Why should I choose a school lunch for my
child?
From September 2005, £220m of new grants has been given directly
to schools and local education authorities to raise the quality of
school meals. From 2008 to 2011 there will be a grant of £240m to
support the provision of school lunches and the direct costs
involved. Schools in Kent will be encouraged to develop a coherent
'whole school approach' to food, covering not only school meals but
all aspects of food provision in schools as well as using the
curriculum to reinforce healthy eating principals.
Apart from the convenience of not having to prepare a packed
lunch, pupils choosing a school meal will enjoy trying new foods
and benefit from eating with others and developing their social
skills. The nutritionally balanced meals will also help with their
concentration during the afternoon lessons.
Jamie Oliver - Feed Me Better
Jamie is a huge supporter of the school meal service and is
actively campaigning to get fresh, nutritious meals that pupils
will eat on to the menu in every school. Kent Schools have tried
out some of Jamie's suggested menus, which have proven to be very
popular. To find out more visit
'Feed Me
Better'. (link opens in a new window)
Training
 Client Services are delighted to
announce it has been successful in becoming a member of the
School FEAST (Food Excellence And Skills Training)
network.
The new School FEAST network will bring together training
providers across England who will offer a wide range of training
and support to all those involved in improving school meals,
including school cooks, kitchen assistants, lunchtime supervisors,
teachers, bursars and employers.
Client Services will be one of the first eleven centres in
England, providing training in Craft Skills, Food Safety, Nutrition
and Health & Safety to school cooks and catering staff over the
coming year and we are delighted to be working with KEY Training
Services to be able to deliver this new training.
Janet Stein, Client Services Manager (Catering) said "Training
is one area where we can really make a difference. In Kent we aim
to have a skilled, motivated workforce using good quality, fresh,
local produce and a service that is well supported by pupils,
parents, Head Teachers and Governors. We recently converted a
school kitchen in Maidstone into a modern kitchen able to produce
meals for the pupils but in addition give a separate area that we
can use as a training kitchen. The Craft Skills training programme
has been very well attended and we are looking forward to
increasing the variety of courses we can offer."
Judy Hargadon, Chief Executive of The Trust said "I am delighted
to announce the School FEAST network and congratulate FEAST in
Kent. School food has a deserved importance to the health and
wellbeing of hundreds and thousands of children and young people.
It is only right that we equip school cooks and those involved in
school food with the skills and training they require."
The School FEAST network brings together new and existing
training establishments, sees the formulation of new partnerships
and offers a consistent core offer of training. The added value of
this formula is the flexibility for any centre or partnership to
specialise or diversify into areas of special interest, which will
develop over time. The School Food Trust is actively working to
expand the network to cover other areas of the country, and will
announce these via the School FEAST website.
Every school has been provided with the "Food in Schools
Toolkit" produced by the Department of Health. This covers
everything from the breakfast clubs, tuck shops, drinking water,
healthy vending machines, lunch boxes, the dining room environment,
cookery clubs and growing clubs. A copy is available from
Food in
Schools (link opens in a new window)
Kitchen refurbishment
Across the County of Kent many schools don't have the facilities
to be able to cook meals on site. Wherever possible we will support
these schools to put in a production kitchen. As the recipes and
the cooking methods are changing we have also provided new or
additional cooking equipment for example potato peelers, vegetable
preparation machines, blenders, knives & boards or
refrigerators for the increased amount of fresh
produce. |