At Denham Village School, we believe that a healthy body fuels a curious mind. As part of our commitment to providing your children with the best start in life, we are excited to introduce our School Packed Lunch Policy and Whole School Healthy Eating Policy.

This initiative is designed to turn lunchtime into a learning opportunity. We want to help our pupils develop the essential life skills needed to make informed food choices that will benefit their long-term wellbeing.

Our Approach
Our policy is guided by the Wellbeing Plate and the PhunkyFoods Project. We are focusing on a balanced approach that encourages a variety of food groups and aims to reduce processed foods high in hidden salts and sugars.

To support this transition and lead by example, our Hot School Lunches also follow these guidelines. To ensure there are no sweet treats at lunchtime, dessert options for hot meals consist exclusively of fresh fruit and yoghurt.

Weekly Healthy Highlights
To make healthy eating fun and consistent, we are introducing themed days to guide the children’s choices:

• Monday: "Glass of Milk Day" – focusing on calcium for strong bones.
• Wednesday: "Try Some Fruit Day" – encouraging children to explore new flavours.
• Friday: The designated day for including a packet of crisps in lunchboxes, if you wish.

Learning Through Doing
We are thrilled to continue our partnership with PhunkyFoods. Mrs Shah will continue her healthy eating cooking sessions, and every class will participate in a workshop on creating healthy sandwiches and wraps. These hands-on sessions will empower the children to take an active role in preparing their own nutritious lunches.  The Phunky Food team will also provide workshops for the children and work with the Phunky Food Ambassadors to present assemblies ot support the children's understanding.

Working Together
The school has two policies supporting teaching the children about healthy eating habits. We kindly ask that you take the time to review them. Please be assured that all staff will be on hand during lunchtimes to help the children follow these guidelines and encourage their new habits.

Your support in helping the children adapt to these changes is greatly appreciated. We aim to support you in this journey and will continue to share suggestions from the Phunky Foods programme to make packing a healthy lunch as easy as possible.

Thank you for your continued support in helping our children grow into healthy, happy, and confident individuals.