This week, the Piwakawaka Team will be adding “Brain Food” to our morning routine.
At 9:45 each day, during our shared Kohanga Time, the children will need to have a healthy snack in their lunchbox each day. Small amounts of brain-healthy food helps maintain the glucose supply to the brain.
Research says this will give the students more energy to learn, enabling higher-level brain function and allowing them to experience more success with learning. It also helps develop lifelong skills around healthy eating.
Students already have regular sips of water throughout the day and we will be encouraging them to make the most of the Fonterra milk we have available before school from Monday to Thursday.
Brain Food Ideas
Brain Foods are generally unprocessed and ensure a slow release of glucose rather than a quick fix provided by high sugar/fat filled foods.
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| Sandwich for mid-morning Brain Food and fruit for later |
Suggestions:
• A wholegrain sandwich or bun with Marmite, Vegemite, Peanut Butter, butter, or served plain - the best for kids and the cheapest!
• A small wrap
• Plain unsalted popcorn
• A hardboiled egg
• Crackers and cheese
• Salami, chicken or other cold meats.
• Slices of cheese from a block
Play-Eat-Learn
In addition, the Piwakawaka Team are trialling moving our eating times to after the play break. This has been proven to increase student nutrition and academic performance.
Schools that have adopted this model report the students:
• eat more fruit and veggies and drink more water
• waste less food
• are calmer in teaching sessions and the playground
• feel like they have more time to eat lunch
• have worked up an appetite to eat all the major food groups
• have far less negative behaviour incidences reported by teachers
Before eating, students will be dismissed to the playground to play and when the handbell rings will go and wash their hands before sitting down with the Piwakawaka Team to eat.
The general schedule that we will be trialling is:
We hope that the “Play-Eat-Learn” schedule will promote healthy eating and improve student achievement. To prevent your child from becoming too hungry, encourage them to eat breakfast and remember to send a healthy mid-morning “Brain Food” snack.
If you have any questions or comments about this new initiative, please pop in and chat with us. We will be seeking your feedback and suggestions early next term.
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