Free Fruit Friday was once a government funded initiative and provided weekly fresh fruit for prep - grade 2 students. Unfortunately, this program was axed. Green Thumbs believes that putting fresh seasonal fruit & vegetables into the hands of young school children is an incredible thing and we would like to do all we can to make this happen for the students at Bonbeach Primary School.
Recently we were successful in achieving a $1000 grant from Kingston Council as our application to provide fresh seasonal fruit & vegetables to the students was seen as a very worthwhile community cause. Together with the money raised from the pumpkin drive, we now have $1500 available to provide this program once a month - ideally we would like to make this a weekly event. Kiddy Kutter Knives have donated a child friendly knife to every classroom and we are also hoping to provide an apple slinky machine for every classroom to help make fruit & vegetables fun to eat. A fridge has been purchased to help keep the farm fresh produce fresh and also make it easy for FRUIT MONITORS and Teachers to access - we are a little excited to stock the fridge and see the kids as they open the door - it will be full of colourful, organic, fresh, fruits & vegetables and it is all theirs to eat!!!!
Produce will be purchased from our own schools Farmers’ Market Stall holders every month. We have their support too, as they believe fresh fruit & vegetables are an essential part of every childs healthy food consumption and are allowing us to access their produce at a discounted cost. With lots of community involvement we hope to build on the program and gain access to more funding so that EVERY CHILD has access to a variety of seasonal organic Fresh Fruit & Vegetables once a week in a fun & exciting way.
TEACHERS NOTES:
Currently once a month - Wednesday after the Farmers Market
JUNIORS 10AM
MIDDLE / SENIORS 10.45AM
Your class is to designate 2 FRUIT MONITORS please choose someone different every month so that all children are involved. Their duties will be assisted by Amy & Jade and other parent helpers to collect & assemble the fruit & vegetable platter, take it to class and use child friendly knives to help cut, serve & tidy up. Every month we will try to provide a variety of seasonal produce that is different to the last month so that the students can explore new colours, tastes, textures and cutting experiences. Your monitors may need some supervision, especially in the Junior grades - PARENT involvement would be ideal for this. Not only are the students involved in eating fresh fruit & vegetables but they are also given the opportunity to be responsible for their class by serving correctly & tidying up afterwards. YES! it is to be a fun, with hands on experiences for all of them & we encourage you to encourage them to try new things and help make this program fun & exciting! Please make sure all buckets, knives, trays & boards are returned clean to the staffroom. If there is any excess produce please put in the fruit fridge so that it can used another day - the fruit & veg belongs to the students so if they ask for it please allow them to have it. Slinky machines are also great fun to use EVERY DAY not just on Wellness Wednesdays :)
Currently once a month - Wednesday after the Farmers Market
JUNIORS 10AM
MIDDLE / SENIORS 10.45AM
Your class is to designate 2 FRUIT MONITORS please choose someone different every month so that all children are involved. Their duties will be assisted by Amy & Jade and other parent helpers to collect & assemble the fruit & vegetable platter, take it to class and use child friendly knives to help cut, serve & tidy up. Every month we will try to provide a variety of seasonal produce that is different to the last month so that the students can explore new colours, tastes, textures and cutting experiences. Your monitors may need some supervision, especially in the Junior grades - PARENT involvement would be ideal for this. Not only are the students involved in eating fresh fruit & vegetables but they are also given the opportunity to be responsible for their class by serving correctly & tidying up afterwards. YES! it is to be a fun, with hands on experiences for all of them & we encourage you to encourage them to try new things and help make this program fun & exciting! Please make sure all buckets, knives, trays & boards are returned clean to the staffroom. If there is any excess produce please put in the fruit fridge so that it can used another day - the fruit & veg belongs to the students so if they ask for it please allow them to have it. Slinky machines are also great fun to use EVERY DAY not just on Wellness Wednesdays :)