Bland and beige’ most accurately describes the school lunches served up to children at Redriff Primary School in southeast London two years ago. Plain pasta with cheese, frozen burger buns, potatoes and frozen fish pieces. ‘The majority of food was brought in and defrosted,’ explains deputy head Caroline Sharp. ‘Children had a limited choice – and we didn’t have the range of fresh produce that we wanted.’
Teachers observed children’s energy levels dipping after lunch, which impacted their ability to self-regulate and engage in learning. ‘We were concerned that some children were not getting the quality or quantity of food needed to sustain them throughout the day. And we knew we had to fix it,’ Sharp says.
She and the senior leadership team enlisted the help of Chefs in Schools, a charity on a mission to transform school meals and promote healthier and more sustainable eating habits for children. Within six months of working with them, the school had revolutionised its food offering.
Beige, frozen foods were replaced with colourful plates of seasonal vegetables. Penne pasta dishes contained vegetables and fresh herbs from the kitchen garden. Burgers were hand-rolled and served with freshly baked bread rolls. And the menu became more varied, with dishes like coconut beef curry, Thai fish cakes and thyme and lemon roasted chicken with crisp new potatoes. Desserts, such as crumbles and rice pudding, included plenty of freshly stewed fruit.
‘Our menu now aligns with our vision: to provide nutritious, ethically sourced, diverse food and to educate children about food,’ Sharp says. ‘The improved nutrition has not only positively impacted children’s behaviour, but it has also created a passion around food that has extended into our local community.’
Food is freshly prepared daily on site by professional head chef Octavia Spray, who works alongside a commis chef, sous chef and three kitchen staff. She was recruited by the Chefs in Schools team, which has a track record of onboarding chefs from highly acclaimed restaurants into the schools sector. Co-founder Nicole Pisani left Ottolenghi’s NOPI in 2014 and joined the kitchen at Gayhurst Primary School in Hackney. Her experiences formed the basis of the charity, which was established in 2018 and is co-founded by restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, who has written major reports for the Government, including the School Food Plan and the National Food Strategy.
The team trains kitchen staff to replace packet mixes and ultra-processed readymade meals with nutrient-rich fresh ingredients. The model is based on applying restaurant techniques in school kitchens, supporting staff to improve the quality of food on offer through efficient and cost-effective food sourcing.
‘It’s simplified our ordering process,’ Sharp says. ‘We now use the Rekki app to source food from different restaurant suppliers. The food quality is not only much better but it is also slightly cheaper.’
WHOLE-SCHOOL APPROACH
As well as cooking everything on site from scratch, chefs hold cooking classes with children as part of the whole-school approach to food education. ‘Our Year 1s made beetroot and onion dip this week using the produce from the kitchen garden, and our Reception children made porridge. Each Friday, children are selected across year groups to bake bread with the chef, which they share with the head teacher over a high tea. There’s jam and drinks and it’s a special treat for the children,’ Sharp says.
Children have formed a good relationship with the chefs and are not afraid to communicate their likes and dislikes. Six-year-old Sam dislikes cheese so the chef makes him a cheese-free pizza base that he loads up with healthy toppings of his choice. ‘The chefs care about the children,’ Sharp says. ‘If children dislike a dish, they change it the following week. Children feel listened to and valued, and this supports engagement.’
Food is also integrated into the curriculum in other ways. Children have hands-on experience of planting and harvesting food with a gardener who comes in once a week. ‘When we were showing visitors around last week, the children proudly pointed out the nasturtium plant, picking the leaves and eating them to prove that they are edible,’ Sharp says.
Nursery children aged three to four grow mint, sage and oregano in the nursery garden, and older children learn about the journey of food from farm to table.
THE DINING EXPERIENCE
The dining experience also helps create a sense of pleasure and enjoyment around food. Children in nursery and Reception have a ‘family service’ at lunchtime where they sit and eat with their teachers, teaching assistants and nursery nurses. The adults serve them, talk to them about what they are eating and support them by modelling table manners as part of their early food education.
The older children have a counter service, giving them multiple options of what to eat each day. A dining team are on hand to support the children, encourage them in their eating, talk to them about the food they are eating and help them with using cutlery, if needed.
‘Some children weren’t confident to try new dishes at first. By now they’ve developed the language to express themselves about the food they eat, they’re more confident to give new dishes a try,’ Sharp says.
‘And because they are better nourished, they are more regulated in class, which has a positive impact on their behaviour. On a basic level, it’s about being fed. But on a wider level, it’s about a sense of belonging.’
‘Providing quality food in a nice environment where children socialise and are made to feel valued enhances school engagement,’ she adds.
COMMUNITY OFFERING
Because Redriff Primary School is located close to the City of London and Canary Wharf – a business hub – it attracts families from all over the world, including Europe, Russia and China. It celebrates food with families, inviting them in for Come Dine with Me tasting days and hosting community events such as Black History Night and summer picnics, where the kitchen team prepares and serves the food.
‘These events promote healthy eating habits within the community and foster a sense of inclusion and engagement,’ Sharp says. ‘We now get positive feedback from parents regarding the improved food quality, rather than negative.’
The work of Chefs in Schools has reached over 100,000 children nationally. Pisani says, ‘We know that improved school food can have a transformative impact on children’s health and wellbeing. Simple initiatives like a vegetable patch or a tasting trolley can spark curiosity, helping children explore different fruits, vegetables and even spices from an early age. These experiences can lay the foundation for lifelong healthy eating habits, and what we see time and again is that children love engaging with new foods when given the opportunity.’
CASE STUDY: The Grove Primary School, Devon
Children who attend The Grove Primary School in Totnes are surrounded by the town’s ‘foodie’ culture, which is one of the reasons why head teacher Hilary Priest was so determined to get the school’s food offering right. After several relatively successful attempts to provide tasty fresh food with an in-house chef, Priest knew there was still room for improvement. ‘That’s when we got Chefs in Schools onboard,’ she says.
‘We appointed Marco Pilloni as our head chef in December 2022 and we haven’t looked back. Marco has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and he even cooked blackberry crumble for the Queen – an instant hit with the children! He creates simple, nutrient-packed dishes for the children to enjoy – and teaches them about food with hands-on cooking experiences and food education. They learn how to use knives safely with the Opinel Red Le Petit Chef 3-piece knife set [children’s knife set], and the plan is that by Year 6, children can follow any recipe from a book. There’s also a school garden with a polytunnel where children grow herbs and vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes and broccoli.
‘The main benefits of the programme have been the outcomes for the children. Eliminating the hunger element that can make children ‘hangry’ means that children can now focus for two parts of the day, instead of just one. It has broadened the little ones’ tastebuds and experiences. We give them stickers if they try something new. They’re keen on celeriac, fennel, radishes and olives. Classroom teachers are in the dining room with the children and the food offer is part of the day’s curriculum. We celebrate food and offer the chance for children to sit on the Golden Table with their friends. We also have Come Dine with Me, where parents come in and eat lunch with the children. Chefs in Schools has given us the support we needed to make our food vision a reality.’
MORE INFORMATION
- Chefs in Schools’ food education toolkit helps nurseries and schools introduce fun, engaging ways to teach children about food: chefsinschools.org.uk
- Redriff Primary School: www.redriff.co.uk
