Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle North, acted as milk monitor for the day at St Cuthbert’s RC Primary in Walbottle in celebration of World School Milk Day.
To mark the event, St Cuthbert’s RC Primary encouraged children to drink milk and understand the nutritional benefits milk provides, alongside hundreds of schools and nurseries across the UK throughout September and October 2013.
World School Milk Day is on Wednesday 25th September. An initiative driven globally by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, World School Milk Day is funded in the UK by Cool Milk, the country’s leading school milk supplier.
The annual event, held on the last Wednesday in September, has been celebrated by children drinking milk in schools and early years settings in over 30 countries around the world since 2000.
In the UK, an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five receive free milk every day, while pupils aged five to eleven receive subsidised milk.
Delivered fresh to the classroom, the milk is enjoyed as a group, promoting social development and independence. Milk is vital for building healthy bones and teeth and improves a child’s concentration, memory and creativity.
Catherine said:
‘It was great to visit St Cuthbert’s Primary this morning and talk about the benefits of drinking milk. The children were so well-informed about the importance of a healthy diet, and events like World School Milk Day really help to reinforce that message.’