School Food
All You Need To Know
Date: 7th October 2014
Leeds Healthy Schools and Wellbeing Service
Introductions
Helen McLeod –Registered Dietitian, Schools
Food Advisor.
Helen.McLeod@leeds.gov.uk 07958186156
Siobhan O’Mahony, Registered Public Health
Nutritionist, School Food Advisor
Siobhan.O’Mahony@leeds.gov.uk 07891275296
Introductions from delegates ….
House keeping
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Toilets
Fire procedures
Mobile phones
Ask questions throughout
Confidentiality
Delegate packs
Course resources available online at:
http://www.schoolwellbeing.co.uk/pages/school-food-allyou-need-to-know-7th-october
Plan of the day
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School Food Plan
Improving School Meals & Increasing Uptake
School Food Standards
BREAK
Engaging & Motivating pupils and parents
Curriculum
Work well with catering staff
Case studies
LUNCH
Policies
Monitoring all aspects of school food culture
Identify resources
Summary and finish – 3.30pm
Implementing Universal Free School Meals
The Healthy Schools and
Wellbeing Team
• Resource and information website:
www.schoolwellbeing.co.uk
• Each school has unique log in details
• Must have basic or full SLA to access resources
• Book on to training
Before we begin …
1. Use the ‘school food action plan’
Aim of the session
What does the group want to get out of the day?
What are you needs?
You said … “School Food Plan, curriculum, policy,
statutory requirements, school food standards,
motivating and engaging pupils”
The School Food Plan
main outcomes
Universal Infant Free School Meals
New School Food Standards
Cooking in the Curriculum
www.schoolfoodplan.com
Headteacher checklist
• The plan gives head teachers a list of actions
and focus areas
• This may give you more support and time from
senior leadership
• The can be used as a starting point to ensure
you are working towards the School Food Plan
Activity 1
Headteacher Checklist
• Has your Headteacher seen this?
– What are you currently doing well
– What could you be doing better
– What are you not doing
ACTIVITY 1
Ofsted
New subsidiary guidance :
Inspectors should consider the food on offer at the school
and atmosphere of the school canteen. They should:
• consider how lunch time and the dining space contribute
to good behaviour and the culture in the school,
including by spending time in the lunch hall, and
• ask school leaders how they help to ensure a healthy
lifestyle for their children and, specifically, whether their
dietary needs have been considered.
National Monitoring
What gets monitored gets done:
– Take-up of school meals
– Nutritional quality of the food (number of schools meeting the
new standards)
– Proportion of sixteen year olds who can cook a repertoire of
savoury dishes
– Morale of the workforce
– Proportion of schools with a quality award (for example the Food
for Life Partnership award or the Children’s Food Trust award)
• Healthy Schools Programme: will also ask schools for
evidence of compliance
School Meals
What are YOUR current
issues?
ACTIVITY 2
Baseline Data
School Meal Uptake in Leeds Primary Schools 2012-2013
□Average Primary School Meal Uptake
UIFSM
• School Food Plan Action- Statutory requirement
from September 2014
• School Meal Tracker
• What does the future hold?
• Little London video
Long term success
• Packed Lunches
• Parent taster and trust
• Food, play, learning delivered and supported
from the top
• Continued food education and cooking in the
curriculum
• Continued school caterer support
Strategies and resources
to improve school meals
and increase uptake
Getting Started
• How do I know what needs to be improved?
• Surveys, questionnaires, information gathering,
head teachers checklist. school food ambassadors
• Have we agreed what ‘good’ looks like and how
we will achieve this together?
• Hear from other schools, arrange visits
Contract Management
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1. Clear expectations on all
stakeholders.
2. Clear performance
measures.
3. Review mechanism
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Leadership Team
Catering Provider
Pupils
Lunchtime Staff
Meal take up
Availability of choice
Pupil satisfaction
Delivery of Training
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Senior member
Who will review?
How?
When?
