The IndependentSchool Food Plan

Share What Works Well

A new School Food Plan initiative aims to share inspirational ideas and practical tips on how to create a great school food culture. At its heart is a dynamic new online hub: www.schoolfoodplan.com/www

The School Food Plan, published by the Department for Education in July 2013, set out a range of actions to be implemented across policy and the wider sector, with the aim of improving food in schools. Today sees the launch of the School Food Plan action to set up dedicated website to share What Works Well.

What Works Well brings together the best ideas in school food and showcases what we can all do to create a great school food culture. At the centre of this is an online hub: www.schoolfoodplan.com/www

Developed with generous support from the Caterlink Foundation, this is a resource for schools and caterers, covering 5 areas:

1. The Food
2. Lunchtime Experience
3. Learning About Food
4. Making It Happen
5. Getting Everyone Involved

The website will be regularly updated, and filled with case studies, top tips, and practical advice on how to make school food great. Topics range from recipes to ideas for cross-curricular activities and the role of sustainable sourcing. Head teachers, governors, cooks, and caterers will be able to share their first hand stories with each other through the website.

The site will direct users to support available from organisations such as the Children’s Food Trust, the Food for Life Partnership, and the Lead Authority for Catering in Education. The Times Educational Supplement and the Guardian Teacher Network have also partnered with What Works Well, so that schools can access their content and discussion forums.

For schools preparing for universal infant free school meals, further help is available through a dedicated implementation support service, run by the Children’s Food Trust. You can call their free helpline at 0800 680 0080 or email info@childrensfoodtrust.org.uk

Schools, caterers, parents, and children are encouraged to share their stories of what works well by emailing www@schoolfoodplan.com

Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, authors of the School Food Plan:

“Today marks another milestone in the successful delivery of the School Food Plan.

This September, two of the most significant changes proposed by the School Food Plan will come into effect. All infant pupils will receive free school meals; and practical cookery will be compulsory in the new national curriculum up to age 14.

However, excellence does not come about by government degree. The policy changes offer a golden opportunity for great school leaders and imaginative cooks to lead a transformation of the food culture in their schools.

Our job now is to give schools the inspiration and structural support they need to do this.

While writing the School Food Plan, we hosted seven regional roadshows and visited more than 60 schools. This experience showed us the importance of fostering a mindset of sharing what works well in school food – for every challenge faced, there is a school out there which has already found a solution.

The What Works Well website gives schools easy access to each other’s ideas, helping them learn from each other’s success stories: great examples and clever ideas. It has been made possible by the scores of schools, caterers, parents, and others who have contributed inspiring content, packed full of useful tips. We are grateful for this support and hope others will follow their lead in the spirit of sharing what works well.

In the School Food Plan, we imagined a new golden age for school food. That dream is closer now than we could have hoped. It’s down to all us to make it a reality.”

Neil Fuller, Caterlink Foundation:

“The new ‘What Works Well’ platform is a fantastic tool for schools across the country to share best practice and ultimately make the preparation process run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. The Caterlink Foundation fully supports the need for schools to work closely together to deliver the School Food Plan, by showcasing existing initiatives and school meal programmes that are already working well.

“Whether a school has set up a school kitchen garden or farm to educate children about the importance of nutrition, worked with local community groups or encouraged parents to get involved in food service, we’re encouraging them to tell us about their successful projects via the online platform to help others move forward and transform their approach to delivering school meals.”

Jamie Oliver:

“One of the best ways for schools to get inspired about the School Food Plan and the new cooking classes coming in September is by seeing what other schools are already doing brilliantly. This new website is going to be an invaluable resource for any school over the next few months.”

Notes to editors:

The What Works Well website was developed with generous support from the Caterlink Foundation. Caterlink is the state education sector catering specialist. The company is committed to using the freshest highest quality locally sourced produce and works closely with British agriculture to support farmers and growers and encourage sustainability. This approach ensures its chefs are able to deliver the most exciting seasonal menus to children, students and staff daily at schools, colleges and universities across the UK.

Caterlink caters for over 350 establishments including the nursery, primary and secondary schools of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Camden and Islington, MidKent College and the City of Westminster College.

The Caterlink Foundation is a registered charity which supports charitable causes in local communities, from awarding hospitality scholarships to funding School Kitchen Garden projects to help young people understand where food comes from.

