As part of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) Programme, we at St Johns SNS encourage our children to become more aware of the need for healthy food in their lunch boxes. For primary school children to achieve their full potential, it is essential that they eat a healthy diet. Eating a nourishing breakfast and a healthy school lunch allows children to take full advantage of the education provided for them.
A healthy lunch box should include a piece of food from the main four shelves of the food pyramid (bread/cereals, fruit/vegetables, dairy and protein).
Suggestions for your child's healthy lunch box:
- Bread - whole-grain breads, rolls, wraps, bagels, pita breads.
- Other carbohydrates - crackers, plain rice cakes, yoghurt rice cakes, plain pancakes, breadsticks, pasta, rice, noodles.
- Dairy - cheese slices, yoghurts.
- Sandwich fillings - cold meats, cheese, tuna, egg, lettuce, salad, hummus, banana.
- Fruit - apple, banana, pear, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, oranges, raisins, kiwi, plum, peach, melon, watermelon, pineapple, apricot. Remember to peel and/or cut fruit into small bite-size pieces for younger children.
- Vegetables - carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber, tomatoes, sweetcorn, peppers.
- Drinks - milk or water are the ideal choice as these drinks are tooth friendly.
As part of our Green schools programme, we ask that all school lunches are packed in recyclable boxes avoiding the use of tin foil, cling film and plastic bags. All litter and uneaten food is to be taken home. We also strongly encourage the use of re-usable drink bottles in an effort to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in our school.
The last Friday of every month is a treat day. On treat days pupils are allowed a small portion from the top shelf of the food pyramid e.g. fun size chocolate bar/small iced bun/biscuits.
Other considerations:
Allergies - There is a total ban on nuts, sesame and any other nut products due to serious allergies of some pupils in our school. Please remember some breads, pastries, biscuits and other food or baked goods can contain nuts and sesame seeds.