Strategies to improve
school meals
1. Engaging Pupils
2. Lunch time supervisory staff
3. Engaging Parents
4. Whole School Culture
5. Ongoing Messages & Marketing
ACTIVITY 3
The NEW food standards
• Will be compulsory for all schools – including
most academies*
• More streamline and clear
• No nutrient standards
• Allow more flexibility & creativity for caters/cooks
• What will they look like … see poster
• Available NOW– compulsory from January 2015
Food Groups
Resources available:
• Poster
• Checklist
• Guidance booklet
• Portion guidance
• Photos, recipes and menus
• … and much more
Available at: www.schoolfoodplan.com/standards/
School Milk
• “Lower fat milk or lactose-reduced milk must be
available for drinking at least once per day,
during school hours for pupils who want to
purchase it.”
The Healthy School
Lunch Game
Yes, no or sometimes!?
ACTIVITY 3
What other resources are
available for improving
school meals?
• www.schoolwellbeing.co.uk
• “ A Guide to Making the Best of School Meal
Provision”
• School Food Ambassador Training
• Free School Meals- Frontline practitioner
• Free School Meal Toolkit
• Surveys and Questionnaires
– “School Food Survey”
• Governors information from DfE
Case study of improving
meals…
• Harehills Primary Video
• BEFORE:
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPpvBWCQ7zM&f
eature=youtu.be
• AFTER:
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzPhgTmaWGw&f
eature=youtu.be
Abbey Grange
Revolutionising the way pupils order their
school meals
• Developed a pre-ordering system to be used on
smart phones, PC’s the evening or morning
before school
• Staff and pupil online whole school food survey
• New team of 16 School Food Ambassadors to
provide ongoing monitoring and feedback
Break time …
Engage and Motivate:
Healthy Eating
This section focusses on engaging and
motivating to create lasting healthy
relationships with food and stimulate
behaviour change.
Whole School Approach
Engage and Motivate:
Healthy Eating
• What is healthy eating?
Engage and Motivate:
Healthy Eating
• Current issues of lack of motivation
& engagement in schools
• Do your pupils want to eat healthy
food
• Do they understand why?
What are the challenges in
your school?
The challenges to healthy eating
Fast food
advertising
Taste
preferences
Family traditions, peer
pressure
Age,
gender,
food
allergies
Overcoming Challenges
ACTIVITY 4
Engage and Motivate:
Healthy Eating
• Examples of how to engage
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Lessons, assemblies
Games
Mentoring/role modelling
Rewards
Ownership
Marketing and promoting
healthy choices school
meals
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Assemblies
Newsletters
Digital PR = Twitter
Notice boards
School website
Posters
• Dining Environmeny
• Menu boards outside
dining room
• Communication
• Write to parent about
changes
• Inform children centre
Working with Caterers to
support a whole school
approach
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What is ‘good’ … contract management
Can deliver aspects of the curriculum
Valued member of the school
Interact with pupils
Engaging in school meals & cooking
Leeds Catering wiling to support
Cooks attended cooking course.
Working with Caterers
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Examples of how it works.
Bush tucker trials
Parents evenings
School council meetings
Staff social occasions
Staff meetings
Language barriers?
Action Plan
• Use your school food action plan!
• Action plan for improving meals and increasing
motivation
• A signed and agreed action plan ensure things
happen!
• Motivates long and short term change
The curriculum and the
school food plan
3 key areas …
1. Healthy eating
2. Cooking
3. Where food comes from
Health, Nutrition &
Cooking
• What are the new statutory
requirements?
– National Curriculum
– Core Competencies
– Progression
• How should this be monitored
Subject
D&T- Cooking &
Nutrition
Key stage 1
Key stage 2
Key Stage 3
Use the basic principles of a healthy and varied
diet to prepare dishes
Understand and apply the principles of a healthy and
varied diet
Understand and apply the principles of nutrition
and health
Understand and apply the basic principles of a
healthy and varied diet
Prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury
dishes using a range of cooking techniques
Cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury
dishes so that they are able to feed themselves
and others a healthy and varied diet
Understand seasonality, and know where and how a
variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and
processed.
