Cohuna Consolidated School

The 205 children attending the Cohuna Consolidated School enjoyed a healthy breakfast in glorious sunshine on Tuesday 26 November. The event was part of the Gannawarra Walk to School and Healthy Breakfast program occurring at twelve locations across the Shire during November. Children enjoyed a range of cereals, yoghurt, toast with honey and vegemite, a glass of milk or orange juice and platters of delicious fruit provided by the school community – the fresh berries were a great hit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following breakfast the children, teachers, wider school community and visitors assembled to hear the Gannawarra Shire Council’s representative and Deputy Mayor, Cr. Lorraine Learmonth speak about Council’s involvement in the VicHealth Walk to School program. The program is part of Council’s commitment to encouraging healthy lifestyles and building on partnerships to support the health and wellbeing of our communities. She highlighted that the program was supported by a range of partners including primary schools, kindergartens/playgroups, Kerang Technical High School, Cohuna Secondary College, Northern District Community Health, Kerang District Health, Cohuna District Hospital, the Southern Mallee Primary Care Partnership and the Mallee Sports Assembly.

 

Cohuna Secondary College students who are part of the Year 9 Future Leaders program were acknowledged for assisting with the breakfast along with other community members who had helped including Cathy from the Cohuna Neighbourhood House and Council staff. Cr. Learmonth highlighted that it was a great privilege for Council to be leading the way in supporting communities to be active and healthy and thanked the school for participating and for their ongoing work in encouraging healthy children.

 

Alexia, a Community Health Nurse with Northern District Community Health, spoke to the children about the importance of being physically active and incorporating at least 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit into the daily diets. The children interacted using ‘thumbs up, thumbs down’ to indicate whether they liked or disliked named vegetables and fruit with watermelon, carrots and apples receiving the best response. All are great lunchbox options.

 

The event ended with children and teachers walking or running two laps of the track around the school grounds with each lap covering a distance of approximately 750 metres. The children regularly run or walk this circuit to keep fit and healthy. Following the walk, some children returned to class to view the Gannawarra Walk to School media clip while other classes participated in another 30 minutes of physical activity before settling into a day of learning.

 

The next Gannawarra Walk to School and Healthy Breakfast event will take place at Koondrook Primary School on Thursday 28 November 2013 commencing with a healthy breakfast at 9am.

 

Remember, walking is a great activity for the whole family to enjoy. It helps to strengthen muscles, control weight and keep the body in tip top condition. So make sure you pull on your walking shoes, and get walking….