School Food Trust • School cooks & caterers - Case Studies - 'Hungry for Success' Creative Dining in Moray's Schools

Introducing the new healthier option menu's in Moray has been achieved whilst maintaining the numbers taking school meals.

March 2007

Action taken

Motivated by ‘Hungry for Success’ a whole school approach to school meals in Scotland, Jim Morrison, then Moray Council Catering Manager, knew that changing the school dining experience was not just about changing menu’s. Believing in the Scottish Executives vision for a revitalised school meals service, and armed with an inspired thought, Jim approached Moray’s Arts Development Team. The result was a programme of exciting visual arts projects that would transform every school dining area across Moray. As a result of a partnership between Catering, Environmental, Education and Art/Cultural Services, a pilot scheme was proposed – to commission local artists/designers for short residencies within schools. Funding was set aside from the Hungry for Success budget, for artwork to be ‘made and displayed’ throughout Moray’s 46 primary schools.

As Nick Fearne, Moray’s Art Development Officer responsible for commissioning artists explained “This was an exciting opportunity to engage professional artists to look at imaginative ways to improve the ambiance of dining halls and spaces”

The project wasn’t without its difficulties as Nick went on to explain “working with artists/designers brings its own unique benefits and challenges. In order to get a range of artistic styles and mediums, not all artists could be sourced locally. Artists from the Orkneys and England were also involved. Some schools had fixed ideas on how they envisaged the finished artwork, and dining halls that doubled-up as gyms, or halls were a challenge to both artist and school. But usually through discussion or careful matching of artist to school need, we were able to overcome these difficulties”.

What were the outcomes and benefits?

“The idea began with Jim Morrison’s belief that if we changed the dining experiences we would, in turn, change the children’s desire to eat school meals. This change, in turn, would affect uptake. So, all round, we would have a win-win situation.

The fact that we have been able to maintain the numbers taking school meals, while introducing the new healthier option menu’s, and have not had ‘the huge dip’ that other councils are all too familiar with, is a very positive sign”. Nick Goodchild, Educational Resources Manager

According to Nick Fearne, Arts Development Officer “now going to the dining hall is a fun experience”. The range of benefits that Nick has seen include:-

Over a short period of time, (twenty months) 32 schools across Moray now have original artwork, ranging from murals to ceramics, displayed in their dining areas.
Steady stream of work for local artists has been provided, resulting in economic regeneration.
The artwork has become a source of pride to the children, teachers, parents, catering and ancillary staff.
Raised esteem of the children and catering staff alike, and a positive effect on emotional well-being of all participants, resulting in a greater sense of ownership. “It’s a lot brighter, warmer, and more inviting. It’s just a friendlier place to be in” Dining Supervisor, Hopeman Primary School.
The ‘Creative Dining in Moray’s Schools’ project is a very positive example of ‘Hungry for Success’ whole school partnership ethos. It is an inspired response to the Scottish Executives agreement that “effective management of the dining environment and of the overall dining experience are an essential part of a whole-school, whole- child ethos”.
As a result of the artwork, many schools refurbished the décor. One school lowered the dining room ceiling to aid the acoustics; others installed speakers for music, to create a softer ambiance.
Greater inclusion of catering staff, and ancillary staff in a project other than food preparation, or food handling, has helped widen the scope of their involvement in the life of the school.

Sustainability

Funding from Hungry for Success and strong working partnerships between Morays Catering, Education, Arts, and Culture allowed the project not just to be a pilot, but to be rolled out across the whole of Moray’s primary schools. Over a twenty month period, in over 32 schools, the dining meal experience and ambiance has changed dramatically. School dining rooms, or spaces which ‘double-up’ as dining areas e.g. sports halls, have been transformed into art galleries, for all to see and enjoy.

A key feature of the project for Art Officer, Nick Fearne, and Education Manager Nick Goodchild, has been the whole school approach. As Nick Goodchild explained “this has led to catering and ancillary staff being included in a project which usually might have been seen as outside of their remit. As a result, there has been greater ownership of the dining space by the catering and ancillary staff, which will be there for some time to come.” In addition, Nick Fearne believes “that the displayed artwork will remain in place for the foreseeable future. However, this means that it is important to ensure that there is adequate maintenance and renewal to keep the artworks attractive”. He also explained that some schools have gone on to employ local artists on other projects within their school, or to maintain links with the artist.

Learning Experience

Nick Fearne, Arts Development Officer involved in the project from the outset, has seen that “taking the whole school approach has had much more of an impact on ownership of the dining room and meal experience than we initially expected. In addition, there were surprising curriculum development spin-offs for teachers with responsibility for Art within the school. They were able to work alongside a professional artist and benefit from seeing the possibilities of using different media, and different ways of working with children.”

Some advice that Nick would give to others thinking about embarking on such a project includes “matching artists to the needs of the schools was central to the success of the project, especially sourcing artists that had previous experience of working with large groups of children and had been CRB checked.

Sourcing local artists who are available to totally commit to school residencies does mean that schools have to be flexible with artists when other commitments or commissions arise. The progress of the project was dependent upon their availability. Also the length of residencies varied”.

Nick is also keen to point out that ‘good team effort’ is essential for project management, and that it wouldn’t have been possible to roll out the project to so many schools without the support of Moray’s Cultural Co-ordinator, and his three Arts Development workers.

One thing Nick Goodchild, Educational Resources Manager is quick to point out that we must remember “for children, the experience of the dining room is critical to their desire to take school meals”.