Background Information and Introduction:
Great Missenden Church of England School is located in Great Missenden Buckinghamshire. The school has 365 primary pupils on roll. “Great Missenden School is an outstanding school whose pupils demonstrate a zest and enthusiasm for all that their teachers and local communities offer them”. (OFSTED Report)
Initially the school did not have an onsite kitchen and so pupils brought in a packed lunch. The school and Parent Teacher Association raised the funding to build an on site kitchen and bring the catering in-house. The new kitchen and canteen opened in January 2007.
Why did the school want to make changes to the school food service?
School Food
Following the installation of the new onsite kitchen a new chef was employed. The food quality and service improved which resulted in an increase in take up of meals Initially. At this point 198 pupils were taking a paid school meals and 14 pupils were claiming a free school meal (FSM).
Unfortunately the new chef left and as a result the food and quality of the service suffered. The children complained that the food wasn’t tasty and year 5’s and 6’s said that the food they chose often ran out by time they got to the dining room. There was a general low feeling about the food and the dining room. The overall take up of school meals was still high at 58% but the figures were dropping and parents had to opt-in for a whole term at a time.
Dining Space
The dining room was small, looked uninspiring and institutionalised. There was limited space within the dining room to cater for the number of pupils taking a school meal. The dining furniture was outdated and cumbersome.
Whole School Approach
The School appointed Victoria Greaves a Nutritionist, to look at the whole school food policy. ‘My aims were to encourage children to make healthy food choices, try new foods and form positive eating habits at an early age through: growing, cooking, farm visits and by offering good, tasty food how nature intended’ comments Victoria Greaves.
Who was involved in driving forward the improvements?
Everyone at Great Missenden Church of England School is involved in encouraging children to eat healthily, take part in cookery, carry out allotment activities and attend farm visits.
The key people who continue to be involved are:
- Pupils
- Parents
- Roz Thomson Headteacher
- Claire Addis Deputy Head
- Victoria Greaves School Nutritionist
- Head Chef Lesley Stacey
What improvements were made?
The children and their parents were surveyed to identify some of the key issues affecting the school meal service. Furthermore, parent representatives were asked to devise a one week menu to identify their views on school food. What foods do the children have at home and what they would like to see at school. The results of the survey were analysed. Pupils were opting for jacket potatoes too frequently because there preferred meal choices were often unavailable. The findings helped to form the basis of the school’s action plan and in particular to implement a pre-ordering system.
School Food:
The school appointed a new head chef with through the catering provider Caterlink. Lesley Stacey Head Chef, is committed to ensuring that the children eat home cooked food and try new foods.
Lesley Stacey and Victoria Greaves created new menus, incorporating food free from: additives, preservatives and colourings. Furthermore, new menus have been created to include the foods that the children, parents and teachers will enjoy. Please click on the following link to view an example menu. Now the food is cooked fresh on site every day.
Great Missenden Menu
Click here to download (Adobe pdf doc 127KB)
A new system was introduced to enable pupils to pre-order food from a 3 week rotation menu. This initiative was introduced to ensure that the younger children didn’t choose a jacket potato everyday and their parents were able to influence food choices. The pre-order system was also trialled to minimise food wastage and ensure pupils always received their first food choice.
Dining room:
A new ‘Truly Scrumptious’ logo was designed and displayed in the dining room The School Nutrition Action Group (SNAG) designed a new logo to refresh the dining space and create a café look and feel. New benches and dining tables were purchased and the dessert trolley complete with fresh fruit was moved to a more central position within the dining room.
Whole School Approach and Wider Community:
The school introduced a policy banning crisps, soft drinks and confectionery in packed lunches which can be viewed on the school’s website: www.greatmissendenschool.co.uk/whats-for-lunch.html
Packed lunch pupils are also offered the chance to opt-in on special theme days. Themed days were implemented in the canteen; whereby children get involved in menu planning and cooking. To view and example theme day menu please click on the following link:
Great Missenden Menu
Click here to download (Adobe pdf doc 127KB)
Below pupils can be seen participating in a themed day:
Three week school meal trials are also offered to packed lunch pupils and letters are also sent home to parents promoting the benefits of a school meal.
