You may find it useful to generate some publicity for the exciting activities and changes going on in your school. You may simply want to generate publicity among pupils and their families, or you may want to go wider and tell the local community.

Here are some ideas for getting publicity:

• Posters
  Have a competition to design a black-and-white poster which can be coloured in. Print up a copy for every child to take home. Get them put up in shops, newsagents, petrol stations, libraries and playgrounds.
• Stars
  Invite a local personality or dignitary to get involved. A local football player or sports team would be ideal! Often public figures will have their own press staff who can help with media publicity.
• Have an event
  Use a concert, play, exhibition or fair to publicise your approach to healthy eating. This can be a better way of communicating than sending home letters or having a meeting.
• Put it on the web
  If you have a school website, include information about your Grab 5! projects on it. Make sure it is linked to other relevant websites. Tell us about it and we will include a link on our Grab 5! website, www.grab5.com .
  
• Write a newsletter
  Get pupils involved in contributing articles, recipes, poems and artwork for a regular Grab 5! newsletter.
• Press officers
  See if your Local Education Authority or Primary Care Trust has a press officer who can help with publicity.
• Press release
  Issue a press release outlining your project and why it is newsworthy. Send the press release to your local newspaper, radio and TV station. Send a copy to the Grab 5! office as well!

Make sure you get parental permission before using photographs of children in publicity materials or in the press.

Writing a press release There is nothing complicated about writing a press release. The trick is to attract the attention of journalists so it doesn't go straight in the bin. Keep it short and snappy. Make sure you include: Heading. Media Release, Press Release or News Release in big letters at the top. Time and date. You can either say it is for immediate release or embargoed until a specific date (only do this if you have a good reason to). Headline. Keep it short, eye-catching and active. For example: Southgate school kicks out junk food! David Beckham opens 'Kids Café' First paragraph. Use short words and include the key facts: who, what, where, when, why. Look in the tabloid newspapers to see how it's done. Text. The text should be clear and concise English. Often good press releases are reproduced word-for-word in the local paper. Quote. Include a couple of attractive and lively quotes from kids and adults that can be included by the press. Contact details. Always provide contact details and make sure you are available for comment Notes. At the bottom you can provide basic information and background. That's it!