Program for schools
Options for health, wellbeing
THE Root Cause Children’s Health Program is a 12-month partnership with schools and families, empowering children to have a positive lifelong relationship with food and sleep, underpinning their optimum health, behaviour and academic performance.
Supported by Darling Downs Health and funded by the Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN, the program is delivered free to participating primary schools across the Darling Downs Health region.
Throughout the 12 months, each school receives one-on-one support by local facilitator Victoria Byrnes who provides inperson workshops for students, parents, and staff, plus an array of classroom resources, professional development and an online portal full of resources for families.
The program is about providing new ideas and options around health and wellbeing to help students and school communities to make healthier lifestyle choices.
The program was rolled out to 20 schools throughout the Darling Downs in 2021 with great success and is on offer to schools again for the 2022 school year.
Kingsthorpe State School is one of the schools that will be completing the program again in 2022.
Principal James Leach said the program was very well supported throughout the 12 months and the Mad Food Science incursion was a hit with the kids.
“The green smoothie experiment was a lot of fun for the kids and it was great to see them trying new things,” he said.
“The program empowered our school community to make changes including a review of our canteen and we now also provide each class a fruit and vegetable platter each fortnight which is sponsored by our P & C and our local IGA. We are really excited to be able to offer this to our students again in 2022.”
Belinda Smith, founder of The Root Cause, author of The Lunchbox Effect, and creator of the Children’s Health Program, has travelled Australia delivering and refining the program in schools, and has given evidence to the Federal senate committee into the obesity epidemic in Australia.
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN NOW FOR THE 2022 SCHOOL YEAR, VISIT HTTPS://THEROOTCAUSE.COM.AU FOR MORE INFORMATION.