Become competent in a range of cooking
techniques [for example, selecting and preparing
ingredients; using utensils and electrical
equipment; applying heat in different ways; using
awareness of taste, texture and smell to decide
how to season dishes and combine ingredients;
adapting and using their own recipes]
Understand the source, seasonality and
characteristics of a broad range of ingredients
Science
Year 2
Find out about the basic needs of animals
including humans for survival (water, food and
air)
Describe the importance for humans of exercise,
eating the right amounts of different types of
foods and hygiene.
Year 3
Identify that animals, including humans, need the right
types and amounts of nutrition, and that they cannot
make their own food; they get nutrition from whatever
they eat
Year 4
Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the
digestive system in humans
Identify the different types of teeth in humans and
their simple functions
Year 6
Recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and
lifestyle on the way their bodies function
Describe the ways in which nutrients and water are
transported within animals including humans.
PSHE (non-statutory
guidance)
What constitutes a healthy lifestyle including the
benefits of physical activity, rest, healthy eating
and dental health
To recognise opportunities to make their own choices
about food, what might influence their choices and the
benefits of eating a balanced diet
Nutrition and digestion
content of a healthy human diet: carbohydrates,
lipids (fats and oils), proteins, vitamins, minerals,
dietary fibre and water, and why each is needed
Calculations of energy requirements in a healthy
daily diet
The consequences of imbalances in the diet,
including obesity, starvation and deficiency
diseases
Curriculum:
Core Competencies Health,
Nutrition & Cooking
• Supported by British Nutrition Foundation
– Aim Help Children and young people to develop the
skills and knowledge to make and implement healthy
food choices.
– Food competences have been set out as a framework
of core skills
– Essential building blocks to a consistent set of food
skills and knowledge.
• 5 main themes…
Healthy Eating in the
Curriculum
• What is healthy eating?
Eating
habits
General knowledge
of healthy eating
Food
budgeting
skills
Manage
weight
Healthy
snacking
5 a day
What could
children learn
about food and
eating?
Reading
food labels
The eatwell plate
Cooking skills
Cultural
diets
Making
healthy
choices
Dining skills e.g.
social aspects of
eating
Energy balance
Food and healthy
eating
Building links across the curriculum
ACTIVITY 5
Resources
• Schemes of Work & Lesson Plan
• Food a fact of Life
– http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/
• Change 4 life
– http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/schoolspartners.aspx
– Register
Curriculum:
Cooking & Nutrition (D&T)
• New Subject Content:
“As part of their work with food, pupils should be taught
how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and
healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also
open a door to one of the great expressions of human
creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that
enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably
and well, now and in later life”
D&T Progression Framework
Cooking in the D&T
Curriculum
• Focus on …
• More practical work than some schools are currently
doing
• No statutory number of hours, although there is an
expectation that this will be regular, probably every week
• Greater focus on healthier recipes, supporting better
food choices and less paper based designing or
research activities.
• Dishes appropriate to their culture and values, that meet
nutritional guidelines and help them to feed themselves
within a budget and are useful to them now and in later
life.
Resources for Cooking in
the Curriculum
• Health & Wellbeing Training
– Cooking in the Curriculum, 28th November 2014
– http://www.schoolwellbeing.co.uk/training_courses/62
• Schemes of Work & Lesson Plan
• Focus on food website
– http://www.focusonfood.org/
Where does food come
from?
• It is important to teach children the whole
process and journey from farm to fork
• All food comes from plant or animal sources
• Use food grown in school in cooking activities
• Promote sustainability
Links with growing and
farming
• Resources:
– Food a fact of life:
www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/section.aspx?t=0&siteId=1
4&sectionId=63
– Food for Life Partnership & Farm Visits:
http://www.foodforlife.org.uk/school-awards/what-canyou-do/visit-a-farm
– Voucher Schemes e.g. Morrisons Let’s Grow:
https://your.morrisons.com/Kids-and-Baby/LetsGrow/
Summary & Action Plan
Lunch break…
Food policy
• What should be covered as part of a food policy?
– Pen relay!
