Healthy living is on the menu at St Julie's Catholic School

The school is one step ahead of the Government's bid to get children to eat well balanced, nutritional meals offering not only healthy menus but also a healthy living programme that students actively contribute to. Persuading children to give up junk food is notoriously difficult. Instead of banning 'naughty' foods, St Julie's Catholic High School's policy is to swap unhealthy foods for those with a higher nutritional value. Fresh fruit is now dispensed in the vending machines rather than sweets and potato wedges have replaced chips on the pupils' plates. The inclusion of Italian cuisine with Pasta King's meals has proved to be a popular choice amongst children being both a tasty and healthy option. Sister Ann Marie Gammack, head teacher of St Julie's Catholic High School, said: "We must aim to educate children about living a healthy lifestyle rather than simply dictating which foods they must or must not eat. Although there is still more we would like to do, we have started certain initiatives that will encourage students to think about what they eat. For example, the year 11 pupils have set up a focus group to review the catering within the school and make suggestions for the future. Their feedback was extremely positive." Alison Comerford, facilities manager for the school, added: "At St Julie's Catholic High School, we endeavor to offer healthy and flavorsome menus. We have found a supplier, Pasta King, whose concept allows the catering team to instantly prepare nutritionally balanced meals and the pupils seem to love them. From our point of view, Pasta King's simple bar concept, where the pasta is refreshed and topped with sauce, means queues are minimized and preparation time is reduced. It also gives our catering team more time to create a varied selection of meals, including traditional homemade dinners and puddings." St Julie's Catholic High School wishes to encourage its pupils to make informed decisions about their lifestyle. In an attempt to achieve this, the school has run a number of activities such as 'healthy eating' days, where the year seven pupils were asked to design a balanced three course meal, which was later served to a parent in the dining hall. Other programmes include its 'anti-smoking day'. The school hopes to schedule more initiatives to continue to invest in its students' wellbeing.