This is ERO’s second report about the amended National Administration Guideline 5 (NAG 5) requirements. The first evaluated schools’ readiness to meet the new requirements. It found that almost all of the 173 schools ERO reviewed between 1 February and 31 May 2008 met or were preparing to meet these amendments.
Information for this second evaluation was gathered from 199 schools in the course of their regular education reviews between 1 June and 10 December 2008 – the first six months after the new NAG 5 requirements came into effect. This report is based on each board’s attestation about whether it was meeting the new requirements of NAG 5.
ERO found that 95 percent of primary schools and 97 percent of secondary schools reviewed were promoting healthy food and nutrition, while 90 percent of primary schools and 97 percent of secondary schools had made healthy options available.
Only 12 schools in the group were not promoting healthy food and nutrition, and/or had not made healthy options available, or were unsure about whether they met one or both requirements. In most cases, these schools were in the early stages of discussing the new requirements and had yet to decide on actions to meet them.
ERO compared how many schools of each type, locality, decile group, roll size group and region (ERO area) were meeting the new requirements. While there were some minor variations within these groups, the differences were not statistically significant.