SALTLEY SCHOOL UNVEILS ENHANCED FACILITIES THANKS TO £5,000 GRANT

A local primary school has unveiled an exciting array of improvements for pupils to enjoy the outdoors and learn more about growing food and cookery, thanks to a £5,000 donation from Health for Life^®.

Highfield Junior and Infant School was selected by Health for Life, an evidenced-based, award-winning scheme funded by Mondelēz International, as one of three schools to receive a large £5,000 sum to celebrate the programme’s 10^th anniversary last autumn. Since then, staff and students at Highfield Junior and Infant School have been working hard behind-the-scenes to improve a wide-range of facilities and implement more activities related to growing food, healthy eating and exercise, building upon what they had already achieved through the Health for Life scheme.

The Saltley-based school has focused on creating an outdoor classroom, using the grant to introduce a greenhouse and extend their gardens to create a fruit orchard, wildflower mini meadow and raised beds, where pupils can grow fruit, vegetables and flowers. The school has also established an outdoor learning area complete with tables and shelter for pupils to use all-year-round.

As well as improving the school’s outdoor space, Highfield Junior and Infant School has purchased brand-new cooking equipment such as mobile electrical fast heat cooking pans, with the hope of inspiring more pupils to cook at school and use their own-grown produce.

To mark the introduction of the new and improved facilities, staff and students at Highfield Junior and Infant School came together to celebrate and share their initiatives and ideas for healthier lifestyles related to the theme ‘recycle, repurpose and reuse’ with more than 700 students taking part in the event.

The Health for Life programme supports activities that engage pupils, school staff and families in growing food, eating and cookery and physical activity, enabling schools to make a wide range of sustainable changes. The initiative was introduced by Mondelēz International in 2011 and has now involved 211 schools across the city and, alongside additional activities offered in the community, has reached more than 242,200 children and adults in Birmingham. With an investment of over £4.8m from the business to-date, the initiative is delivered in partnership with Services For Education and The Conservation Volunteers (TCV).

Ela Chauhan, Health for Life lead at Highfield Junior and Infant School, said: “We’re delighted that thanks to Health for Life, we have been able to introduce a range of horticultural and cookery improvements across the school. The introduction of the new facilities has been hugely popular with pupils and it’s brilliant to see them have so many more ways, during the school day, to learn about having an active and healthier lifestyle.”

Kelly Farrell, community affairs manager at Mondelēz International, added: “We’re incredibly proud that our Health for Life programme continues to inspire school pupils, their teachers, parents and local communities across the region to develop and sustain a healthy lifestyle.

“We’re thrilled to know that with Health for Life’s help, Highfield Junior and Infant School has enhanced their facilities and created more ways for pupils to engage in activities around growing food, eating and cookery and physical activity, which is exactly what the initiative is all about.”

For more information about the work carried out by Health for Life in schools, visit www.servicesforeducation.co.uk/health-for-life/, and for further information on Mondelēz International, head to www.mondelezinternational.com.