Background Information
Laughton Junior and Infant School is a small school in Rotherham that provides education for pupils from 3+ 11 years. There are 140 pupils on roll and take up of paid and Free School Meals (FSMs) is around 45%. Paid meals account for 57% and FSMs 43%.
The school was participating in a number of initiatives to promote healthy eating amongst the pupils. For example, as part of the Fruit and Vegetable Scheme every child in foundation stage 1 and 2 receives one piece of fruit or vegetable every day. Pupils are not allowed to bring sweets and crisps into the school as part of their packed lunch and water is provided throughout the lunchtime period. Furthermore, School Meal Supervisory Assistants try to ensure that pupils eat a healthy and balanced school meal.
The Small Step Improvement Programme
The Million Meals School Engagement Team from the School Food Trust has completed a Small Step Improvement (SSI) Programme within 4 Local Authorities. They approached Rotherham Local Authority to see if they would like to engage in the SSI Programme to encourage schools to improve their catering provision and increase take-up. Rotherham Local Authority sent out invitations to all local schools encouraging them to sign up to the Programme. Laughton Junior and Infant School expressed an interest in getting involved.
The Small Step Improvements Programme is about making small low cost, or no cost improvements to the catering and dining provision, that could benefit the whole school. The Programme engages key players within the school team; including a member of the kitchen staff and the School Leadership Team. Using a continual improvement process known as ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act’ (PDSA) the school’s team collect data to show how the process currently works, identify where improvements can be made and then trial different interventions. The data collected will eventually show whether an improvement has worked or not. Often the improvements bring some astonishing results including an increase in take-up.
Why did the School want to get involved in the Programme?
The Head Teacher Caroline Keating has been in post for around a year. She described the old lunch time service as “chaotic”. The dining space was an old Victorian Hall which was multifunctional. Pupils had to bring their chairs from their classrooms to enable them to dine in the hall. This resulted in issues with flow, layout and queuing length.
The school take up was at around 45% although Caroline Keating thought this could be increased if improvements were made to the dining space.
Laughton Junior and infant school wanted to involve their pupils in the decision making process to drive forward the improvements to the lunchtime service.
Who was involved in implementing the changes to the lunchtime service?
- Caroline Keating – Head Teacher
- Gill Rugg – Deputy Head
- Kitchen Staff
- School Meal Lunchtime Supervisory Assistants
- Pupils
What Improvements did the school make?
Pupils taking a school meal and a packed lunch were able to enter the dining room at the same time the reason for this is that historically in some schools children bringing in a packed lunch from home could eat their food first. This had the effect of encouraging children to bring their own food in from home and not choosing to eat a school dinner. The school purchased new dining tables with fixed stools, to eliminate the issues of pupils having to bring their own chairs from classrooms, into the dining area.
Caroline Keating also wrote to those families entitled to a FSM to encourage them to take up the offer. Some children switched immediately to a school dinner.
The school developed a survey to identify any pupil’s issues surrounding: school meals, food promotions and the dining environment. The results from the survey have been compiled and pupil feedback will be used to further improve the lunchtime service.
What have been the benefits to the school?
Caroline Keating comments “The kids love the new tables and the lunchtimes are a calmer and more pleasant experience. There are fewer problems in the Hall now, because pupils no longer have to fetch their chairs from the classrooms to be able to sit at the dining tables”.
Although the percentage increase in pupils taking a FSM is currently small it is expected that as the project continues the take up will increase.
Laughton Junior and Infant School has a small number of pupils entitled to FSMs. However, as a result of the FSM letter one additional family has started to claim their entitlement.
Future priorities:
The school would like to further focus on increasing paid and FSM take up.
A follow up survey will be sent out to parents to consult with them on how to further improve the lunchtime provision and raise awareness about school meals. Laughton Junior and Infant School also plans to tackle the unhealthy content of packed lunches being brought into the school. It is hoped that awareness raising and promotion of the lunchtime service will encourage more pupils to opt for a school meal.
Tips for success:
“The Small Step Improvement Workshops were a really positive experience, providing the opportunity for information sharing and networking with other local schools. Everyone seemed to have different issues with their lunchtimes and different ideas for tackling problems” Caroline Keating Head teacher.
Contact details:
If you would like further information then please contact the School Food Trust on 0800 089 5001 or alternatively please email info@childrensfoodtrust.org.uk
