The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
9
WQ. 66/2018
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. JOHN
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 19th MARCH 2018
Question
Further to the publication of A Food and Nutrition Strategy for Jersey 2017 – 2022' (R.85/2017) by the Strategic Public Health Unit, will the Minister advise what role his Department plays in ensuring that children (particularly at primary school) are given the opportunity to learn about, and engage with, food and nutrition at an early stage; and will he further advise what funding (capital and revenue), if any, is being provided from his Department to support a collaborative and cross-cutting approach to this initiative and to ensure proper delivery of the strategy?
Answer
The Education Department has been involved in the development of the new strategy at all stages and played an important role on the steering group during strategy development.
Alongside this, there is a significant amount of ongoing work in schools to educate children about healthy lifestyle choices and the positive benefits of a balanced diet and regular activity.
Children are learning from a very early age about the importance of food and nutrition. In the years before a child starts compulsory education, nurseries are expected to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, which includes Physical Development and Health and Self Care. Children should be taught about the importance of good health, physical exercise and a healthy diet. Also, as part of the new nutrition strategy, all early years settings and schools have been offered HENRY' training, which stands for Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young and is an evidence based programme.
The Jersey Curriculum, which was updated in September 2014, requires that children at all key stages in school learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles, particularly physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Positive lifestyle choices are covered in Health and Wellbeing strand of the PSHE curriculum. In addition, students from Key Stage 1 to 3 are given opportunities to learn about diet as part of the Cooking and Nutrition of section of the Design and Technology curriculum, which states:
As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well now and in later life.'
Schools are very aware of the importance of wellbeing and healthy living and there are many projects, including, for instance, whole weeks focusses on the issue. All this work is funded from within existing school budgets. Some of the teaching in this area is led by PSHE specialists within schools and other projects are supported by external agencies or charities.
Additional targeted funding for the implementation of the strategy is provided by the Strategic Public Health Unit. The Education Department continues to provide support at both strategic and operational level to roll out and deliver the workstream initiatives.