ACTIVITY 5
Food policy
• Resources available
– How to guide
– Food policy template
– Checklist
– Example primary and secondary policies
– School food action plan template
Why is a food policy important?
Engages the
whole school
community
OFSTED
Reinforces
messages relating to
food and drink
Healthy
Schools status
Establishes effective
working partnerships
Food
Policy
Ensures greater
sustainability through
planned action
Equality of access
and participation
for all
Coordinated
approach
Communicates
school’s shared
vision, ethos and
values
What should be included?
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Your values and vision for food culture
Food provision
Food brought in from home – food consumption
Food education e.g. the curriculum
Current legislation, statutory requirements
All other food related activities e.g. growing, after
school clubs, events etc.
See food policy checklist
Whole School Day
All food served and eaten on school premises:
• Breakfast clubs and early morning provision
• Tuck shops and snack policies
• Lunchtimes
• After school clubs
• Special events and occasions
Food policy review
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Compare your policy to the checklist
Tick areas you already cover
Which areas are missing
Are any areas not applicable to you?
ACTIVITY 6
The BIG debate …
• Should schools still give sweets/unhealthy food
as an occasional reward and at school
discos/events?
YES vs. NO
ACTIVITY 7
Rewards in school
• Rewards are important for positive reinforcement
• Should food rewards be given for good behaviour or
achievement in schools?
– Does it support healthy eating education being taught in the
school environment?
– Is it inclusive for all pupils?
– It may encourage over consumption of foods high in added
sugar and fat.
– Does it teach children & young people to recognise hunger
signals?
– Can it make less healthy food seem more appealing?
Ideas for non-food rewards
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Stickers, stationary, team points, tokens
Praise, recognition, special mentions
Sit by friends
Watch a video
Help the teacher lead the class
Have extra art time
Enjoy class outdoors, read outdoors, eat lunch outdoors
with the class
• Listen to music while working
• Dance to their favourite music in the classroom
• Get “free choice” time at the end of the day
Other occasions and events
in school
• Should be a decision to be made by the school
council and governing body
• As a Healthy School, school’s should consider a
whole school approach to healthy eating and
adopt a consistent approach to enforcing the
standards.
• Provide a balance - this should be included as
part of your whole school food policy
How to develop or review
your food policy
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Step 1: Set up a working group
Step 2: Gather information
Step 3: Draft your food policy
Step 4: Consult on your draft policy
Step 5: Modify and finalise
Step 6: Disseminate your policy
Step 7: Monitor, evaluate and refresh
Who will sit on your working group?
Actively
involved
Consulted
Kept
informed
ACTIVITY 8
Your food policy is not
just a piece of paper!
Sharing your food policy
• Consider the different forms ways you can
present your policy e.g. a parent summary,
leaflet, website copy, poster, prospectus
summary
• Produce displays around school to support the
key messages
• Display in your dining room through pictures and
key words / phrases from the policy
Sharing your food policy
• Share with other schools in your cluster
• Is your policy easy to understand?
• consider other languages
• Use your School Food Ambassadors to launch
the policy
• Launch at an event e.g. fair, parents evening,
assembly
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consider timing – start of a school year or term e.g.
not before Christmas!
Packed Lunch Policy
Why have a packed lunch
policy?
• More than half of children in England eat a
packed lunch (School Food Trust 2009)
• There are currently no national regulations in
place for food that can be brought in from home
including snacks
• In 2007 only 1% of packed lunches met all of the
final school food and nutrient based standards
for school food (Evans et al,2007)
What should a healthy packed
lunch look like?
Affordable packed lunches
• Is it possible to make a cheap balanced packed
lunch?
• Iceland, lidl, pound shop
• E.g. tinned fruit, white bread, seasonal food, are
school meals a cheaper option
Packed lunch policy summary
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Flexibility, affordability, cultural diversity!
Realistic - ‘not finger wagging’ or ‘the food police’
Gradual changes
Affordable
Support the School Food Standards
Should be visual (words & pictures)
Can be embedded as part of whole school food
policy – will need extra emphasis and promotion
Group discussion …
• What are your experiences of packed lunch
policies?
