Bally’snack’ett Primary!

The winning pupils, and their teacher Miss Mullan from Ballyhackett Primary School in Castlerock, scooped the top prize in this year’s Snack Attack Challenge.

Snack Attack is run by the UK’s leading Fairtrade organisation, Traidcraft, and challenges schoolchildren to invent a new fair trade snack.

The Ballyhackett children came up with Ballybitesize, a Fairtrade treat consisting of chocolate puffed rice, cashew nuts, honey and dried banana.

As well as coming up with the snack, the pupils designed the packaging and developed a marketing campaign to promote it. It was judged the winner in Category A for years 3-6 (years P4-7 in Northern Ireland).

Emma Jewitt, from the Schools Team at Traidcraft, said: “The judges loved all aspects of the entry from Ballyhackett, including the great marketing plan and the comprehensive learning they displayed.”

P6 pupil, Eoin Doherty, said he really enjoyed the competition because it “helped us to forge our product from imagination and Fairtrade ingredients. When we won I felt extremely overjoyed”.

Miss Mullan, class teacher, adds: “This competition had fantastic educational and cross curricular opportunities for the children.

“Not only did they become more aware of the importance of Fairtrade, but it enabled them to develop their entrepreneurial skills. I think we may have a few Alan Sugars in the making!

“We are a small school and are absolutely delighted to have won such a prestigious award.”

Ballyhackett principal, Mrs Rita Mellon congratulated Miss Mullan and the P6/7 children on this wonderful achievement and paid tribute to Christine and Mick Turner two volunteers and Fairtrade enthusiasts from the local community for their valuable help.

Mrs Mellon added that the Snack Attack Challenge provided an opportunity for the children to experience real learning connected to their World Around Us topic on Fairtrade.

“Learning about Fairtrade was an ideal vehicle for this and having a Fairtrade Snack Attack Challenge was just fantastic.”