriculum.
Many pupils in KS1 and KS2 attend Dragon Sports. They thoroughly enjoy the programme of activities, which runs throughout the year. For more information please click the link below.

Many sports clubs run after school, including an SEN sports club, which is held on a Friday after school. From these clubs, teams are selected to represent our school at a variety of tournaments. A number of our pupils are extremely proud to have gained awards and medals at various events.

Swimming is a great way to exercise.  KS 2 pupils from Year 3 and 4, swim once a week for 2 terms in each calendar year. Year 5 and 6 pupils are divided into 6 Creative Friday groups, with 2 of these groups swimming once a term for 4 weeks.  We also learn how to be safe in the water and practise life saving skills.

For the first time this year we registered to join schools around the country in the simultaneous Tesco Great School Run. The whole school was involved at different times during the day and ran a number of laps of the playground. About 600 of us joined in this event last summer. It is hoped that the number of pupils involved around the country will be entered in the Guinness Book of Records and beat last year’s record of 150,000.

We now have an excellent range of playground activities for pupils to engage in.  Playground buddies are responsible for the running of playground activities.

Growing Up
Throughout the school we learn about growing up. Circle time is a good time to talk about growing up; the younger children often talk about this in circle time. In science, Year 6 pupils watch a growing up video with the school nurse.

Safety
Dr. Emily Lovegrove came to school help us understand how to feel really good about ourselves. Following this visit, we decided to have a school Bullying Response Team.  This was followed with us deciding to have a school Bullying Response Team. Carole Evans asked this team to produce material for the new Pembrokeshire’s Bullying website. During Internet Safety Week this team visited classes with a presentation about being safe on the Internet.
Year 6 entered the Be SMART competition with videos about issues of safe surfing. One of our videos won, and pupils were invited to the Merlin theatre to receive their prize at the launch of Be SMART.

During this year we have learned about the importance of washing our hands carefully.
We have met our new community police officers when they came to assembly. They told us that they would be out in town and where we live, to help and talk to us about any problems we might have.
PC Bendall spoke to year 5 about anti social behaviour and how this behaviour affected our community.

Website created by Bev Evans, PDCS, 2008