The Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) has unveiled a new project that has proved phenomenally popular with Primary Schools in the Forth Valley area.
The Reindeer Dust School Project provides free kits and training sessions to make ‘reindeer dust’ – a combination of Hamlyns porridge oats, Halleys timothy chaff and other secret ingredients provided by the local Tesco stores. Each packet of reindeer dust is then packed into paper bags provided by Booker Wholesale Stirling.
The project aims to teach pupils how farmers grow food for us and other animals, how food grown locally is better for you and the planet and how eating the right food can make you strong and healthy.
Sessions will be delivered in the classroom and will provide an opportunity for pupils to try some healthy food, teach them how to make environmentally conscious choices around food and will be an overall fun and interactive lesson. For younger nursery students, there will be a magic Christmas-themed activity provided.
The project was launched mid-September with more than 75 classes and 2300 children signing up to participate after only a few days. The teacher training sessions are running through the second week in November.
The idea for the project came from Hamish, a 4yo Shetland pony, who wanted to be one of Santa’s Reindeer. An email from Santa sent Hamish on a journey to discover how reindeer live, grow and fly. He learned from the “farmer elves”, that a healthy diet and correct environment are important for all animals. The story of this very cute pony’s dream to be the 10th Reindeer gives the project a festive and engaging theme.
It has seen such interest in the Forth Valley area that it is now fully booked for the rest of the year. However, RHET are looking into running similar projects across Scotland.
RHET’s Learning & Development Coordinator Sara Smith said, “These hands-on teacher workshops are a great way to get children thinking about food production as well as promoting the benefits of making a reindeer dust without glitter.”
If your school would like a training session, please get in touch with RHET on 0131 335 6290.
To stay up to date with developments follow RHET on social media or visit www.rhet.org.uk.