The end of the year is here, and hopefully we have a sunny summer ahead of us!

            Encourage pupils to drink plenty of water over the summer, and remind them that water is the best fluid for kids. Children need to drink about one-and-a-half litres (that’s about 6-8 glasses or 3-4 ACE Water Bottles) of water every day. Encourage them to spread this out over the day. For example, encourage having a glass of water with each meal, before play-time, after playtime and an hour before bedtime.

            Children never need to drink Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks. If a child is eating 3 healthy meals in the day, they will have enough energy to support any exercise they do. Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks provide unnecessary extra energy that can lead to unwanted weight gain. Remind your pupils of this as often as possible!

            Have a wonderful summer! 

We’re fast approaching the end of the year, and while pupils are itching for the summer holidays, a great way to keep them engaged in learning new skills is to encourage a little peer-led learning.

An example of a short video where a simple baking skill is very cleverly taught by a child can be found at this link: http://saucepankids.com/index.php/2012/07/making-baking-trays-non-stick/.

Are there any skills that the pupils can learn from one another between now and the summer holidays? Examples of videos or presentations the pupils could make include:

• Points to remember when accepting an award

        Awards such as the Green Flag Award are heading towards many schools this month. Can pupils teach each other the importance of posture, being prepared, and speaking clearly when accepting an award?

• Safe hand-washing

        Over the summer there can be a lot of running between the kitchen and the garden! Do pupils know how to do a correct 30-second hand-wash?

• Safely crossing the road

        Is the pitch for the Sports Day on school grounds or is there a little walk to get to it? Perhaps pupils could make a short video to remind other pupils about safe travel on the road, especially when they are travelling in groups.

National Dairy Week

This week (April 20^th – 24^th) is National Dairy Week. Dairy foods are so important for growing children, so this week is a fantastic opportunity to encourage your pupils to include more dairy foods in their diet.

As part of National Dairy Week, you can visit the great website from the Moo Crew (www.moocrew.ie), which has lots of useful resources for the classroom to help pupils to understand more about the Dairy Food Group.

The Moo Crew also has a super poster competition for primary schools. Pupils are asked to create a poster which demonstrates what they have learned about the role of dairy in a healthy diet. The prize includes a farm visit, sports pack valued at €1000, and a weekend away for the teacher involved, so it’s well worth participating! The competition closes on May 8^th 2015. 

Happy Easter to all the schools in the ACE Schools Programme! Schools have
been very busy doing lots of healthy activities since Christmas.

To see what they have been up to and for the full Newsletter, please click the link below.

ACE_Newsletter_Easter_2015_Vol._6_2.pdf576.43 KB