WINNING NORTHERN IRELAND SCHOOLS HAVE THE LIDL FIT FACTOR

Regional winning schools of the Lidl Fit Factor descended on W5 at the Odyssey, Belfast for a grand finale prize giving ceremony on Thursday, 20th May.  The finale marked a nail-biting end to the primary school competition aimed at Primary 3 and 4 classes to promote healthy eating and physical activity in a programme created by Lidl and the Ulster Cancer Foundation (UCF).  Over 12,000 pupils from schools across Northern Ireland took part in the 2010 Lidl Fit Factor programme.

The competition asked schools to submit creative projects expressing what they had learned during the course of the four week fun and educational programme.  Hundreds of pupils from the province flocked to the Odyssey to discover whether their class was lucky enough to scoop the overall top prize of £4,000 worth of sports equipment vouchers for their school.  Second and third places received a total of £3,000 and £2,000 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: St. Mary’s Teemore, Derrylin for Fermanagh, Holy Child PS, Belfast for Antrim, St. Mary’s Primary, Lisbuoy for Tyrone, St. Joseph’s Primary, Carryduff for Down, St. Oliver’s PS, Cullyhanna for Armagh and Ballysally Primary, Coleraine for Derry.

It was Ballysally Primary, Coleraine who took first place on the day with their creative entry that amazed the celebrity judging panel made up of Paddy Wallace from Ulster Rugby, Joe McMahon from the Tyrone GAA team and freelance journalist Claire McCollum.  In addition to charming the distinguished judges, the inventive project evidently also impressed UCF and Lidl representatives as well as 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.co.uk) and 50 percent on the decision of the independent judging panel.   

St. Mary’s Primary, Lisbuoy clinched second place with Holy Child PS, Belfast coming in a very close third.  

The standard of entries received was phenomenal as Joe McMahon explained, “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.”

Gerry McElwee, UCF, concluded, “Congratulations to all of the finalists in the Lidl Fit Factor.  Many lifelong habits are formed during a child’s early years.  Communicating positive healthy lifestyle messages such as a varied diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables and encouraging physical activity, will help children adopt a positive outlook to food and exercise.  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 Northern Ireland after the summer holidays inviting teachers of Primary 3 and 4 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?