When it comes to school food and the experience that children have at lunchtime, small changes can make a big difference.
The Small Step Improvements programme is a series of three, half-day workshops based on an improvement methodology called Plan, Do, Study, Act.
A small team from each school, usually including a member of the kitchen staff and the schools leadership team will take responsibility for looking at their own school meal provision. The team will collect data to show how their school meal service currently works, identifying where improvements can be made and then trial different interventions.
The Small Step Improvements programme provides:
- Industry experts who will lead you through the programme
- Training to assess and analyse your current situation using simple methodology
- Tried and tested low-cost or no-cost improvement recommendations
“Taking part has brought the whole school together – our senior leaders, unit managers, kitchen team and office staff have all made the time to sit down and think of ways we can provide a better school meals service. We have staff communicating across different departments on a regular basis and can see closer relationships being formed.”
Jessica Kavanagh Deputy Head Teacher at Chorley New Road Primary School
“Small Steps has definitely worked for us – our school meal take up has increased by an extra 18 pupils per day. Running the programme has been surprisingly easy. At first, there was a slight concern about how much time the programme would need, but as we got going it turned out to be a really positive experience”
Carl Messenger Business Manager at Washacre Primary School
Download the PDSA Cycle Methodology for an explanation of the methodology
Click here to download (Adobe pdf doc 51KB)
Small Step Improvements Film: Members of Rainhill St Ann’s Catholic Primary School talk about their experiences of being involved in the Small Step Improvement programme in their area.
The video below explains more about the programme from the perspective of schools, caterers and local authorities.
Northumberland Case Study Cambois First School, Meadowdale Middle School and Northumberland County Council talk about changes they made, how Small Step Improvements worked for them and how they are continuing to keep the group together.
To view our initial findings and case studies please click the initial findings link below.
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