Julia Tobin, mother and teacher in Nottingham

"Just like learning, how children eat is very specific to the individual that they are.
We all have special needs, wants and requirements when it comes to healthy eating.

A healthy well-balanced, well-managed diet has enormous benefits in achieving a rich, healthy and positive life-style.

The innovative and beautifully simple 'NutriSkill' empowers children to make informed choices and positive decisions about what and why they eat.

This is learning for life achieved at an early age, and I believe every child would enjoy and benefit from having this skill. My opinion is based on my experiences both as a mother and a teacher."

Alun Davies, Health Education Adviser, Gateshead Council, Raising Achievement Service, Learning & Children | ‘Dec 2008’ filming – clip coming soon

“We were invited to be involved in the NutriSkill pilot through the Healthy Schools Programme, and we were delighted to engage with our schools so they could develop their healthy eating.
We are conscious of Every Child Matters and the strategies on obesity, and we felt that NutriSkill would provide us with a project that would enhance the learning opportunities for young children in Gateshead.

We are conscious of Every Child Matters and the strategies on obesity, and we felt that NutriSkill would provide us with a project that would enhance the learning opportunities for young children in Gateshead.

We have found that the NutriSkill resource has been very useful and works into our obesity strategy in Gateshead.

With the resources, we find that the teachers have got the confidence to deliver key messages on healthy eating, and the children have, through the lessons, been able to identify the different foods within the food groups. We find that the teachers are able to use that as part of their curriculum scheme of work.

We have been involved with the NutriSkill resource now for 2 years and it is our intention to roll it out into further schools.

We have had great success using the NutriSkill resource and we would recommend it to other authorities for use in their healthy eating programmes.”

Carole Robson, Healthy Schools Consultant for Gateshead | ‘Dec 2008’ filming – clip coming soon

“We do have a problem with obesity in Gateshead, so as part of our (roll change to role) as healthy school consultants, we do deliver healthy eating messages in schools. NutriSkill has been really valuable in this because we did have a lack of resources.

It has been very valuable to the children within their families, and while shopping, children have asked their mothers for one cereal rather than another because of the sugar content. They’ve also tried to increase their fruit and vegetables intake as well, which has been really valuable.

While visiting schools around Gateshead, it has been quite obvious which schools have had NutriSkill. The children have had a lot more knowledge than schools where NutriSkill was not available, and it has been really valuable to them.

The evaluation has been very successful – the healthy choices have increased and this is also evident in their packed lunch boxes.

In the future, I would like to see every Gateshead school with a resource like NutriSkill, because it is so valuable. It would be good for the new starters, together with their parents, to see the value of NutriSkill, and to give parents information of healthy eating choices so they could provide healthy packed lunches for the children.”

Alun Davies, Health Education Adviser, Gateshead Council, Raising Achievement Service, Learning & Children| feedback following pilots autumn term 2007

"The NutriSkill resource effectively supports teaching and learning regarding healthy eating and can be taught through a number of curriculum subjects.

Learners enjoy handling the bright, glossy resource cards and working on the large mat; linking active, physical learning with knowledge testing."

Lynne Hudson, St Agnes Catholic Primary School, Gateshead | Dec 2008 filming – clip coming soon

“We were asked by our local education authority to take part in a project called NutriSkill.

Initially it was with our year 1 children, and it proved so successful when they were learning all about healthy living, a nutritious balanced diet and all the other elements attached to that, such as activity, sports, exercise, that we decided to incorporate it into our year 1 curriculum, but also to include it as a whole school project for PSHE. So the whole school has taken part in some aspect of healthy living, healthy schools, healthy nutrition, and it has proved most successful.

I feel it is a huge and important part of the children’s curriculum to learn from a very early age, the importance of eating a healthy, balanced and nutritious diet.

As a head teacher, I feel it is a great, important part of the curriculum to look at all aspects of healthy eating – children taking it from a very early age, so that it is built into their lifestyle and they can take it through into adulthood with them.

It [NutriSkill] has made them hugely aware of the benefits of that. It is not just about eating vegetables, it is about lots of other things as well. We are aiming for the same goal; that is producing children who are active, enjoy life and live it to the full.”

Catherine Wilde, Queens Road Primary School, Stockport | following pilots autumn term 2007

I like the quality and range of materials and the children have a growing knowledge and awareness of healthy eating.

The resources are very good and enable teachers to present exciting and meaningful lessons."

Mrs Golightly, St Agnes Catholic Primary School, Gateshead | Dec 2008 filming – clip coming soon

“My daughter has definitely learnt from what she has been doing at school with regard to healthy eating and NutriSkill.

She is much more aware of what she needs to eat and what she needs to do to stay strong and healthy.

She has enjoyed doing that in school.”

Mrs McLaughlin, St Agnes Catholic Primary School, Gateshead | Dec 2008 filming – clip coming soon

“It has been brilliant, with our younger daughter it is a battle with fruit and vegetables and he [son involved in NutriSkill lessons] is drilling into her that ‘you have got to have 5 a day, not 5 a week or 5 a month’.

He will go to the shops and make sure he gets some oranges or some strawberries and he gets his older sister to make him a fruit salad every night. He has yoghurt every morning.