This website is one action from the School Food Plan – find out more about the School Food Plan at www.schoolfoodplan.com .

For schools preparing for universal infant free school meals, further help is available through a dedicated implementation support service, run by the Children’s Food Trust. Call the free helpline at 0800 680 0080 or email info@childrensfoodtrust.org.uk . More information can be found at www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/schoolfoodplan

For media enquiries and interview requests related to What Works Well, please email info@schoolfoodplan or call Myles Bremner at 07 985 170 737

Small schools pilot information published

Download Small Schools Pilot Information Pack (Full PDF)

Go to Small Schools Taskforce homepage

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The Small Schools Taskforce was set up to help develop solutions for the particular challenges faced by small schools in establishing a viable meals service, as part of the School Food Plan.

Every school is different, and there is no single best ‘one size fits all’ approach. The Small Schools Taskforce aims to use a pilot to focus on developing one possible solution. The pilot approach will show how it is possible to begin a journey to get kitchens back into all schools, enabling on site preparation of fresh ingredients. The findings of the pilot (including the financial breakdown and business model) will be made freely available for all.

The Small Schools Taskforce has now launched its pilot in the South West. The Small Schools Pilot Information Pack (available to download below) compiles information on the pilot, including sample menus, indicative costing models (based on government allocation of £2.30 / meal revenue funding for infant school meals), and press coverage of the pilot launch on 20 March.

However, we recognise that there are many other small schools and rural local authorities grappling with these issues.

Brad Pearce, Project Manager for the Small Schools Taskforce, has been talking to small schools around the country over the past 5 months and welcomes queries. If you think your school or local authority might be interested in replicating the Small Schools Taskforce pilot within a local cluster of schools, please email brad@schoolfoodplan.com

Together we can create a new Golden Age for school food.

Myles Bremner (School Food Plan), Annabel Karmel MBE, James Mills (Brakes), Brad Pearce (Plymouth Council Catering), Lee Vines (PKL Group)

The Small Schools Taskforce, 9 April 2014

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Download Small Schools Pilot Information Pack (Full PDF)

Press or media enquiries:

Please contact Phil Slaney or Kevin Coles at the Small Schools Taskforce Press Office on 020 7052 8839 or 020 7052 8840

Small schools and local authorities:

Please email Brad Pearce at brad@schoolfoodplan.com

Pupil Premium Data Collection in Brighton and Hove

Here at Brighton & Hove, we have a plan in place to ensure high pupil premium registration alongside universal infant free school meals.

At the end of March, we sent out this letter to all our schools who are required to implement the universal infant free school meals policy, along with this covering letter outlining the process.

Within Brighton & Hove, I also manage the free school meal eligibility checking service on behalf of all of our schools, colleges, free schools and academies, so I am well placed to collect information that will be relevant to both the caterer and our schools. Rather than write to parents twice, we have chosen to give key messages about food quality, ask parents to express an interest in whether their child will stay for lunch, and try to identify and agree any special dietary requirements so that this can be in place from September. For schools, the concern is around the registration for free school meals, so whilst writing we are requesting information which will enable identification of pupil premium entitlement and we will then inform schools accordingly.

I am promoting a strong partnership approach with schools and therefore letters have been printed by the LA, distributed to schools, schools will collect forms and return to the LA for processing in batches – this means that schools can see how many responses they have had and can chase accordingly. Once the forms are returned my team will collate the potential take up figures and share this with the caterer and schools, and we will start the process of checking information for pupil premium. This approach will, I believe, provide the best outcomes for all.

Starting now means that schools can canvas existing Year R and Year 1 pupils before targeting the new academic intake. It is also an opportunity to promote the benefits of a healthy school lunch to parents who may not be aware of how good school lunches are.

Other LAs with a different set up for free school meals applications (it often sits within another department) will need to work together to find common ground for the benefits of our pupils and schools.

I hope that this gives a flavour of our approach within Brighton & Hove – I have had meetings with a number of schools to date and they have all agreed to the partnership approach, and that the advice and lead from the LA should ensure that we maximise pupil premium eligibility registrations. They are confident that we will be ready to deliver the policy from September.

Susie Haworth
School Meals Team Manager
Children’s Services
Brighton & Hove Council

Share your story of what is working well for food and food education in your school – just email info@schoolfoodplan.com

Spotlight on: Sharing What Works Well (Action 11)