Ivanhoe Primary School

Healthy Lifestyle Program

At Ivanhoe Primary School we are well on our way to becoming a ‘Kids – Go For Your Life’ accredited school due to the importance we place on encouraging students to develop healthy routines for life.

As 2006 regional winners of the Fruit and Veg week challenge Ivanhoe Primary is committed to encouraging students to create healthy eating routines and include physical activity so that making healthy choices becomes engrained into everyday life.

It is paramount that such a commitment involves our whole school community, from the canteen manager to parents and staff to our local fruit and veg retailers.

Ways in which we go about involving our community are as follows:

  • School Fuel termly newsletter detailing all the initiatives regarding healthy living IPS have been involved in each term.
  • Collecting prizes and sponsorship for special healthy eating promotional days from local retailers.
  • Canteen – involving parent helpers in the preparation, concept and selling of products.
  • Local Newspaper coverage of special events to do with the promotion of healthy living.
  • Assembly - held every week which can include any news on relevant healthy lifestyle topics.
  • Free Fruit Friday national initiative happening every Friday at our school for Grade Prep to 2.
  • Parents workshop and Staff Professional Development organised this term to promote the importance of a healthy lunchbox and give us more ideas on how to teach healthy living across the curriculum.
  • Canteen committee – involving any interested parents and teachers working on new ways to deliver nourishing meals and snack to our students.
  • Healthy Eating Promotions committee – a staff team focussed on promoting healthy lifestyles and new canteen products to our school community, who are also responsible for creating the School Fuel Newsletter.

Ivanhoe Primary promotes Healthy lifestyles to our students by:

  • Fruit and Veg breaks DAILY in every grade.
  • Eliminate foods high in fat and sugar from the canteen and replace them with healthy alternatives such as dried fruit, raison toast, pasta, salads and sushi.
  • 'Nude Food' has also become a big initiative in our school from an environmental and sustainability perspective, which in turn helps us encourage students to bring fruit and veg that have their own packaging.
  • Whole school hydration policy – each child brings a drink bottle to school which can be filled with filtered water throughout the day.
  • Compost - all fruit and veg waste goes into our compost for our veggie garden.
  • Special weeks such as Fruit and Veg week and special days such as buddy activity days. This is when grades buddy up with other grades and make a healthy recipe, which will go into a school cookbook.

In June we held an 'Iron Chef' tournament for the whole school. The Preps-Year 2s, Year 3 & 4 and Year 5 & 6s had two teams headed by two teachers and were given a selection of healthy ingredients to make a dish.

  • Go For Your Life Van visit. Every class in the school visited the van and participated in workshops which encouraged healthy lifestyle including physical activity in their life every day.
  • Include students in writing reports of new canteen products, taste testing and designing posters for promoting healthy lifestyles.
  • Life Education Van visit for the whole school in term 3. A life education program which is taught in class after the initial session in the Van.
  • Ride or Walk to school day each term, including the installation of new bike racks so students can store their bicycles and scooters safely.

We also have an extensive Physical Activity program which includes:

  • Interschool and intra-school championships in team sports
  • Gymnastics
  • Staff and students Bat Tennis Championships
  • Kelly Sports at lunch times and after school
  • Tennis
  • Standardised athletics
  • Hoop time
  • Hockey Sevens
  • Soccer Round Robin Day
  • Athletics with Cross Country
  • P.M.P. Perceptual motor program for Preps
  • F.M.S. Fundamental Motor Skills for Preps – Twos
  • Whole School Swimming Program
  • Jump Rope for Heart
  • Middle School Team Sports
  • Folk and Social Dance
  • Lunchtime Dance and Drama club
  • Fitness Education
  • Camps and excursions including fun fitness activities

At Ivanhoe Primary the health of our students in the light of current obesity and lifestyle crises reports is a top priority, which is why teaching, modelling and encouraging healthy choices is a regular and standard occurrence.