Kids - 'Go for your life' is a state-wide initiative funded by the State Government and managed by Diabetes Australia (Vic) and The Cancer Council Victoria. The goal is to create healthier Victorian children who enjoy healthy eating and physical activity every day. This will in turn improve learning and concentration, better mood and behaviour, healthy growth and weight and lifelong health and wellbeing.
Currently the rates of children overweight, obese and experiencing eating disorders are increasing. If we do nothing, this generation will face increasing rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, some cancers and reduced life expectancy.
A key strategy of Kids - 'Go for your life' is to support children's settings to promote healthy lifestyles through an Award Program. To be eligible to become an Award school we must meet the requirements of each of the Award criteria. Kunyung primary School is now registered as a Kids - 'Go for your life' member school. Each week we will provide an update of our progress toward one of the Award criteria.
We have achieved criteria 1, 2, 3, and 5:
Criteria 1: That all students be allowed to bring ‘water only’ bottles to class and PE/sport lessons.
At Kunyung Primary School: All our Prep and Junior students now have a named ‘Go for your Life’ ‘water only’ bottle at school.
Our Middle and Senior students are encouraged to bring a ‘water only‘ bottle to school for class and PE/sport lessons.
Sweet drinks are not permitted during class time. Bubbler taps are available for the children during playtimes.
Criteria 2: That all students are encouraged to eat fruit and vegetables while at school.
At Kunyung Primary School: all students are encouraged to bring fruit and vegetables in their lunch boxes every day. Each class has a defined period of time when children are encouraged to eat fruit and vegetables only, eg: a fruit and veg break.
Criteria 3a: High sugar drinks such as soft drinks, energy drinks, and flavoured mineral waters are excluded from the canteen and other school food services. Parents are requested not to send these drinks to school.
At Kunyung Primary School: High sugar drinks are not available from our canteen and parents are requested not to send these drinks to school.
Criteria 3b: Chips and fried foods are supplied no more than two times per term through the canteen or other food services. School community members are encouraged not to bring these items to school.
At Kunyung Primary School: These foods are not available through our canteen and parents are requested not to send them to school.
Criteria 5: Play equipment that encourages physical activity (eg balls, skipping ropes and bats) is available to students at lunchtimes and other breaks.
At Kunyung Primary School: We have playgrounds, an oval and asphalt areas encouraging a wide range of physical activity and catering for a variety of sporting interests. Senior students are rostered to organise the borrowing of sports equipment including various balls and bats, skipping ropes and hoola hoops.
We are well on the way to achieving criteria 4, 6 and 7:
Criteria 4: The timetabling of physical activity, physical education and sport is consistent with appropriate education sector requirements and guidelines.
Criteria 6: The school promotes walking or riding through a whole-of-school activity as least one day per term (eg. Walk and ride to school days, walking school bus, walking challenges).
Criteria 7a: The school has a whole school curriculum plan, which reflects the VELS, that encourages healthy eating and daily physical activity during the outside school hours.
Criteria 7b: The Kids – ‘Go for your life’ Award criteria are included within policy and planning documents endorsed by the school council.
Criteria 7c: Families are informed of these healthy eating and physical activity policies and provided with information to assist them to meet policy requirements.
Our goal this year is to fulfil the remaining requirements to become a Kids- ‘Go for your life’ Award School.
At Kunyung Primary School:
• Staff refrain from using sweets as rewards in classrooms, recognising that a one off whole class treat is very different to a reward system using food.
• We have included in our excursion policy that: “During the excursion, foods are not to be purchased for any students, by parents or staff, without the permission of the teacher in charge of the excursion.
• We successfully applied for the ‘Free Fruit Friday' grant – free fruit for P-2 students every Friday 2009 to 2011, supplied by our local greengrocer.
• The Kids – ‘Go for your life’ Mobile Education Centre will visit Kunyung on July 28th.
Pam Munro-Smith,
on behalf of the Kids – ‘Go for your life’ team: currently Julie Ryan (Prep), Arlene ‘Sporty’ Drummond, Emma Williams (grade ½), Tammy Kraus (Visual Arts), Maree Swailes (Parent), Janine Kemble (Leading Teacher, grade ½), Mandy Biggins (Canteen Manager) and Pam Munro-Smith (Prep).
Staff and parents are invited and encouraged to join the team at any time.
