Galway and Laois schools win Moo Crew competition
Two schools, one in Co. Galway and one in Co. Laois have won the 2015 Moo Crew Competition.
The National Dairy Council (NDC), which organises the event, said Tynagh National School, Tynagh, Loughrea, Co. Galway was the national winner of the senior category and St. Paul’s National School, Irishtown, Mountmellick, Co. Laois was the national winner of the junior category.
The senior category winners are third and fourth class from the Co. Galway school and the Laois winners are from first class, both classes have each won a VIP farm experience at Causey Farm for their class.
They will travel to Causey Farm on June 10 to milk cows, make their own bread and butter, meet farm animals and enjoy a day packed with adventure, the NDC says.
Derval O’Rourke, who is ambassador for ‘Cheese up your life’ and is also supporting Moo Crew, will join the two classes in Causey Farm to share her training and healthy lifestyle tips with the pupils.
Both schools will also receive a sports equipment pack valued at €1,000, the NDC says.
The NDC says that some 264 schools progressed to enter the national Moo Crew poster competition.
The NDC has announced that all 26 counties feature primary school classes highly commended in both the junior category (first to second class) and senior category (third to sixth class) of the national competition, each winning an €80 sports equipment voucher for their school and a framed Moo Crew certificate.
The well-known sprint hurdler who is a World Indoor Champion, multiple European medallist and three time Olympian says that there was an astounding level of interest and participation from primary school classes all over the country for Moo Crew this year.
“I’ve always appreciated the importance of having a healthy lifestyle, eating a balanced diet and keeping fit.
Moo Crew helps children to learn this in a fun way, supported by Milly the cow who has her own exercises, her own blog and tips including recipes.
“This project is fun, but it nurtures creativity, team building, literacy and numeracy skills and also has important learnings to help kids to think about portion sizes and a balanced diet so that they can make smart choices about what they eat and drink,” O’ Rourke says.
Moo Crew is a fun and interactive way for children to learn the benefits of a healthy, balanced diet and the importance of exercise to ‘get moo-ving’, the NDC says.
The programme is designed to be linked to the primary curriculum and includes lesson plans with interactive website resources for teachers, it says.
It is supported by the NDC in light of research that showed 37% of girls and 28% of boys aged from five to 12 years in Ireland had inadequate calcium intakes in their diet.
