Education Business

Last September new nutrient-based standards for school food were introduced in secondary schools, following introduction in primary schools in 2008. This marked a milestone in the transformation of school food.
    
These nutrient-based standards – designed to ensure that an average school lunch contains the correct levels of energy and 13 nutrients including carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, protein, and a range of vitamins and minerals – have made the need for additional training for school cooks all the more important.
    
So how is this critical training need being met?

Training school cooks
In September 2006, the former Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Alan Johnson, announced The Five Point Plan, a package of measures to improve school food and tackle childhood obesity. It included a £2million capital funding grant to establish a network of regional training kitchens to act as centres of excellence for school cooks. The centres were charged with providing a readily accessible supply of high quality training turning out a motivated and skilled school workforce openly encouraged to take up the training on offer.
    
The School Food Trust led the implementation of this proposal. This School FEAST network brings together existing providers of excellence and new and innovative training centres. All centres and partnerships provide a range of training and development opportunities for the school food workforce. Each has the flexibility to deliver specialist training to this diverse group.
    
The School Food Trust has also led the partnership development of the minimum core offer of training or qualifications each School FEAST centre and partnership provides. The Trust has worked on this with People 1st, the Sector Skills Council for Hospitality and Catering.
    
Talking about the importance and impact of the centres, Prue Leith, Chair of the School Food Trust, said: “The new nutritional standards mean that school cooks need to be more knowledgeable about ingredients and more creative in the kitchen than ever before. The School FEAST Network plays a key role in nurturing the school cooks of the future – enhancing the skills of kitchen staff for thousands of schools across the country to help ensure more children eat a healthy lunch every day.”

Training in action
Many school cooks have, however, been in catering for years already, so how can they be convinced that there’s still so much more to learn?
    
Linda Dickinson, catering manager at a Technology and Performing Arts College, was one such cook. With decades of catering management experience for her local authority and later, in big corporate business catering, Linda knew a thing or two about school catering.
    
Linda returned to school catering wooed by news of brand new facilities at Lytham St Annes Technology and Performing Arts College, Lancashire. With the new standards for school food coming in, Linda saw it as an ideal time to start afresh.
    
However, when School FEAST training and development manager Janette Mason first told Linda about their courses, Linda couldn’t see the point and felt it would just mean extra work. It was only when the course information from the trainer and the nutritionist came through that Linda was captivated and converted.
    
“I thoroughly enjoyed the Professional Catering Skills course,” Linda admits. “No one knows it all and I realise now you can get complacent and stale.”
    
“We adopted the new school food guidelines and have stayed updated ever since,” says Linda. “The service is transformed. As well as the nutritional standards, we use fresh, local produce, have a great relationship with pupils and staff and our service is at the heart of the school community.”

Benefiting pupils
Linda now passes on her training to her team, which in turn passes on to benefit the pupils.
    
“Pupils chat to us about the food, asking what is in the meals, and teachers say pupils are more attentive in the afternoons since the school meals improved.”
    
Linda works with the food technology department, helping GCSE students with recipes, nutrition, menu planning, school meals and healthy eating. She also does presentations in assemblies which are educational and provide an ideal platform for promoting school meals.
    
The SWiS course has given Linda a completely new insight into the school as a whole, its function as an organisation and how her role fits in. It explored the role of all non-teaching staff such as the school nurse, the community police officer, those who come in to support children with special needs or problems, the sign language teacher, and the office staff.
    
This insight is underpinned by Linda’s team using a cashless, computerised system aligned with points given to pupils according to what food they are choosing, with the healthier options attracting the most points.
    
“I have parents phoning me up asking what their child has eaten at school. Not only can I tell them this but I can also tell them its nutritional value. And pupils with the most points at the end of the year are rewarded with some great prizes, so it works well as a motivation for eating healthily.
    
The School FEAST training Linda received has given her diplomas in the following: EDI Level 3, Professional Catering Skills Programme; SWiS Level 3 Diploma; Providing a Healthier School Meals award and CIEH Level 2 in Food Safety.

School meal excellence in practice
A range of four themed Meal Deals and Just Desserts recipes from Lancashire Catering Services Food Development Team run over a three-week cycle. They include quantity and portion guidance as well as lists of ingredients and local suppliers, which Linda says makes it very easy for her and her team to follow. Examples from these menu cycles include:
Traditional Meal Deals:

• Yorkshire puddings with savoury mince served with potatoes and at least two other fresh vegetables.
• Roast pork, beef or chicken served with roast or mashed potatoes and at least two other vegetables.
  

• Pasta, such as penne or tagliatelle, with peas and bacon in a healthy béchamel sauce, served with a side-salad and garlic bread.
• Chicken tikka masala with mixed rice, including peppers, peas, and carrots and a crisp salad including, mixed leaf lettuce with chopped cucumber and peppers.
  

• Macaroni cheese bake served with side salad and garlic bread.
• Quorn sausages or mince served with side salad and garlic bread or jacket potato wedges.
  

• Steak and onion bap with side salad made with a 4–5 ounce steak sourced locally, served on a soft or crusty roll or on ciabatta.
• Tuna melt in pitta bread.
  

• Chocolate sponge with mandarins or lemon sponge made with fresh lemons, served with a white sauce.
• Fruit yoghurt made from low-fat natural yoghurt with added fresh fruits.
  

New guide out now
‘A fresh look at the school meal experience’, published by The School Food Trust, looks at how to improve the look and feel of dining halls, manage lunch times effectively, reduce queuing and improve behaviour. All this helps provide a more attractive dining space, with a pleasant atmosphere, where people will want to eat.
    
The guide contains new, practical resources, ideas and suggestions to help schools tackle these issues and includes new case studies from schools which have made a real difference to the school meal experience.
   
To download a copy of the document or order a hard copy online go to: www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/resources/mealexperience

For more information
Further information about School FEAST training centres can be found at: www.schoolfeast.co.uk, and about the School Food Trust at: www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk