Background Information
Brewers Hill Middle School is located in Dunstable, Central Bedfordshire. The school has 200 pupils on roll and at the start of 2010 take up for school meals was between 30% and 40% daily. Half of the children taking a school lunch were entitled to free school meals. Overall, the take up of Free School Meals (FSMs) was low with the majority of families choosing to provide packed lunches over.
Why did the school want to make changes to the school lunch provision?
Dining area
The school already had a dedicated dining space and a purpose built kitchen. The area had not been used for anything else for some time. The trestle tables were well worn and the orange plastic chairs old, brittle, dirty and easily damaged, not to mention uncomfortable. Fluorescent lights hung from high ceilings, and the large expanse of polished wooden flooring was a gift for any child who liked to slide! Noise bounced around the space and children and staff had to raise their voice just to be heard. The food was served on yellow plastic compartmental trays, which also determined the portion size.
Behaviour throughout the school had improved dramatically over the previous 18 months (with fixed term exclusions falling from 73 to 11). However, lively behaviour from outside was frequently brought into the canteen with tussles in the queue and movement around the tables. The children did not respect the space and after lunch the floor and tables would be covered in discarded food. The dining chairs were also damaged through misuse. Most children would spend as little time eating their lunch as was physically possible, even eating by hand from the tray whilst they queued!
The high percentage of pupils eating a packed lunch also resulted in litter which was hard to monitor as many pupils chose to eat outside of the dining area.
Kitchen space
The kitchen was large with the capacity to cater for three times the current school population. Some areas were simply not used, such as the cold room because so much of the food was pre prepared. Although basic equipment had been maintained by the school no new equipment had been purchased for some time. The servery area was long and easily accessible however, children seemed to spend a long time queuing to pay and be served.
School food:
The food itself was considered to be unappetising. Despite over 50 adults working on the school site through the course of the day not one would eat a school meal. Staff chose to walk 15minutes to the local shops to buy pre packed sandwiches. Not enough children were eating a meal at lunch time and many were not benefiting from their entitlement. The lunchtime period had been reduced to 35 minutes, due to the low levels of take up for school meals.
Whole school approach:
The Headteacher Ms Harvey commented “We believe in educating the whole child, in more than the accepted curriculum”. The school leadership team had seen the positive impact that improving the children’s learning environment had had on their behaviour in class and around school. Areas had been redecorated, carpeted and displays upgraded.
Ms Harvey comments “We know that the circumstances of many of our families means that they do not get the chance to sit at a table to eat a meal. These were all issues that we could address by improving the lunchtime experience”.
Who was involved in driving forward the changes?
A survey was issued to pupils to gather information on how school mealtimes could be improved. The School Council presented their ideas to the school leadership group. The results confirmed that pupils thought the dining space was in need of redecoration. Furthermore, pupils who were latecomers often had little or no choice of meal options. School governors were presented with the findings from the survey and the proposal for change.
How was the project funded?
The project was funded using formula capital and a match funded grant from the DCSF.
What improvements were made to the lunchtime provision?
Dining space:
The dining space was refurbished to create a light and spacious area. Soft furnishings, bistro tables and new seating has replaced the old trestle tables and worn plastic chairs. The installation of carpet and a lowered ceiling have helped to reduce noise levels. The fluorescent lighting was replaced with spot lighting to create a more contemporary feel. Furthermore: blinds, mirrors, bar stools, pictures and a palm tree have created a relaxed dining atmosphere. The children now eat from ceramic white plates and bowls which they place on trays. Pupils and staff queue alongside each other in the dining area, which has helped to manage behavioural issues. The school day and timetable was reorganised to accommodate a one hour lunch period.
Following the refurbishment the school ran a competition to rename the new dining area. The winning entry was submitted by a Year 5 pupil and the dining area was renamed ‘Brewstars’. Brewstars was officially opened by the High Sheriff of Bedfordshire Mrs Cynthia Gresham.
Kitchen area:
The new chef did make a number of modifications to the kitchen area including zoning the different preparation areas. New equipment was purchased including: over head heaters at the servery area, new pots, pans and utensils. A robocoupe (a type of industrial food processor) was installed to reduce preparation time taken for chopping food. Mr Hobbs Head Chef says, “An expectation of excellence isn’t just about the diet it has to run through every aspect of a good kitchen”. Self service and pre-pay systems have been implemented to tackle time issues connected to queuing and food service.
