Healthy school meals at St Aidan's
Dennis Richards OBE receiving his plato from Dame Kelly Holmes
A winning head's school, which employs three chefs, a dietician and a gardener to grow fruit and veg, is offering advice and support to other schools that want a healthy catering service.
St Aidan's CE High School in Harrogate, where Dennis Richards OBE won the Ted Wragg Award for Lifetime Achievement last year, took over its meals service nine years ago and attracts virtually all the school's students (1,800) into its dining halls. Seven times more students than before now eat a freshly prepared, locally sourced lunch every day at St Aidan's.
Deputy head Steve Hatcher reckons that when lunchtime becomes a satisfying experience for all, there can be profound effects on teaching and learning. He cites improved behaviour in the afternoons, better relationships between staff and students and an organisation that permits 70 clubs and activities to take place.
Visitors seeking advice have prompted St Aidan's to set up an online subscriber-based service providing hundreds of recipes, five day meal plans and nutritional analysis - all of which will soon be required by Ofsted.
The school is one of the first to work with the School Food Trust, setting standards in school nutrition, and in March ran a conference for 70 schools. A second conference is planned for Wednesday July 16. Book online at www.catering4schools.com