He is the best eater out of our 4 children – he is really good. I think this has been a good experience because he has done really well out of it.

He is an influence to all of us – even me and my husband.”

Nicola Mackins, St Agnes Catholic Primary School, Gateshead | Dec 2008 filming – clip coming soon

“As a teacher using NutriSkill for the past year, we have found the pack really good. If we had 5 minutes we were able to fit in food recognition and if we had hall time, then we were able to get out the mat and the food cards and play games with the children.

Having the pack showed you what you could do, until I was comfortable enough to bring in things that my children wanted to do with it and how I felt we could progress further.

As soon as I introduced NutriSkill to the children, they thought it was great. The minute they saw the cards they asked how many they knew. At the beginning we would go through them and they might know 20 of the cards, so the next day they made me count to see if they got any more. So they were really pleased because they were able to see their progress, until they knew them all.

The minute they saw the mat they asked if we could have the hall space and if we had time. They were so enthusiastic about it, we ‘found’ the time every day, whether it was just food recognition or to play games, because they ‘wanted’ to. (new para) They kept saying ‘for breakfast today I had.... where does it fit in on the food mat?’ until they were able to identify, then they’d come in and say ‘I had breakfast from 4 different food groups today, but I didn’t have any from the food we shouldn’t eat for breakfast’.

Someone else would say ‘well I did today, so tomorrow I’m going to try to have something else, more healthy’, so they were able to begin to identify the different areas, really quickly.”

Kit Saddington, Emmaville Primary School, Gateshead | Dec 2008 filming – clip coming soon

The children have lessons about balanced diets in all the year groups and we have used the NutriSkill materials all the way through the school. The pilot was just year 1, but we liked it so much that we gave the resources to all the teachers.

We find the NutriSkill materials really effective with the children, because the bright colours and the really clear pictures make it fun to learn about the different food groups. The children understand as it is in nice child friendly terms. (new para) We found it very flexible; it allows the teachers to adapt their own teaching technique and they can use the resources in their own way – so it has become very effective that way.

Having learnt about the food groups, the children are much more aware of what makes a balanced diet, and it makes them more independent with their food choices - we have seen that in the dining hall, and we have tried to encourage it in their packed lunches as well.

I have used the resources myself across a few age groups, and I have found in all of them, they have really enjoyed using the resources; they have had a lot of fun and it has helped them to learn.

Jill Rutherford, Greenside Primary School, Gateshead | following pilots autumn term 2007

"The resources are easy to use and help children understand how they can make choices to improve their diet.

Some children are trying to make better food choices in the lunch hall."

Emma Constantine, North Reddish Infants School, Stockport | following pilots autumn term 2007

"The visual resources make the subject more exciting and interesting for the children.

The wide range of photographs gives children an opportunity to see some foods which are unfamiliar to them.

The children are more aware of a healthy diet and are able to identify quantities recommended. They liked having the opportunity to move around and be taken out of the classroom environment."

Ann Laidlow, Emmaville Primary School, Gateshead | following pilots autumn term 2007

"Good quality, practical resources which children can handle. Clear, detailed pictures which lead to some great discussion.

The children now have more awareness of food groups."

Katharine Hetherington, Emmaville Primary School, Gateshead feedback following pilots autumn term 2007

"Discussions were interesting - the children are definitely more aware of healthy food choices and the importance of a balanced diet.

The large, clear photographs were very useful and the children loved the giant floor mat! The children really enjoyed becoming actively involved in the activities."

Nicola Mackins, St Agnes Catholic Primary School, Gateshead | following pilots autumn term 2007

"Before we had these resources, healthy eating was viewed by the children as any other subject, but after these resources arrived they were keen to get stuck in.

The children's knowledge has come on so much and they have really enjoyed doing it. They picked up on it quickly and wanted to do it more and more. They are even talking about their lunch and relating it to the food group model."

Emma Constantine, North Reddish Infants School, Stockport| add following pilots autumn term 2007

"The visual resources make the subject more exciting and interesting for the children.

The wide range of photographs give(s remove) children an opportunity to see some foods which are unfamiliar to them.

The children are more aware of a healthy diet and are able to identify quantities recommended.

They liked having the opportunity to move around and be taken out of the classroom environment."

Katharine Hetherington, Emmaville Primary School, Gateshead | Dec 2008 filming – clip coming soon

“NutriSkill is an invaluable resource for the children. It means they have access to foods they wouldn’t have access to normally, through the photo cards and it can make a very hard concept much simpler for them.

With the bright colours and the food mat, they can learn through doing; they can move about and have a lot of fun which I think makes the concept easier to understand.

NutriSkill is a great resource because you can use it in so many different ways. You can use it in a small group situation and with a whole class, and you can make it as much fun as you want to, which the children have really enjoyed, and I think that has helped them with their learning.

It is important for children to learn about healthy eating, and NutriSkill is a brilliant resource to do that.The children have actually learnt so much from it and it has had a real impact of the foods that they are eating. They have gone home and discussed it with their parents and they are encouraging parents not to buy so many of the fatty, sugary foods.