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Interesting

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Why is school food so important?

new school food manifesto

“As many of you know I released my new school food manifesto this week outlining my concerns for school food in England today and the actions I think need to be taken by government to ensure our kids continue to get the great all round food education they need to feed themselves better in the future and to help reduce the crippling rise in obesity. I have been overwhelmed and delighted by the support I have received from you guys out there for the manifesto. So thanks and big love to my fellow school food campaigners, school caterers, the press and the general public…. the fight continues…..”
Jamie Oliver

Check out what others have been saying here…

LACA
Food for Life
Garden Organic

new school food manifesto

As many of you know I released my new school food manifestothis week outlining my concerns for school food in England today and the actions I think need to be taken by government to ensure our kids continue to get the great all round food education they need to feed themselves better in the future and to help reduce the crippling rise in obesity. I have been overwhelmed and delighted by the support I have received from you guys out there for the manifesto. So thanks and big love to my fellow school food campaigners, school caterers, the press and the general public…. the fight continues…..

Jamie Oliver

Check out what others have been saying here…

• LACA
• Food for Life
• Garden Organic

synopsis

In 2005, my TV series Jamie’s School Dinners went out on Channel 4, and I officially kicked off my Feed Me Better campaign to get decent food into Britain’s schools. That seems like such a long time ago now, but school food is still a massively important issue to me, as I’m sure it is to all of you. It still gets talked about all the time in the British press,and there are some truly brilliant and inspiring schools, headteachers, caterers and dinner ladies out there doing great things to make sure the food they serve our kids is healthy and nutritious. Big love to them!

Over the past 5 or 6 years, big changes have been made to school food. These changes are still going strong today and,to be honest, we’ve advanced much further than I first thought we would. We’ve all learned a lot, and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see so many people committed to feeding our children better at school; it makes the blood, sweat and tears of the early days of the campaign totally worth it.

But our work is far from over. Childhood obesity is still a problem. The UK has the highest rate of childhood obesity in Europe, with 25% of young people being classified as obese or overweight. In 2005 I said that this would be a long road, and it will be.I know I will stick with it, and I hope you will too. Have a look through my school food pages to find out what I’ve been up to as the fight for better school food continues.

Jamie Oliver

There is an obesity epidemic in this country,and the emotional and financial costs of this epidemic are huge. The UK has the highest rate of childhood obesity in Europe, with 25% of young people being classified as obese or overweight. The Government’s Foresight report suggests this will only get worse, with 40% of Britons expected to beobese by 2025 – unless we all do something about it. 

A school meal accounts for one-third of a child’s daily nutritional intake. For many children up and down the country, the majority of food they are fed at home is either made up of ready meals, takeaways or – in the worst cases – nothing at all. This means the meal they eat at school will be the only nutritious food they eat that day. Encouraging children to make better food choices at school is absolutely vital.

Jamie has long advocated that children who are fed better, do better. Recent research supports this and has proved that no matter what background a child is from, a hot, nutritious meal at lunchtime improves their behaviour and concentration in the classroom in the afternoon. This is yet another reason why school meals should matter to everyone who cares about the future of the UK’s children.

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so you say

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we love this

DogDaz Zoo

helicoils:

look at its tiny legs

(via couldeverdreamof)

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ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

 

Please don’t drink to the brink and waste your time

Inviting yourself into the world of crime,

Don’t hang around with people who

Drain your energy and lead you to,

Do all the wrong things that can hurt others,

Don’t despair, there is a world out there

For you to discover, If only you would take the time

To use your energy positively,and open your mind,

Search for creativity, education or sport

Sit yourself down,and give it some thought

by Gillian Sims

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School

School is a large part of your life when you are young, and it can be a really happy experience. Sometimes though you might find you have problems at school which are worrying or upsetting you. These could be about friends, homework, exams, bullying, or feeling pressure to do well. No matter what you are feeling, ChildLine is always here for you if you need support.

Going back to school

It can be really hard going back to school after the summer holidays. Not everyone looks forward to it. There might be lots of reasons why you might be worried about going back such as:

• being bullied
• finding homework difficult
• having problems at home that make it hard to concentrate
• worrying about exams
• finding it hard to make friends.

Whatever the reason, ChildLine is here for you and can help. You can contact us any time for support.

Moving schools

Moving from one school to another can be a scary time.  You might be moving from primary school to secondary school, or changing schools because you have moved house. Whatever the reason for the move, you can prepare yourself and get support if you need it, to make it all go smoothly. 

I’m worried about moving up to secondary school

The change from primary school to secondary school can be scary. You might be worried about:

• making friends
• finding your way around
• schoolwork and homework.

