Herefordshire school children are being encouraged to get active, cultivate their school gardens and enjoy local fruit and vegetables.
Next week is healthy schools week on Teachers TV, the digital informal channel on education. Throughout the week, the channel will be profiling health initiatives in schools, including a series of feature programmes about healthy schools.
In Herefordshire 73 percent of schools have healthy schools status which is above the UK's national average of 56 percent. This year, Herefordshire's healthy schools team have been working with schools to raise the profile of local farming. So far just over a third of the county's schools have adopted a local farmer who visits the school and helps the children learn about where their food has come from.
Building on this successful campaign and fitting in with the week-long TV profile on healthy schools, Herefordshire Council is providing all primary schools with a free bumper resource pack full of goodies to help schools with healthy activities.
The bag contains a new foodie folder in which schools can gather monthly fact sheets detailing seasonal food and what needs to be planted in the garden. Each month, another list will appear on the Healthy Schools website for schools to print off and place in the folder. Farmers' markets and other events for the month are also listed.
Other resources in the bag include the Lord Scudamore Healthy cookbook created by the school's pupils, a big book of health, a full set of foodie books (one for each month) and giant teeth models to help teachers in lessons with ideas for lesson plans.
Tess Boyes, healthy schools co-ordinator said: "We want to encourage children and their families to have a go at growing some of their own food. It's a great way for children to learn about the food they eat and encourages them to try new flavours - it always tastes better when you've grown it yourself.
"Getting out into the garden, at home or at school is also a good way of getting some fresh air and physical exercise.
"These monthly fact sheets are being provided for schools, but we hope families will access them too via our web site and get involved in gardening together."