THE importance of healthy eating was brought home to youngsters at Portesham Primary School during their annual Healthy Snack Week.

The scheme, which runs every autumn term, is designed to remind youngsters and show newcomers to the school that fresh fruit is a preferable alternative to crisps and chocolate when it comes to refuelling at morning break.

Healthy Snack Week involved the whole school including the reception class, who spent a morning blackberry picking and then turned their foraged goodies into tasty muffins.

The highlight of the week was a big buffet of healthy goodies that was followed by lunch made up of food brought in by pupils and a harvest festival assembly.

Margi White, Portesham’s Healthy Schools Co-ordinator and a senior teaching assistant, said: “We do this every autumn term to remind the children what they should be bringing in and show the newcomers what to expect.

“We also had a big buffet on one of the days where the children brought in 50p and took bowls up to the buffet to choose what they wanted to eat. It was a huge success and they piled their bowls up high, especially when they saw what their friends were eating, and then went back for seconds.

“A lot of them try things they don’t have at home and then they go and tell their parents what they had and educate them as well.”

The person facing the biggest challenge was the school cook Debbie, who was called upon to make lunch for everyone with random produce brought in that morning.

“She didn’t know what she would be given to cook with but she did a fantastic job and lunch was delicious,” said Margi.

“Parents and friends were invited to stay for that and also for the harvest festival assembly.”