Victoria Greaves School Nutritionist dines in the canteen everyday to encourage pupils to adopt healthy eating. Furthermore, teaching staff are encouraged to eat with the children in the canteen at least once a week. Mid-Day supervisors and cooks help and encourage healthy eating and table manners. A Healthy Cookery Club was launched for parents and children to participate in every half term. This is to ensure that the healthy eating message is also being promoted to parents.
The school food service is promoted through the ‘Truly Scrumptious’ Newsletter. Parents receive a copy of the newsletter every half term. It informs them of all exciting healthy projects that are happening across the school. A copy is also posted on the web-site: www.greatmissendenschool.co.uk/truly-scrumptious-newsletters.html Furthermore, the website contains: menus, order forms and other information relating to school food.
Once every half term the school organises a ‘Fun Food Day_’. This links in to what the children are learning on the curriculum. For example year 6 pupil’s have been learning about _‘The Greeks’ so homemade houmous, feta, couscous and salad were incorporated into the menu. Pupils designed posters, and helped to decorate the room for these events. Packed lunch children are allowed to opt-in to these special days and letters are sent home to parents.
Great Missenden Mexican day
Click here to download (Adobe pdf doc 65KB)
Every year the school hosts an annual food event for parents and the wider community. This year the event will focus on the ‘Taste of Britain’. Every class will participate in preparing and cooking foods from different regions.
All pupils in year 3 get the opportunity to visit an organic food farm. Pupils are offered two visits throughout a school year to learn about the different cycles of growing. In addition the school has set up a gardening club which runs every week. Pupils work in the garden and once the produce is harvested they participate in making soup and smoothies for the entire school. The new smoothie bar has been launched and runs twice every half term. Furthermore, every pupil has been given a pot with some seeds to encourage them to get involved in growing at home.
The School Council meets every week to discuss school meals. A SNAG (School Nutrition Action Groups) was set up and meets every half term. The group consists of: pupil representatives, Deputy Head, School Nutritionist, Governors, Parents and Head Chef. The meetings focus on making continuous improvements to the school food service.
Did the school/Local Authority use any of the School Food Trust’s resources or tools?
Great Missenden Church of England School used the following School Food Trust and Million Meals resources:
- MADGe – The Marketing and Design Generator www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/madge
- The Nutritient-based Standards www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/nutrientstandards
- Step by step guide to developing a packed lunch policy www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/packedlunches
What were the outcomes and benefits to the school?
School Food:
School food quality and nutritional content has improved and received positive feedback from both pupils and staff. Pupils now receive their first food choice as a result of the pre-ordering system. The overall take up of school meals has increased. There are 14 pupils claiming their FSM entitlement and 230 pupils are taking a paid school meal. A further 96 pupils will be starting in September and the school anticipates that the majority will opt for school meals. Packed lunch children no longer bring crisps, chocolate or soft drinks in to school.
Dining space:
“The dining room is a lovely environment to eat in now” Victoria Greaves. Pupils now eat from china plates and are seated in tables of 8. The new dining tables and furniture has promoted more social interaction.
Whole School Approach:
The pupils are excited about all the healthy activities that have been made available to them in school. “We make it fun and enjoyable” Victoria Greaves. Through the introduction of the various initiatives including: garden club, cookery club, farm visits and theme days pupils are more interested in school food and aware of healthy eating.
What did you learn?
“We will continue on this important journey, healthy living is embedded in our school. We link it to the curriculum which I would advise all schools to do” Victoria Greaves.
Victoria Greaves comments ”It’s essential to work with as many people as possible and share your experiences. The School Food Trust, Food For Life and Healthy Schools have all helped us on this exciting change”.
Future Priorities:
The school are planning to build a food teaching area to enable cooking to be included in the everyday curriculum. A new training kitchen is currently being installed to offer 12 hours of cookery classes to every child per year.
Contact details:
If you would like further information about this case study then please contact us on 0800 089 5001 or alternatively email the School Food Trust at info@sft.gsi.gov.uk
