Leitchville Primary School

A healthy breakfast is a great start to any day but it’s not every day that children get to enjoy breakfast with their friends at school. That’s what happened at Leitchville Primary School this morning with a breakfast set up in the outdoor area ready for when children arrived.

 

Those students who were lucky enough to have been able to walk to school were keen to quickly hang up their school bags and record their walk on their VicHealth classroom calendars. As the school children tucked into their breakfast children from the Leitchville Pre-School arrived. The younger children, parents and teaching staff were greeted with a warm and friendly welcome.

 

Following breakfast, Cr. Neville Goulding Mayor of the Gannawarra Shire spoke to the group and launched the new Gannawarra Walk to School media clip. He encouraged the children to live a healthy lifestyle so that they can grow up fit and strong. He said that as a Shire Councillor he spends a lot of time sitting in the car and at meetings, but when he’s away from home he always gets up early and goes for a walk. It’s a great way to check out different places and a dose of fresh air is good for getting the body and mind ready for the day. Walking is also a great way to wind down at night.

Amy, an Occupational Therapist with Northern District Community Health, spoke to the children about the importance of being physically active and eating healthy foods. She said that as part of her job she works with people who have injured themselves such as by breaking a bone or being involved in an accident, or perhaps they have suffered from a stroke and lost body movement as a result. Her job is to help people get movement back, to regain their balance and strength so that they can do as much as they can for themselves. Amy said that active and healthy children are more likely to grow into active and healthy adults with strong bones less likely to break or become injured.

The children listed off lots of interesting fruit and vegetables like kiwi fruit, pomegranate and watermelon as well as other healthy food options like cereals, yoghurt, cheese, milk and meat. They also listed off some not so healthy food options like fish and chips, party pies, sausage rolls, soft drinks, lollies, chocolate bars and chicken biscuits. While the children said they enjoyed eating these foods, Amy said that these foods should be kept for special occasions as they are high in salt, sugar and fat.

 

Three vouchers at local businesses were awarded as part of a poster competition the children had participated in as part of the Leitchville Walk to School and Healthy Breakfast event. Prizes were presented by Cr. Goulding and Amy and the three prize winners described their posters to the group. Entries in the poster competition depicted healthy eating, described the joys of walking, or the benefits of physical activity. As one entry said “I like walking, it is good for you. I like walking, you should do it too!” and “Walking is the best, never let it rest!”.  

 

Following the formalities the school and pre-school children, parents, teaching staff and visitors participated in a 1.2 kilometre walk on the town walking track. Along the way the group spotted some animals, noticed that the rabbit proof fence needed some repair work, and the school students pointed out how well the 200 or so trees they had planted along the track to beautify the area were growing.

Walking certainly is a great way to check out what’s going on in the world around us; to meet and connect with other people along the way, and to improve our mental and physical health and wellbeing.

Quambatook Primary School will host the next Gannawarra Walk to School/Healthy Breakfast event on Friday 15^th November commencing at 8:30am with a healthy breakfast. The breakfast will be followed by a leisurely walk along the town walking track to the recreation reserve and back to school along the scenic Avoca River. 

Stay tuned for more on that event Friday. Until then, remember that at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day will help support you to lead a happy and healthy life….