MORE schools in Hillingdon have kicked off the term with a healthy start by offering pupils free milk.

Children aged between three and five are able to get a free bottle every day, which is provided by the national school milk agency - Cool Milk.

Lyn Metcalfe, welfare officer at Hillingdon Primary School in Uxbridge Road, said: "We have just started this term and I think it is a great idea. We already give the pupils fruit and to give them the choice of having milk is part of an ongoing campaign to keep the kids healthy.

"We send letters out to the parents and they tell us whether their children want the milk or not, so we don't force them either.

"The pupils above the age of five have the option of buying the milk, so all the children at the school have the opportunity to join in."

Field End Infants has been offering free milk to its pupils for almost six years.

Dorothy Chappell, headteacher at the school in Field End Road, said: "A lot of children don't drink milk as often as they should after a certain age and giving them a choice to do so gets them into a habit of having it when they grow older.

"Its great that more schools are taking part in this healthy scheme."