School Food Trust • Parents & carers - Case studies

Increasing uptake and awareness of sustainable seafood in an inner London community.

May 2008

The background

In November 2006, Ben Jonson Primary School in Tower Hamlets was the launch school for an outreach programme to raise children’s awareness of sustainable fish.

The school is located, aptly, on the Ocean Estate and the majority of the pupils are of Bengali and Somali origin. Fish is an important part of their diet and culture. Where better to have a sustainable seafood launch? The launch was part of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fish & Kids project, which aims to raise children’s and adults’ awareness of sustainable seafood and marine environmental issues.

The launch coincided with the school moving into a new building. This provided a big opportunity to aim for real change around school meals provision. They reviewed how they presented food to children, how they sourced and cooked it and how it tasted. Said Head teacher Suki Sharples said: “In the old building the cooks didn’t really engage with the children and the dining experience wasn’t such a pleasant one for the children. It was noisy, and food was merely ‘plated up.’ ”

The project began with a sustainable seafood party with the school hall transformed into an art gallery with vibrant 3D fish models, fish paintings and research findings from children on display.

Action taken

In tandem with the Fish & Kids launch, the school launched a brand new menu – in which fish featured daily – with the support of Ben Jonson’s very motivated school cook.

A good working relationship with the local authority catering provider, Tower Hamlets Borough Council, proved invaluable. It’s thought that all 75 primary schools in Tower Hamlets have fish on the menu every day, and this is all MSC certified fish.

The pupils were consulted through the School Council and via a ‘healthy packed lunch’ focus group, along with governors, staff and parents. Seventy per cent of pupils are entitled to FSM, but not all were having them. The school was determined to change this.

Explained Suki: “We listened to our School Council; for example they told us that they like to eat small portions and that they like to have a little taste before they commit to a full portion, especially when it is something new like salmon or hake. We offer a range of fish, meat, vegetarian and salad options.

“We worked on making our menus more appetising and tasty. We re-jigged what went where. We now offer our children salad first and then ask which salad they will try! We invite them to try small taster samples of new dishes.

“Working with our cook, Lamisi Narweh, we improved recipes for flavour, and the servers’ relationships with the children. Lamisi is a key element in our school meal service. She responds to our suggestions, listens to the children, adapts recipes and comes up with inventive ways to encourage the children to try new foods and new tastes.”

The teacher resources provided by MSC together with its website were incorporated into the curriculum both pre and post launch. Art was used to engage the children more fully with fish – using mackerel, hake, and salmon, for example, for still-life drawings.

And with the school being on the Ocean Estate – and the Ocean Children’s Centre being part of the new building – they renamed their newly-built classrooms after the oceans.

The benefits

Being part of the MSC Fish & Kids project gave the school an opportunity to look at fish in its raw and natural state. The Whole School Food Policy was revamped and the whole school became involved in the menu change and development. Ben Jonson went on to achieve Healthy Schools status in the same year (2006) and in 2007 was awarded a Gold Nutrition Award.

Meal take-up at Ben Jonson increased by over 15% to 85% and the number of staff eating school meals also increased, with over 50% now having school lunches – setting an excellent example to the children.

Another noticeable difference is that lunchtimes have a much more ‘family’ feel to them since staff members volunteer to sit in the dining room and chat to the children. The room itself is more conducive to eating, so noise levels have reduced and the whole dining experience has improved tremendously.

Fish is on the menu every day, from fisherman’s pie to white fillets with a variety of sauces. All the fish is sourced from sustainable fisheries and carries the recognisable MSC sustainable certified ‘tick’.

The pupils themselves have become more aware of where their food comes from and what constitutes healthy food. Their growing fascination with the world’s oceans during and after the launch inspired a mural at the school entrance. Five artists worked with the children, staff, parents and school governors to create a giant ceramic and mosaic ocean-themed mural. This was partly funded by the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’ grant.

All the catering staff have received communication skills training so that they engage with the children and actively encourage them to talk about food at the point of service. Children sit and finish their food – so there is less waste – and they clearly enjoy lunchtimes much more.

The Extended School changed the name of its Cookery Club to the Healthy Food Club. This is led by teaching assistants and the children are now far more aware of what constitutes healthy food.

The challenges

One challenge was how to present fish to children in a way that respected and reflected their cultural needs?

Having the right cook is crucial. Lamisi Narweh is ‘inspirational’, says Suki. “She is always coming up with new ideas, new ways to engage the children with food.”

Allaying parents’ fears about cultural dietary issues, especially around the use of halal ingredients, was another challenge. The school invited new parents with reception children to view the dining room and kitchen and see for themselves the choices available to their children.

Added Suki: “Taking this forward, we hope to develop the work that we do to engage our parents around school food, especially through the ‘Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities’ initiative.

“We have three sittings (lunch is 1.5 hours) so realistically how do we offer them tasting time, which allows them time to taste and then decide if they like it? This is an on-going challenge.”

Learning experience

The main lesson learnt is that the changes are incremental; they are getting better day by day. However, these changes need to be led – by the School Council, the head teacher, governors, staff and the catering team. It needs to be built into the curriculum.

The MSC Fish & Kids launch and project gave the school a focus and the key is not to lose that focus. It is important to sustain the children’s awareness and interest.

Food presentation and how this should be discussed with the children is another learning curve. And so, too, is parental involvement and the school is continuing to look at ways of engaging and consulting more with parents.