WINNING IRISH SCHOOLS HAVE THE LIDL FIT FACTOR

Regional winning schools of the Lidl Fit Factor descended on the exciting and newly launched Aviva Stadium in Dublin for a grand finale prize giving ceremony on Tuesday 18th May.  The finale marked a nail-biting end to the national primary school competition aimed at 3rd and 4th classes to promote healthy eating and physical activity in a programme created by Lidl and the Irish Heart Foundation.  Over 20,000 pupils from schools across Ireland took part in the inaugural Lidl Fit Factor programme.

The competition asked schools to submit creative projects expressing what they had learned during the course of the four week long fun and educational programme.  Over 150 pupils from all four corners of Ireland flocked to the Aviva Stadium to discover whether their class was lucky enough to scoop the overall top prize of €6,000 worth of sports equipment vouchers for their school.  Second and third places received a total of €4,000 and €3,000 in sports equipment vouchers respectively. All regional winners had already picked up €1,000 in sports equipment vouchers for their school.

The regional winners included: S.N Niall Mór, Donegal for the West, St. Gabriels NS, Cowper Street for Dublin, CBS Primary Tralee County Kerry for Munster, St. Leonard's NS, Kilkenny for Southeast and St. Marys NS in County Cavan for the Northeast.

It was St. Leonard’s from Dunnamaggin, Kilkenny who took first place on the day with their creative entry that amazed the celebrity judging panel made up of Jonathan Sexton, Ireland and Leinster Rugby, Eoin Kelly from the Tipperary hurling team as well as broadcaster and journalist George Hook.  St. Leonard’s entry, which consisted of a well put together drama on DVD showing the benefits of healthy eating, illustrated outstanding originality and imagination.  In addition to charming the judges, these inventive elements evidently also impressed those who cast their vote online through the Lidl Fit Factor website.  Judging for the competition was based 50 percent on online votes (www.fitfactor.ie) and 50 percent on the decision of the independent judging panel.   

S.N Niall Mór clinched second place with CBS Primary Tralee coming in a very close third. 

The standard of entries received was phenomenal as George Hook explained, who was also there on the day to help announce the winners, “it was incredible to see the huge efforts made by schools.  We saw everything from DVDs, songs, poems, collages even dance routines.  Competition was tough so it was incredibly difficult selecting winners.  Huge congratulations to all schools for putting in so much effort.”

Maureen Mulvihill, Irish Heart Foundation, concluded, “Many lifelong habits are formed during a child’s early years.  Communicating positive healthy lifestyle messages such as a varied diet based on the Food Pyramid for example with plenty of fruit and vegetables and encouraging physical activity, will help children adopt positive attitudes and behaviours to food and activity.  The Lidl Fit Factor goes a long way to help communicate these key messages to schools in a fun and engaging way.”

The Lidl Fit Factor contacts all primary schools in Ireland after the summer holidays inviting teachers of 3rd and 4th classes to register for a Teacher’s Toolkit (the resource for the programme).  Keep an eye out for the 2011 Lidl Fit Factor.  We have the Fit factor, do you?