• What works well?
• What challenges have you faced?
• How can you monitor or enforce your policy
• Consider not having a packed lunch option?
ACTIVITY 9
Packed lunch policy
resources …
Available at www.schoolwellbeing.co.uk
Monitoring food in schools …
How to avoid being the food police!
Monitoring food in schools
• Evidences the impact of your policies
• School Food Ambassadors
– Surveys
– Observations
• Food consumption
• Food behaviours
– Helps to shape your curriculum
– Meet the needs of your pupils
What is School Food
Ambassadors?
• School Food Ambassadors
(SFA) is a unique student-led
programme for monitoring
school food. Elected students
will take the lead for school
food and represent the voice
of their peers.
Why is there a need for
School Food Ambassadors
• To increase school meal uptake & quality
• To ensure school food & the dining experience
meets the needs of children and young people
• To share responsibility of all aspects of
improving school food culture
• Promote student voice and participation
Monitoring through SFA
• By observing and interviewing they could
monitor:
– actual food served against expected food served
– food waste, availability, quality, quantity,
presentation
– dining environment and experience, noise,
behaviour
– gather opinions, ideas and conduct surveys.
Key points …
• Keep it simple - one focus at a time
• Planning - set timescales and change the focus
for each term / project
• Surveys - can just involve a sample of pupils
although more surveys = more reliable data
• The more you monitor - the more you will know the more you can change
Monitoring food
consumption
• How can you monitor and influence the food
pupil eat:
1. Packed lunches
2. Snacks
3. Drinks
4. Outside of school e.g. local shops, ice cream
vans, take always
5. Food eaten at home
ACTIVITY 10
My Health, My School Survey
2014
www.myhealthmyschoolsurvey.org.uk
What is the MHMS Survey?
www.myhealthmyschoolsurvey.org.uk
Sections
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• Developed by the Health & Wellbeing Service •
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Healthy Eating
PE, School Sport and
Physical Activity
Drugs, Alcohol & Tobacco
Sexual Health
Safety & Anti-bullying
My School
Replaces the ECM/GUIL Survey
Pilot in 2006/07 followed by 6 years full implementation
Reflects national and local policy issues
It is a free* online, anonymous pupil survey
Available to all pupils in years 5, 6, 7, 9, & 11
The survey remains free to use for all schools and offers a range of
additional benefits:
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easier online access for pupils and staff
improved teacher support resources and lesson plans
new visual display analysis to supplement tabled data
new option to compare against citywide data
Updated online resources
• Manager Checklist
• Parent Letters
• Safeguarding
• Survey content
• Lesson plans (3)
• Pupil diary
Summary of todays session
• Today we have provided an introduction to:
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School Food Plan
School Meals
Contract management
School Food Standards
The Curriculum
Food Policy & Packed Lunch Policies
Monitoring food provision and consumption
Why is school food and healthy eating so
important?
Why school food is so
important
• Obesity in England and Leeds
– Leeds Reception: 9.7%, Year 6: 19.7%
– England: Reception 9.3% Year 6 18.9%
• Leeds Underweight R: 1% Y6 1.6%
• Iron 45% teenage girls do not eat the recommended amount
• Calcium Almost 20% teenage girls don’t have enough
• Vit D -10-16% children in the UK have a low Vit D Status
Nutrition and academic
performance
• Poor diet (and fasting) impairs learning, & has
an immediate effect on behaviour, concentration
and cognitive ability (Benton, 2001; A.Sorhaindo, L Feinstein, 2006;
DCSF, 2007).
• Links between breakfast and readiness to learn
• Links between lunchtimes and behaviour in the
classroom in the afternoon
School Food Action Plan
• Don’t forget to fill it in
• Book a date with the school food advisors now
for follow up support
Thank you!
Any questions?
Please complete your course evaluation
Course resources available online at:
http://www.schoolwellbeing.co.uk/pages/scho
ol-food-all-you-need-to-know-7th-october