School food:
The contract for catering was put out to tender and awarded to Principals Catering. Mr Hobbs is a fully qualified chef with excellent experience. ‘He ensures that the children are offered something that they want to eat and has been known to cook ‘an omelette to order’ Ms Harvey. Food is available throughout the lunch hour and portion size is not limited. Fresh soup, salad, bread (baked on the premises) and fruit are offered every day. Menus are rotated on a three week cycle and analysed by the Nutmeg software package to ensure that they comply with the nutrient based standards. Please click on the following link below to view an example menu. Furthermore, the menus are displayed in each classroom, advertised through the school newsletter and sent home to parents.
Brewers Hill Middle School menus
Click here to download (Adobe pdf doc 64KB)
Whole school approach:
Brewers Hill Middle School has developed a whole school food policy and healthy lunch box policy. Links have been developed within the curriculum to reiterate the Healthy Eating ethos and support the forthcoming application for Healthy School Status.
What were the benefits to the school?
Dining space:
The dining area is a bright, modern and unique to the school. Noise levels have been reduced significantly by the installation of carpets and lowered ceiling. Pupil behaviour during lunchtime has improved as pupils now feel a sense of pride for their school and a greater sense of ownership for their dining space. Pupils and staff queue up at the servery together which has also helped to reduce behavioural issues. Diners sit in small groups and often linger to socialise and take time to enjoy their food.
Kitchen area:
With segregated food preparation zones more of the kitchen space is being utilised. The installation of the new equipment has enabled the Head Chef and wider catering team to focus on making and presenting food to a high standard. Self service and pre-pay systems have reduced the time spent queuing at the servery. Pupils are now informed of the meal options as menus are displayed prominently around the school. This has also helped to speed up the time taken to make selections at the servery and impacted on queue length.
School food:
School food is prepared fresh on site every day and is very popular amongst the pupils. Teaching staff also continue to eat regularly at Brewstars alongside the pupils. The lunchtime has been lengthened to a full hour to ensure that dining is a more pleasurable and social experience.
Take up of school meals overall has almost tripled. FSM numbers have increased from 18% to 35% with a total of 100 – 120 pupils (daily) eating school lunch. Furthermore 10 -15 staff and visitors now utilise the canteen every day. School meals are always of a very high quality and meet the nutrient based standards. “The presentation of the food is comparable to any commercial restaurant” Ms Harvey.
Whole school approach:
The school now has facilities to be proud of and the kitchen and dining areas have been used for conference activities and school events. The introduction of the whole school food and packed lunch policies have raised the profile of healthy eating across the entire school.
The school was inspected in November 2009 and the inspection outcome was clearly influenced by what inspectors witnessed in Brewstars; the extent to which pupil’s adopt healthy lifestyles achieved an ‘outstanding’ grade. “The vast majority of pupils enjoy the good quality school dinners. They are proud of having been involved in the appointment of the new catering company, even holding a competition to choose the new name, ‘Brewstars’. This has contributed greatly to their excellent understanding of how to have a healthy lifestyle.” Ofsted Report 2009
What tips or advice would you offer to other schools wanting to improve their facilities?
- Be clear about what you want to achieve and why. “Our focus was on the needs of our most deprived children, many of whom were not getting what they were entitled to. We also wanted to develop the social and life skills of all pupils at the school. In turn we believed that pupil behaviour at lunch times and in the afternoons would be improved if the lunchtime experience was improved. Pupils are proud of their school facilities and their self esteem and confidence has improved” Ms Harvey Headteacher.
- “Personally, I think the whole thing has been a tremendous success, however if I were to change it I would include more soft furnishings, such as maybe a curtains to provide a damper to the volume in there at lunchtime. With the seating area full for the majority of lunchtime, it still gets quite loud!” Rose Parker Curriculum Area Leader for Art & Design Technology.
Resources
The Governors found the advice on school meals, on the School Food Trust website particularly helpful when working deciding on the best catering contractor.
Principles catering also used the School Food Trust website to get advice on purchasing software for nutritional analysis.
www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/nasp
www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/softwarereview
“We are also part of the Let’s Get Cooking programme for schools and look forward to starting that in September.” Ms Harvey. For more information please click on the following webpage:
www.letsgetcooking.org.uk
Contact details:
If you would like further information about this case study then please contact the School Food Trust on 0800 089 5001 or alternatively please email info@sft.gsi.gov.uk Thank you.
