School milk hits the spot for kids

Charlotte Thurgood lets Fonterra tanker driver Mike Griffin know how loud the horn is at the school. Photo / John Stone

It started a year ago in Northland and now 1450 schools and 170,000 Kiwi kids nationally are getting free milk at school from Fonterra.

To celebrate the milestone, the dairy producer held a fun day on Wednesday at Maungaturoto School - one of the first in the country to take up the scheme.

The event was attended by Fonterra representatives, dairy farmers and their families, milk tanker drivers and Chris Farrelly, the CEO of Manaia Health PHO, who was the man whose lobbying of the industry led to the introduction of the milk in schools programme.

More than 14 million Anchor milk packs, or the equivalent of almost three million litres of milk, have been delivered to schools the length and breadth of the country since the rollout began 12 months ago.

Fonterra spokeswoman Louise Aitken said 70 per cent of primary schools had signed up.

Maungaturoto Primary School Principal Shane Campbell said a year on the kids are still lining up for their chilled milk packs.

"At first, we had some teachers who were a little bit nervous about how much learning time would be taken up with kids drinking their milk.

"However, the way we have gone about it, if you go round the classrooms, it is just part of our daily routine.

"We are really happy with how the programme is going and so are our children."

Nine-year-old Alana Yardley, a milk monitor at the school, said she looks forward to drinking milk every school day.

"Milk is good for you - it's good for your bones and for learning too. In the morning, if you feel sleepy, it's nice and fresh so it wakes you up."