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NORTHERN TERRITORY
Little Lunch
Monday, 19 October, 2009
Experts have long claimed breakfast to be the most important meal of the day, especially when it comes to kids concentrating at school.
Watch Online: Little Lunch
So when a child's nutritional needs aren't being met at home, sometimes a school has to step in.
This is what's happening at Tennant Creek Primary School in the Northern Territory, where nutrition is now practically part of the curriculum.
"We were finding that a lot of our students were coming to school without food...some kids were going a day without eating", school principal Heidi Preston told Living Black.
Join Video Journalist Kris Flanders as he learns how a simple meal can have a huge impact on a child's education.
TRANSCRIPT
VOICEOVER: This is Tennant Creek Primary School in the heart of the Northern Territory.
Here, nutrition is virtually part of the curriculum.
PETA MELDRUM: We do a breakfast which usually consists of a choice of toast, fruit salad and Weet-Bix and then we do a recess and that usually contains a fruit and a cheese and biscuits, quite a good variety there. And then a main meal, sometimes it's a hot meal and sometimes it's sandwiches, and that's also served with two pieces of fruit.
VOICEOVER: Since 2004 the school has been running a nutrition program: "Healthy Food Happy Kids".
It was designed to encourage school attendance and performance, and the principal says it's getting top marks.
HEIDI PRESTON: We were finding that a lot of our students were coming to school without food, they may have eaten at home in the morning before coming to school, but then may have gone, some kids were going a day without eating. Other students were coming to school having not had anything in the morning.
VOICEOVER: Low concentration and lethargy are some of the short term disadvantages.
Long-term, a poor diet not only affects the overall wellbeing of these kids, but their education and career prospects.
Five years of good food have turned these little lives around.
PETA MELDRUM: With children with their learning they need their calcium, their vitamins and their minerals and all that to stay awake, to stay alert. And I feel that it has brought our level of education up for the children. They seem to be more active and more in control of themselves to work harmoniously with the teachers.
HEIDI PRESTON: It's increased the consistency of the kids being in class, so there’s, that's a real big thing for these kids, coming to school every day is really important. They feel like they belong, they're a part of the unit, they're a part of the school.
VOICEOVER: Breakfast, recess and play-lunch meals cost parents just five-dollars a day per child.
VJ: The students here at Tennant Creek Primary School are more attentive in the classroom and active in the playground. Which just goes to show that if you add healthy foods to the equation, you'll get happy kids.
VOICEOVER: Students from each class line-up to collect a basket containing their lunch and then return to the classroom where everyone tucks in.
JENNY KITE: It settles them, they're able to settle down and be ready to do their learning, so it’s a very convenient time. The food is really nutritious and it's tasty, cos they all enjoy eating it. It's healthy for them, it's good for both their bodies and their minds. So they're very aware of what they're eating is healthy food.
VOICEOVER: And why wouldn't the students enjoy what's being dished up, with a menu including spaghetti bolognese, beef stroganoff and vegetable lasagne?
HEIDI PRESTON: Overwhelming responses from within the school, the kids, it's just part and parcel of their day now having the nutrition program, and if we didn't have it I think we'd have a lot of concerned parents in the community. The staff use the program themselves often, it's open to everybody in the school. There's a huge selection and whilst it's at a set menu, it rotates over a three week cycle, so there's some really great meals that come through there.
VOICEOVER: Now the only thing these students are hungry for is good marks on their next test.
Source: Living Black SBS
Watch Online: Little Lunch
So when a child's nutritional needs aren't being met at home, sometimes a school has to step in.
This is what's happening at Tennant Creek Primary School in the Northern Territory, where nutrition is now practically part of the curriculum.
"We were finding that a lot of our students were coming to school without food...some kids were going a day without eating", school principal Heidi Preston told Living Black.
Join Video Journalist Kris Flanders as he learns how a simple meal can have a huge impact on a child's education.
TRANSCRIPT
VOICEOVER: This is Tennant Creek Primary School in the heart of the Northern Territory.
Here, nutrition is virtually part of the curriculum.
PETA MELDRUM: We do a breakfast which usually consists of a choice of toast, fruit salad and Weet-Bix and then we do a recess and that usually contains a fruit and a cheese and biscuits, quite a good variety there. And then a main meal, sometimes it's a hot meal and sometimes it's sandwiches, and that's also served with two pieces of fruit.
VOICEOVER: Since 2004 the school has been running a nutrition program: "Healthy Food Happy Kids".
It was designed to encourage school attendance and performance, and the principal says it's getting top marks.
HEIDI PRESTON: We were finding that a lot of our students were coming to school without food, they may have eaten at home in the morning before coming to school, but then may have gone, some kids were going a day without eating. Other students were coming to school having not had anything in the morning.
VOICEOVER: Low concentration and lethargy are some of the short term disadvantages.
Long-term, a poor diet not only affects the overall wellbeing of these kids, but their education and career prospects.
Five years of good food have turned these little lives around.
PETA MELDRUM: With children with their learning they need their calcium, their vitamins and their minerals and all that to stay awake, to stay alert. And I feel that it has brought our level of education up for the children. They seem to be more active and more in control of themselves to work harmoniously with the teachers.
HEIDI PRESTON: It's increased the consistency of the kids being in class, so there’s, that's a real big thing for these kids, coming to school every day is really important. They feel like they belong, they're a part of the unit, they're a part of the school.
VOICEOVER: Breakfast, recess and play-lunch meals cost parents just five-dollars a day per child.
VJ: The students here at Tennant Creek Primary School are more attentive in the classroom and active in the playground. Which just goes to show that if you add healthy foods to the equation, you'll get happy kids.
VOICEOVER: Students from each class line-up to collect a basket containing their lunch and then return to the classroom where everyone tucks in.
JENNY KITE: It settles them, they're able to settle down and be ready to do their learning, so it’s a very convenient time. The food is really nutritious and it's tasty, cos they all enjoy eating it. It's healthy for them, it's good for both their bodies and their minds. So they're very aware of what they're eating is healthy food.
VOICEOVER: And why wouldn't the students enjoy what's being dished up, with a menu including spaghetti bolognese, beef stroganoff and vegetable lasagne?
HEIDI PRESTON: Overwhelming responses from within the school, the kids, it's just part and parcel of their day now having the nutrition program, and if we didn't have it I think we'd have a lot of concerned parents in the community. The staff use the program themselves often, it's open to everybody in the school. There's a huge selection and whilst it's at a set menu, it rotates over a three week cycle, so there's some really great meals that come through there.
VOICEOVER: Now the only thing these students are hungry for is good marks on their next test.
Source: Living Black SBS
