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Public Sector Sustainable Food Procurement Initiative - All Saints Primary School achieves successful in-house catering

Case Study: All Saints Primary School achieves successful in-house catering

Region: Yorkshire and the Humber

Organisation: All Saints Primary School, Ilkley

Description: In May 2004 All Saints Primary School took the major step of ending their contract with the local authority caterer and organising their catering in-house. The school only had limited ‘regen’ facilities for heating up pre-prepared frozen meals, and the food was mainly processed and unappetising. Children were voting with their feet with take-up down to just 72 out of 330 pupils. Parents were surveyed and were very supportive of the idea, including a necessary cost increase from £1.15 per day to £1.60, with 70p of this being ingredient costs. Fund-raising with parents enabled upgrading of the kitchen, with the new local meat supplier, Lischman’s, making a donation towards the cooker. The initiative has been a great success, though it was a challenge for the school to manage requiring support from the whole school, including the headteacher stepping in to help kitchen supervisors on odd occasions. Take-up has risen week by week to 270 pupils and is still rising.

Benefits

  • There has been a dramatic increase in the proportion of fresh food served. At any time there are just 10-12 items in the freezer such as ice-cream and sauces. Food is cooked in small batches continually throughout the lunchtime period so that all the children have freshly cooked food;
  • An increase proportion of food is sourced locally, including meat from a local butcher and vegetables from a local supplier who sources local, seasonal vegetables where possible, including carrots. Local organic dairy produce which suits the pupils’ tastes is being sought;
  • The dining room environment has been improved, with ceramic tableware replacing plastic trays, and traditional tablecloths;
  • There has been noticeable improvement in pupils’ behaviour and concentration, both during the lunchtime period and throughout the day, particularly in the afternoon;
  • The improved meals and take-up have enabled an increase of catering staff from 3 to 5 and. the catering staff are reporting improved job satisfaction due to performance management and the positive reaction from pupils.
Lessons learned during implementation
  • Changing children’s dietary preferences takes time and sensitivity, and their feedback is sought regularly. They need to be encouraged rather than forced to try new foods, and it is important to respect their concerns, for example introducing fish has been difficult and many like to be able to identify what they are eating and do not like sauces or ‘hidden bits’;
  • Ongoing engagement of pupils, parents, catering staff and school staff as a whole is necessary. A working party of five parents still meets regularly and some parent’s recipes are being used;
  • Parents and others can provide support. Parents have provided a lot of practical support, including one who is a qualified nutritionist so has advised on menu development. The Soil Association helped with their ‘Food for Life’ programme, and local charity B-FIT (Bradford and District Food Information Trust) has helped with finding potential local suppliers;
  • The meal cost increase was unfortunate but vital as the school catering team would have been unable to provide the improvements on the previous budget, or even with the DfES recommendation of 50p ingredient cost per day.

Future developments

  • Plans are underway to invite parents to the school to sample the meals themselves on a regular basis;
  • Flexibility and balance are important. Children are being encouraged to try school meals by making it possible for them to try the meals just one day a week, such as the popular traditional roast dinner day. The high energy foods that children like, such as chips and sticky pudding, are still available, but only one day per week to ensure a balanced diet;
  • Menu and recipe development is ongoing to further expand the current 3 week rolling menu;
  • Although children have gradually developed a taste for vegetables, even notoriously difficult ones like sprouts and broccoli, some still ‘eat around the veg’ so further encouragement is required;
  • Packed lunches for school trips are being developed, along with guidance on healthy packed lunches for parents;
  • There is still a lack of connection and understanding between urban areas and the surrounding countryside, and a more comprehensive programme of farm to school links at national level would be welcome;
  • Catering manager Julie McCluskey is becoming known as ‘Jeanette Orrey of the North’ and she is sharing her experiences at school food events in the Yorkshire region.
Further information

Peter Marsh, Head, All Saints Primary School. Tel: 01943 607852.

This case study researched and written by Rose Bridger for B-FIT (Bradford and District Food Information Trust) a registered charity which promotes local food.

Contact Carolyn Lowing, Project Leader, B-FIT, 13 Scott Street, Keighley BD21 2JH. Tel: 01535 210037. Email: clowing@actionforhealth.freeserve.co.uk.

Page published: 16 February 2006

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs