Bringing dairy to life in the classroom
For several decades, the Dairy Council has maintained a uniquely strong and productive relationship with schools across Northern Ireland.
Through its long-standing educational programmes, resources and partnerships, the organisation has supported teachers, engaged pupils and promoted a greater understanding of nutrition, health and the role of dairy in a balanced diet and active lifestyle. This enduring collaboration has enabled the Dairy Council to become a trusted presence within the education sector, reaching generations of young people and contributing positively to learning and wellbeing in classrooms throughout the region.
The 2025/26 academic year has just ended and based on all engagement metrics, it has proven to be a most successful period between the Dairy Council and schools.
Today’s children are the consumers and opinion leaders of tomorrow. As a result, direct engagement with schools is highly valued by Dairy Council levy payers, providing an important opportunity to support informed attitudes and understanding from an early age. Indeed, the communication links that are forged between the Dairy Council and schools start at Key Stage One with primary 1 pupils.
At the end of June each year, 26,000 of our ‘Milk and More’ booklets are distributed to every primary school in Northern Ireland and feature within the information packs that are sent out to the parents of every child enrolling for Primary One.
These Milk and More booklets provide nutritional information,encourage the uptake of break-time school milk, and cover several key areas to help parents navigate school milk options.
Specifically, in relation to diet, it highlights the essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals that dairy provides for growing bones and tissues and regulating bodily functions.
The booklet also sets milk intake within the context of eating well and staying hydrated throughout the school day.
Beyond Milk & More, the Dairy Council fully supports Northern Ireland’s ‘School Milk Subsidy Scheme’, which is financially supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
This measure provides parents of primary school children with the opportunity to avail of nutrient-rich milk and the significant benefits it brings for their children.
For example, a 189ml carton of school milk can provide more than half of a five-year old’s daily needs for calcium, phosphorous, iodine, vitamin B12 and a third of their protein needs.
Significantly, the Dairy Council is keen to build on this for the future. And with this in mind a new video resource for schools is being produced by the Council, showing the journey and telling the story of school milk from the farm to the classroom.
We are pleased to confirm that the work is progressing as planned and will be completed ahead of the new school year, which commences in September, allowing for implementation within schools in time for the new term.
September also sees the Food and Agricultural Organisation, an Agency of the United Nations, hosting World School Milk Day. This event is always held on the last Wednesday in September.
This welcome initiative is a celebration of the positive impact milk can have on children's health, learning, and development around the globe.
And it also provides the Dairy Council with a unique opportunity to further profile the benefits of Northern Ireland’s School Milk Scheme.
That said, there is no substitute for having direct engagement with school children. And this is achieved in a more than meaningful way courtesy of the Dairy Council’s Food and Fitness programme.
The Food and Fitness programme has been developed by the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland to help teach primary school children at Key Stage 2 about the benefits of a healthy, balanced diet and an active lifestyle.
Brought to life using colourful props, educational games, a fun activity session and even a Food and Fitness rap, it is complemented by a Teacher Resource Pack and an information leaflet for Parents.
The initiative is traditionally delivered by two placement year undergraduate students, participating in Ulster University’s Food and Nutrition degree course.
The 2025/26 students were Kerri Henry and Hannah Anderson, who both truly excelled in making the last academic term one of the most successful years for the programme. During the period September 2025 to June 2026, they visited a total of 315 primary schools and interacted directly with over 23,000 pupils in the classroom.
These are truly tremendous figures. And both students must be heartily congratulated for the effort they put in.
The credibility of the programme is reflected in the demand from teachers to have it fully included within the timetable that they want to deliver in the classroom.
In addition, the Dairy Council is fully committed to communicating the key role played by the dairy sector across society as a whole, including secondary school students.
An excellent example of this initiative is the Dairy Council’s role in helping to shape the content of the GCSE course in Agriculture and Land Use. This work is undertaken in collaboration with the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).
Approximately 500 students completed the course during the last academic year.
Communicating the fundamental principles associated with sustainable dairy farming practices are a key focus of the course’s content.
However, as is the case in so many other industries that new approaches are continually being introduced within production agriculture.
Specifically, where dairy farming is concerned the growing use of technology is a case in point as is the fast-developing application of genomics as an animal breeding tool.
Given this backdrop, the Dairy Council will be working closely with CCEA to review the course content of the GCSE in agriculture and land use.
So, yes, the Dairy Council is fundamentally committed to working with teachers and educational professionals to tell the real story of milk to school children of all ages across Northern Ireland.
And this is an initiative that continues to build momentum.
Among the many positive outworkings of this is how so many teachers see first-hand the Dairy Council’s active role as a trusted source of information for communicating the role of milk and dairy products in a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle to NI’s consumers of tomorrow.