Year 3’s Rainbow of Vegetable Literacy

Alongside being a Governor at Hill View my day job is as an Academic at Bournemouth University. Last week it was great to have the opportunity to bring these two worlds together and spend some time working with Year 3 discussing research around healthy eating.

We all know that eating vegetables is great for the planet and for our health, but only one in ten children consume the advised 5-a-day portions of fruit and vegetables. Dietary habits are shaped at a young age and exposure to vegetables at a young age is key to their acceptance and consumption. This was the theme for the afternoon we spent together last week.

The afternoon started with an assembly discussion which included a ‘Do you know your vegetables quiz’. The children were very excited by the ‘ask the audience’ style voting buttons they got to use! After this, the children were asked to taste some common vegetables in a variety of preparations (raw, cooked, baked) and many were surprised that they really liked some vegetables that they had previously disliked when prepared in a different way. Supported by the University we were able to provide gardening equipment including raised beds, wheel barrows, trowels and gardening gloves. Every child was able to plant a broad bean seed and will be able to follow its germination and growth through to harvest in the Summer. Finally, the children did some ‘vegetable art’, designing a sign for their new ‘allotment’. We will get the best designs professionally printed and are looking forward to returning to the school in December to present these signs and see how their seedlings are growing.

Dr. Jeff Bray – Hill View Governor and Bournemouth University Academic