The British Potato Council’s (BPC) ‘Potato Day’ proved a hit with school children this year.
Since launching special Potato Day packs for primary schools in October 2005, the BPC has received some 1,350 requests from schools keen to get involved and host their own event.
The pack is full of ideas to help schools hold a themed Potato Day, and is designed to encourage children to take up a lunchtime meal and eat potatoes as part of a healthy balanced meal.
Clatford CEA Primary School in Andover held its Potato Day as part of its Science Week, and found the event to be a resounding success. Nearly a third more children opted for a school meal at lunch-time on Potato Day.
School chef Mrs Razza said: “Our Potato Day menu proved to be particularly popular with the children and it was actually very easy to implement.
“Jacket potatoes are easy to prepare and full of vitamins and minerals as well as being a good source of carbohydrates, proving children with the energy they need. It also made a change for them to be able to come and sample different toppings too.
“We chose toppings we knew that they would enjoy and we were able to include extra nutrients and healthy ingredients such as lentils in the Bolognese sauce.
The whole school was involved in a variety of classroom activities.
Jo Osmond, science co-ordinator, said: “Everybody was really keen and we were able to come up with a range of curriculum-based activities taken from both the Potato Day pack and inspiration from our own teachers.”
Pupils took part in potato printing, mash sculpting and crisp sampling, and they also created posters featuring key potato facts and healthy messages. Key Stage 2 pupils wrote recipes and acrostic poems, and collected data to input into graphs.
Caroline Evans, marketing executive for the BPC, said: “We were delighted to see the enthusiasm shown by the teachers and pupils at Clatford School and we’re pleased that their Potato Day was such a success.
“Having potatoes on the menu can help caterers comply with school meal guidelines and through events like these, we hope to encourage more children to take up a lunch-time meal as well as getting them to enjoy potatoes as part of a healthy balanced diet.”
