|
A healthier and well nutritioned Boys' High School.
The WBHS Well-being Working Party
For many years our school has had a pie-eating, fizzy drink and lollie-stocked tuckshop. With rising rates of teenage obesity and diabetes accompanied by behaviour and learning difficulties, Miss O’Shea (HOD Health) saw the problems in this highly un-nutritional school service. Thus the WBHS Well-being working party was inaugurated. Including students, teachers and those in the health sector alike, our aim was to create and sustain a healthy school environment in all things.
With the canteens change in management under the newly appointed chef Judd Hawley, came fresh enthusiasm in cohesion with our party, changing the menu and structure of the canteen. Astoundingly and pleasingly this resulted in a drop in pie sales, from 205 to 26 per day. In just three months, a plentitude of freshly filled rolls, salads, sushi, various healthy hot specials, fruit,breakfast specials as well as more milk and water have replaced a once very limited and unhealthy service of high fat foods, high sugar fizzy drinks and lollies. This is down to the tireless work of those in the tuckshop, providing us hungry boy’s with healthier alternatives that will not only satiate us but also enhance our ability to learn and listen. In doing this we have become eligible and are applying for the bronze award of the National Heart Foundation school food programme, which would be a great bonus to our reforms.
With the support of Jim Callahan (Northland Health), Rona Mahey-Willis (Heart Foundation), Debe Anderson (PTA), Corey Pia (Public Health Nurse) alongside other members of dedicated staff and Year 12 students, WBHS is truly living up to its title of a Health Promoting School. The working party is unique, involving great experience from not only the staff members involved and a variety of health practitioners in the community, but very enthusiastic students who are actively working towards a unique and forward-thinking healthier school environment.
But this is by no means the extent of our party’s aims, we have branched into talks about recycling, the new student support centre, smoke free counselling and even lunchtime sports are in the pipeline. We endeavour to make the school healthier in all aspects for it’s students and staff.
By Josh Chamberlain, Head Boy 2007 |
