Winning moo crew class visit Aurivo supplier’s farm to learn the story of milk
A combined 3rd and 4th class submission from Ballaghlea National School, Ballygar in Co. Galway has won the top national prize in the NDC’s Moo Crew: The Primary Dairy Moovement.
The winning project for the pupils from 3rd and 4th class in Ballaghlea National School was entitled ‘Our Moo-ving Experience’ and their project book details all of the activities that the classes undertook to ensure that the Moo Crew message reached the entire school.
The Ballaghlea class learned about the ‘Story of Milk’, naming it from ‘Cow to Cup’ and took a trip to the dairy farm of Aurivo supplier John Fitzmaurice in Ballygar.
They learned all about the food pyramid. They used an innovative image of a hand to identify the 5 servings from the ‘milk, yogurt and cheese’ food group a day recommended for those aged 9-18 years using the tip of each finger and named the idea ‘5 a day the dairy way’.
The children celebrated National Dairy Week by learning how to make butter and receiving a talk from a nurse about the importance of a healthy, balanced diet. They created a healthy eating display in the school and made yogurt and porridge, bread and smoothies. They created different games such as ‘Pin the tail on the cow’ and other board games and shared these games and recipes with the other classes.
The Ballaghlea class wrote poems and also created presentations to teach the enthusiastic younger classes about Moo Crew and showcased all of this work in their project book.
The class has won the amazing experience of a training day visit by Olympic boxer and primary school teacher Darren O’Neill plus sports equipment to the value of €1,200 for their school.
Moo Crew was first introduced to schools last year to help children in 3rd to 6th class learn about the importance of the ‘milk, yogurt and cheese’ shelf of the food pyramid in the context of a healthy, balanced diet and an active lifestyle. NDC Nutritionist, Caroline O’Donovan, explains that Moo Crew was developed in consultation with teachers to help children learn about a balanced diet, active and healthy lifestyle and where milk comes from – from farm to fridge – in a way which is engaging and fun.
“Findings from a national survey showed that 37% of girls and 28% of boys aged from 5–12 years in Ireland had inadequate calcium intakes in their diet,” says Ms. O’Donovan. “We want to try to narrow that nutritional gap.”
For further information about Moo Crew: The Primary Dairy Moovement visit www.moocrew.ie and follow #MooCrew on Facebook and Twitter.
Olympic boxer, Darren O’Neil and Aurivo supplier, John Fitzmaurice (back centre) are pictured with 3rd and 4th class pupils from Ballaghlea National School, Ballygar, Co. Galway to celebrate the school’s victory in the National Dairy Council’s Moo Crew: Primary Dairy Moovement initiative.
