Cover story
Many primary schools are introducing Water Only policies, promoting water and milk as the only drinks available
BECOME A WATER
ONLY SCHOOL Schools are uniquely placed to provide an environment where the healthy and most affordable choice is the easy one. Many primary schools are introducing Water Only policies, promoting water and milk (or milk equivalents) as the only drinks available, to reinforce the healthy eating messages taught in lessons. Some schools also ensure that water and milk are the only drinks on offer at events. Water Only toolkits for schools in
London are available from the GLA (
wateronly@london.gov.uk). They include templates for parent letters, presentations, posters, social media, cards and certifi cates, as well as Water Only stickers for reusable bottles. In the north west, the public health charity Food Active (
foodactive.org.uk) has also produced a Water Only toolkit.
Case study: Charlton Manor Primary school
Find out more See our guides
to energy strategy and
other greener initiatives at
funded.org.uk/
advice-hub/how-to- guides
Charlton Manor Primary school in Greenwich became a water only school because many drinks brought in by students contained unnecessary sugar. The school is focused on helping children to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviours such as cooking and being physically active. Ensuring the children drink plenty of water was an obvious additional priority. To begin, staff taught children about the
importance of hydration and how not drinking enough water
can make it difficult to concentrate and play. Children
were asked to bring in their own bottles to refill at school. During the day staff reminded children to drink water and refill their bottles, with easy access to water fountains. A big behavioural shift was
needed around lunchtimes and it was made clear to parents that they only needed to send in a packed lunch and that the drink would be supplied by the school. The school has seen a positive shift in children’s behaviours towards water and hopefully by modelling these behaviours at school they will be adopted more at home.
14 SPRING 2024 FundEd
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
