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FOOD DUDES!
In the middle of October 2016, an exciting new whole school nutritious food scheme was introduced to our school – the Food Dudes programme. The programme began with the arrival of a mysterious box to each classroom. What was inside? Posters were displayed in classrooms, a letter was sent home to inform parents about the programme and each pupil was given a home food diary so that they could log all their healthy home eating habits.
Each day would begin with the teacher reading aloud a letter from the Food Dudes or showing a Food Dudes adventure on the projector. Each class soon became acquainted with the various characters – goodies and baddies! A variety of fresh fruit and vegetables arrived each day to encourage the pupils to eat healthily. The pupils were eased into this: starting with a nibble, then a bite, then a whole piece before building up to eating a full packet of fruit or vegetables. Reward and sticker charts encouraged the pupils to keep up their healthy eating efforts. The mystery box was finally revealed to be full of prizes for the pupils who were making the best effort at sampling and eating the food – for being real Food Dudes! The programme proved so successful that some pupils asked to bring home extra fruit and veg to enjoy at their evening meals.
One class made a tremendous effort to really engage with the Food Dudes programme. Ms. Murphy’s Room 10 (2nd class) investigated healthy vs. non healthy foods. Specifically, they investigated the amount of sugar contained in certain foodstuffs. To do this, they used both their scientific and mathematical skills. The class selected a number of popular types of food and drink, including yoghurts, smoothies, sweets and snacks. They made sure to select some items that most people would regard as being a healthy option. They measured out the sugar content using both sachets of sugar or by weighing out granulated sugar on a scales. The amounts were recorded in a very visual way. You can see the look of shock on the pupils’ faces!
Room 10 presented their findings to the entire school during the November assembly. Best of all, they created their own Food Dudes adventure which they filmed and showed in the school hall – brilliant!