St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and Nursery

St Joseph’s holds the Healthy Schools Award and continues to maintain a high level of support for children to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle.
Healthy lifestyles is taught throughout the curriculum in practical and fun ways, such as cooking and sporting activities. Opportunities for visitors from local services to come and speak to the children through class visits and assemblies are provided and encouraged.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS) is a government programme that entitles every child aged 4-6 in fully state-funded schools to a piece of fruit or vegetable each school day, this equates to approximately 2.2m children in approximately 16,500 schools. The scheme was introduced after the NHS Plan, launched in 2000, included a commitment to implement a national fruit and vegetable scheme by 2004. The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is funded by the Department of Health on behalf of the tax payer.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS) helps your child achieve 5 A DAY.

Fruit and vegetables are a good source of the nutrients that children need, and form part of a healthy, balanced diet.

It’s recommended that children – like adults – eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. But research shows that on average children in England eat only two portions, with many eating fewer.

For handy tips on how to get more fruit and veg into your children’s diet, read 5 A DAY and your family.

The SFVS and your child

If your child is aged four to six and attends a fully state-funded infant, primary or special school, they are entitled to receive a free piece of fruit or vegetable each school day.

That provides one of their 5 A DAY portions, and the scheme also helps to increase awareness of the importance of eating fruit and vegetables, encouraging healthy eating habits that can be carried into later life.

Teachers find that distributing the fruit in class groups helps to encourage a sharing, calm, social time. It also allows them to incorporate the scheme into teaching and learning.

SFVS and the school day

The fruit and vegetables are delivered to schools three times a week to ensure freshness. There is a choice of bananas, apples, pears, carrots, tomatoes, and easy-peel citrus fruits such as satsumas. Some schools offer strawberries, when in season.

All the fruit and vegetables are washed before they are handed out, which is usually just before the mid-morning break, normally in individual class groups. They are not handed out at lunchtime in order to ensure that the fruit and vegetables supplied are not simply replacing the fruit and vegetables that might have been eaten at lunchtime anyway.

Other school food

Apart from the SFVS, your child has other opportunities through the school day to add to their 5 A DAY total.

Lunches provided by all schools must include at least one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables or salad for each pupil, every school day. Schools are encouraged to adopt lunch menus that highlight in-season fruit and vegetables to pupils as part of their food education.

Fruit and/or vegetables must be provided at all school food outlets, including at breakfast clubs, tuck shops at mid-morning break and lunch, and in vending machines.

Find out more

If your child is aged four to six, you can talk to their teacher to see if they are currently receiving a free piece of fruit or vegetable each day.

Children are given opportunities to discuss their approach to leading a healthy lifestyle through the work they do in Personal, Social and Health Education. We encourage children to make the best personal choices and take responsibility for looking after and respecting their bodies which is also firmly embedded in our Catholic ethos.