EB top ten: outstanding school catering

4

Richmond Hill Primary School, Leeds

The head teacher Nathan Atkinson believes that children who are eligible for free school meals, should be eligible 52 weeks of the year and not just during term time. So the school built a café in the school, where children can eat, socialise and learn about food, and the school employs members of the community to work in the café, serving the children and their families all year round. The head teacher has also started a Fuel for Schools programme after seeing vast amounts of entirely edible waste food that are created each day, and also understanding that many poorer pupils depended on their school canteen for healthy cooked food. The scheme started with a ‘market stall’ at the school gates where families could buy ‘waste’ produce through a “pay-as-you-feel honesty box”. It now provides food to 55 schools across Leeds and saves 250 tonnes of food from landfill every month.