Public Sector Sustainable Food Procurement Initiative - School and supplier working together for overall improvements
Case Study: Sopley Primary SchoolRegion: Dorset
Organisation: Dorset LEA, Hampshire County Council Catering Service (HC3S)
Description:
Uptake of school meals was falling as both parents and pupils became dissatisfied with what was on offer. The Headteacher, Jackie Groves, together with the school governors, asked both parents and pupils what they wanted during a Food Action Week in the school in February 2003. A resounding cry for improved food quality and better menus resulted in the school asking the provider, Hampshire County Council Catering Service (HC3S), for the opportunity to change both menus and ingredients, which was agreed to on a trial basis.
The menu for the summer term in 2003 was put together through the combined efforts of the catering manager (Debbie Drake), Headteacher Jackie Groves and school governor Lizzie Vann - taking into account requests by parents and pupils. The resulting menu was analysed for its nutritional content by Dr Helen Crawley, nutritionist for the Caroline Walker Trust and a leading authority on the nutritional needs of children. The school has found Owl's Barn, a local organic livestock farm, able to supply organic beef mince and organic joints of beef and lamb for the fortnightly Roast Dinner day. It is also beginning to work with Warborne Farm, a local organic vegetable grower, and has drawn up a shortlist of ingredients it would like to buy from local sources.
Benefits
- The pupils are enjoying their food more and uptake is rising. Parents are happier with the choices and numbers have risen from 40 to 50 pupils per day.
- Teachers eat with the children more - especially on Roast Day. Kitchen staff get a greater sense of satisfaction from their jobs and feel closer to their customers - the pupils and teaching staff.
- HC3S are making an appraisal of the success of the 'experiment' and looking at extending it to a further five primary schools in Hampshire. The school plans to run a Food Week during Organic Action Week in October, incorporating the ideas in the new teaching pack for primary schools being prepared by the Soil Association.
- Improved image of the school that has received publicity in the national
press. For example "The Independent" (5 April 2004) reported
on the improvements. It quoted headteacher, Jackie Groves, as saying:
chips and "chicken-shaped things that contain very little chicken" which children once piled onto their plates have been replaced by organic meat and freshly prepared vegetables - often from local farms. Childrens' favourites such as sausages, burgers and fishfingers, still feature strongly but are more likely to include a lot more meat and a lot less filler. Fresh fruit, fruit juice, yoghurt, milk and salads are available every day within the school meal price of £1.45.
"There were a few murmurs from the little ones who were used to the high-salt, high additive flavours they were getting before", says Groves. "But now we have children saying they like eating healthily. From around 45% eating school dinners, we now have between 70 to 80% of children eating at least one school meal a week."
Lessons learned during implementation
- Setting targets for improvements allows those involved in the initiative to measure progress.
- Sopley Primary School is happy to share its menus and recipes with other schools looking for ways of making their meals healthier in an attempt to help raise standards.
- The three week menu provides the average child with at least 150g or 3 portions of fruits and vegetables a day for a 5-10 year old child.
Future developments
The school is working more with HC3S to help it source more locally and organically grown ingredients, and will continue to survey parents and pupils to ensure the best possible menu is offered. Its aim is to increase the uptake of the school dinners to 75% or 63 pupils.
Further information
Catering manager: Debbie Drake
Phone: 01425 672343
Address: South Ripley, Bransgore, Christchurch, BH23 8ET
admin@sopley.hants.sch.uk
Page published: 4 August 2004