It’s natural to feel like this, even if lots of your friends are moving to the same school as you. 

Hopefully you will get a chance to have a look round your new school and spend a day there. If you are able to do this, it will help you feel more confident about when you move.  The receptionists in your school’s office should be able to help you if you get lost and can’t find where you are supposed to go, or you lose something like your dinner money. They can help you find your way round and also be able to help with some of the other problems you might have too.

If you are worried about anything to do with moving to secondary school, it can really help to talk to someone about how you feel. You could talk to your teacher – either your primary school teacher, or your new secondary school teacher.  They will be able to help you feel happier about the move.  You could also talk to your parents or carers about how you feel.

If you don’t have anyone to talk to, or don’t feel that you can talk to them about how you feel, you can always talk to ChildLine. No matter what your worry about moving schools is, we can help you.  

 

      

Corridors of Courage

Aliens have invaded the school! Can you save the day? Play Corridors of Courage to find out!

 

 

Friends 

Some people make it look easy making friends, but it isn’t always easy.  Not having friends or being in a group can make you feel sad and lonely. If you  are worried about making friends, or don’t have any friends at your school, talking about it to someone can help. Read more advice about friends 

Being bullied? 

If you are being bullied you may feel alone and not know where to turn.  If you are being bullied at school, it can make each day at school difficult and worrying.

No one has the right to hurt you or make you feel bad, and if you are being bullied you don’t have to put up with it.

You can speak to ChildLine anytime if you are being bullied and want to talk about it. We can help you if you are being bullied at school,outside of school, if you are feeling down or lonely, or if you are havingproblems with friends.

 

• I’m too scared to go to school – what should I do?

  No one has the right to stop you from going to school. If you are worried about bullying, school work or making new friends, talking to someone about how you feel can really help. 

  Try taking a quiet moment to talk to someone you trust and tell them about the problem. That could be a teacher or someone else you feel comfortable talking to. They can get in touch with your school and work out a way to help you.

• Homework and exams

   

• I’m moving house and worried about leaving all my friends

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100 DAYS OF SCHOOL

 

Today was the 100th day of school and the kids were encouraged to both bring in collections of 100 objects and to dress up like they were one hundred years old.  Everyone remembered their collections (which ranged from paper clips and crayons to rose petals and gummy bears), but only two children dressed up, one boy and one girl.

The boy wore plaid shorts, house slippers and white socks pulled up to his knees, and insisted that we all call him, “Old Man Jimmy*,” instead of just “Jimmy,” which was amazing.

The girl wore a frilly white shirt under a long black dress and kept calling out, in her best old-lady voice, “I’m a hundred!  I’m a hundred!”

At one point, she looked directly at me and said, “Sarah, I’m an old lady.  I’m one hundred years old!”

Then, her entire body shaking, she bent over at the waist, used her right fist to steady herself on an invisible cane, pointed at me with her left hand, and yelled,

“GET OFF MY LAWN!”

Conclusion: our children are brilliant.

 

*names have been changed

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nice

oh, this and that

I love bird watching out the window. These visitors never cease to fascinate me and always bring a smile to my face. I feel like a kid when I spot one while staring out the window. Here are some shots I took of these beautiful birds today right after the snow storm.

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They really are growing up fast: Pressures of modern world are eroding childhood

:kid’s today They really are growing up fast: 

• Calls for initiatives to ensure that children’s outdoor play and connection to nature are encouraged
• All forms of marketing directed at children up to at least age seven ‘should be banned’

 

Children are growing up too quickly because of modern life. Picture posed by models

Children are growing up too quickly because of a combination of early testing in school, advertising, bad childcare and a reliance on computer games and television, experts warned today.

A group of 200 teachers, academics, authors, charity leaders and other experts have written a letter calling for a drive to ‘interrupt the erosion of childhood’.

The group includes novelist Philip Pullman, Oxford University neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield, and Lord Layard, emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics.

They write: ‘Our children are subjected to increasing commercial pressures, they begin formal education earlier than the European norm, and they spend ever more time indoors with screen-based technology, rather than in outdoor activity.

‘The time has come to move from awareness to action.’

The letter outlines a four-point programme to restore proper values to childhood.

It says: ‘We call on all organisations and individuals concerned about the erosion of childhood to come together to achieve the following: public information campaigns about children’s developmental needs, what constitutes “quality childcare”, and the dangers of a consumerist screen-based life-style; the establishment of a genuinely play-based curriculum in nurseries and primary schools up to the age of six, free from the downward pressure of formal learning, tests and targets.’

It also called for initiatives to ensure that children’s outdoor play and connection to nature are encouraged and the banning of all forms of marketing directed at children up to at least age seven.

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