Parents Information

School Hours

• School begins at 9.20am for all classes.
• Sos: 11.00am-11.15am
• Lón: 1.00pm- 1.30pm
• School finishes at 2pm for the Infants and 3pm for all the other classes.

If you want to arrange a meeting with Mr Bulfin please ring the school office at 061-355057 to do so.

Healthy Lunches

Patrickswell N.S.

January 2020

HEALTHY EATING POLICY

The importance of a healthy diet cannot be overstated. When our Healthy Eating Policy was first formulated, crisps, fizzy drinks, candy bars and sweets were deemed unsuitable for our school lunches. This was extended in our Review of 2015 to include bars of any sort , including the “so called” Healthy Cereal bars, which have been proven to contain very high levels of sugar and therefore do not meet the aims of our Healthy Eating Policy.

Patrickswell’s Healthy Eating Policy outlines how the school supports healthy eating practices through the promotion of healthy lunches and healthy snacks. The SPHE Guidelines aim to promote the personal development and wellbeing of the student to provide a foundation for healthy living in all its aspects. Patrickswell N.S. is committed to facilitating the children’s development of skills and attitudes to allow them to make informed decisions about their food intake. There will be a whole school approach, involving teachers, parents and children to ensure that healthy eating messages are a part of every aspect of school life. The children will continue to receive consistent messages regarding healthy eating both at home and at school.

Aims of our Healthy Eating Policy

*The following is a list of healthy options which may be included in your child’s lunchbox.

You can  download a copy of the “Safe Food – Healthy Lunch Box” brochure, which contains lots more ideas for  Healthy lunch options.

We are also Taking part in the “Food Dudes” Healthy Eating Programme, developed to encourage children to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. More information on this can be found at Food Dudes.ie

There are some occasions where children will be allowed to bring “Treats” to school. These are usually on class trips or school tours, but only if accompanied by a healthy lunch as well. They will be told in advance of these occasions/days

You can help your child by cutting large rolls/wraps/sandwiches into more manageable sizes.The children will bring home uneaten lunch and papers.

Roles and Responsibilities in implementing our policy:

Parents are responsible for providing a healthy school lunch for their child(ren). Children are encouraged to participate in making their own healthy school lunch. Teachers will explicitly teach about healthy eating as part of the SPHE curriculum. Patrickswell N.S. will review the Healthy Eating Policy every four years. Our Healthy Eating Policy is available on our website at www.patrickswellns.ie. , as a hard copy from the office and by post if requested.

This policy was reviewed in January 2020.