More than 150 Otago and Southland primary schools received an invitation yesterday to be among the first schools in the country to receive free milk for pupils.
Milk is expected to start arriving at southern schools on May 6 - the start of term 2.
The invitation marked the next step in Fonterra's Milk for Schools project, which begins in the south of the South Island before working its way up the country.
Fonterra global co-operative social responsibility group general manager Carly Robinson said schools were asked to indicate their interest in the programme late last year, to help the company determine potential uptake.
Otago and Southland schools which responded, were now being sent application packs to give them more information so they could make a decision on whether to join, she said.
''We've worked hard to make sure the programme is as easy as possible for schools and that administration is minimal.
''Once schools have signed up, we will arrange a visit to help them get set up and ready to start drinking milk.
''We learnt a lot during our Northland pilot, so we hope we have some useful tips to support new schools in getting off to a successful start.''
Ms Robinson said it was not too late for other schools to join the programme.
Any eligible schools that had not expressed interest could do so at any time via the Fonterra Milk for Schools website.
As the programme rolled out nationally, schools that had expressed interest in the programme would be contacted when applications opened in their area.
Ms Robinson said Canterbury primary schools would be next on the list of regions where the programme would be established. It was expected to take a full year to get to all regions of the country. Otago Primary Principals Association president Whetu Cormick was delighted with the announcement.
''We welcome any new initiative, such as Milk in Schools, that supports healthy outcomes for children.''
