Wednesday, May 2022
With a student population of just 71, you might question what could be achieved by such a small school, but Biboohra State School has proven that small can also be mighty, having achieved full Healthy Eats Accreditation within the first year of beginning the program.
Healthy Eats Coordinator and Biboohra teacher, Eleanor Silver said the Healthy Eats program was a good fit for Biboohra, as it supported their mission to create an inclusive and community-oriented environment focused on the health and wellbeing of staff, students, and the wider community.
“We believe in a holistic approach to learning, and the experiences our students have had with the Healthy Eats program and working on our school gardens, has had a great impact on our kids,” Ms. Silver said.
The creation of a school fruit and veggie garden is a key part of the Healthy Eats Accreditation program and through their ‘Pride Projects’, Biboohra was already well ahead of the game, having created an impressive and thriving fruit and vegetable and native sensory garden within the school.
“The Healthy Eats program really supports our mission to create a healthy food environment. Students can make links between the vegetables in the garden to the healthy food on their plates, which is an important aspect of our learning here at Biboohra,” Ms. Silver said.
Biboohra students are responsible for the maintenance of the gardens and harvesting the fruit and vegetables in season. They then make the produce available to the school community and even sell any extra produce at the local farmer’s market.
“Our Healthy Eats leaders are our student leaders in each class. It is their job to lead by example and support students to make healthy choices. They make suggestions about what the school tuckshop should have and the food we cook in the classroom. They also make suggestions as to what crops we should grow and help to harvest the produce to sell to the community, amplifying the Healthy Eats message,” Ms. Silver said.
The school’s commitment to the garden to plate philosophy will be further enhanced by their new outdoor kitchen project, which will be partly funded by the grant they received from Life Education Queensland on reaching accreditation.
“We are very excited to have achieved Healthy Eats accreditation. It is wonderful to have the work and dedication our staff and students have put into creating a healthy food environment officially recognised,” Biboohra State School Teacher, Eleanor Silver said.
