CHILDREN were selected to be part of a national project in Cumnock.

St Patrick’s Primary took part in Children and Young People’s Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC) Health and Wellbeing Practicum.

They learned the importance of eating healthy and how to prepare delicious snacks.

It was an opportunity for staff to collaborate with colleagues across Scotland and learn to use improvement approaches within a school team to improve outcomes for children.

As a school they decided that Healthy eating should be the focus of our project.

Primary 5/6 and their teacher Mrs Nora McCrorie wanted to focus on increasing the healthy snacks that children have at break time. In order to achieve this the class first studied and achieved their Food Hygiene Award with the help of Susie Dunlop, Catering Support Officer.

They then had input from local NHS Dieticiansand the local Library to study what foods would be healthier. Once they had come up with a list we were able to get the support of Mark Hunter, Service Manager for Food and Catering. He came into school for five sessions where he taught the children how to make quick, easy and healthy snacks.

The children also designed their own Healthy Snack logo – ‘Smart Snackers’ Throughout the project the pupils have been collecting daily information on the snacks they are eating. The results so far are looking very positive.

The last step of the project was to invite parents and carers into school to show them what the children had learned and the new skills they had developed. See more pictures in this weeks Chronicle!