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Food and Fun! Flintshire’s “SHEP” gets underway this summer! 

Published: 22/07/2021

Children play scheme image.jpgThe School Holiday Enrichment Programme “SHEP” is a school based programme delivered across Wales, which provides healthy meals, food and nutrition education and physical activity to children in a fun social environment during the school summer holidays. SHEP Food and Fun provides: 

  • Nationally endorsed Food and Nutrition Education Sessions 
  • A minimum of one hour of physical activity daily 
  • Healthy breakfast and lunch provided by the school catering service
  • Fun, social learning sessions provided by school staff and partners 
  • This year, due to Covid restrictions we cannot offer family lunch sessions.  Five of the schools are working with Newydd Catering to provide a recipe box with ingredients.  This will be given to families in the last week so that they can enjoy cooking activities with their children at home. 

This is the third year ‘SHEP Food and Fun’ is being delivered in Flintshire having started the programme in 2018 with two schools. Now at six different sites, there are four primary schools and two secondary schools taking part – some new and some existing:

• Ysgol Maesglas - new

• Ysgol Treffynnon - existing

• Connah’s Quay High School

• Ysgol Bryn Gwalia - new

• Ysgol Bryn Garth - new

• Ysgol Queensferry - existing

The primary sites target the 7-11 age group and the secondary sites ages 10-12 years.  There are 40 places at each site and take up has been extremely positive despite the challenges faced by Covid. In Flintshire, SHEP Food and Fun runs four days a week for the first three weeks of the holidays.  

Flintshire’s Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Youth, Councillor Ian Roberts, said:

“This has proved to be a successful programme since it was introduced in Flintshire and I’m pleased it is able to run again this year.  Schemes such as this one really make a difference – not only to provide children with two healthy meals a day, but to encourage them to be more active, make new friends and engage more with school. 

“By involving the whole family with the recipe box can help improve parents’ and siblings’ health and wellbeing and encourages the learning of new skills.”

A typical day runs from 9am to 1pm and includes breakfast, fun learning activities and sports sessions and ends with lunch. Each Food and Fun scheme is delivered by in-school SHEP coordinators and partners, in line with the schools ethos and culture. Children in all “Food and Fun” schemes will enjoy at least one hour per day of physical activity and take part in fun, social and educational activities in a safe and friendly environment. Schools are delivering the programme in accordance with their existing Covid risk assessment. 

SHEP Food and Fun is delivered using a partnership approach coordinated locally by the Flintshire Healthy Schools team involving; Schools, Newydd Catering, BCUHB Dietitians and Aura Leisure & libraries. All Food and Fun schemes are co-ordinated nationally by the WLGA and part-funded by Welsh Government: ‘Working together to help schools nourish children, promote healthy living and provide social learning experiences during the school holidays.