Why the school kitchen must be at the heart of a school’s vision

It's been 17 years since Jamie Oliver put school food firmly on the map, showing us the turkey twizzlers and other junk foods that our children were eating. A lot has changed since then and most school dinners have improved considerably but an even more radical rehaul is needed - especially since the pandemic, according to the charity, Chefs in Schools.

It’s on a mission to elevate food to one of the most important, understood and valued aspects of school life. It works with schools to transform food culture - a huge leap from simply improving what’s served at lunch. Chefs in Schools supports a whole-school food education programme; developing fully trained chefs, teaching food education alongside better quality meals and encouraging the growing of food on site.

The charity currently works with 58 schools, mostly in London, including 10 secondary schools, 5 special schools and 2 nurseries. Plus it supports Enfield Catering services which works with 40 schools in the borough.

School governor Nicole Pisani is one of the charity’s three founders alongside Henry Dimbleby, author of the 2020/21 The National Food Stategy, an independent review commissioned by the government into the food system in England and author of the 2013 School Food Plan. Plus Louise Nichols, who’s an executive headteacher at 3 primary schools in Hackney: Gayhurst, Kingsmead and Mandeville.

We caught up with Nicole to hear why our schools and trusts need to radically rethink food culture and what we as governors and trustees can do to make it happen.

When a school contacts you for help, what’s the process and how does it work?

Usually someone in the senior leadership team or a school business manager gets in touch. We meet them to explain a bit more about who we are and go through the school food standards. The next step is to go into the school and do a ‘check-in’ which means looking at the food provision as it stands - the kitchen structure, the menu provision, the team and then we look at compliance. From this ‘check-in', we develop a proposal for the school based on their whole-school vision and produce a timeline and training programme to make it happen. 

From that agreement, we’ll spend about 2-3 weeks on site helping staff to set the kitchens up. Then, according to how well it’s going, we provide 3 months of support, sometimes on-site but not always. All our contracts are for a year and the job description for the Head Chef is a really critical aspect of the programme. The role is ‘Head Chef and Food Educator’. That additional educational responsibility means that salaries can be more competitive with the restaurant industry which is where most of our chefs come from.

How competitive is it?

It’s quite competitive especially when you consider work-life balance as school chefs have the school holidays off and most of the time the hours are 7am to 4pm - so that’s why we’ve had a lot of chefs interested in the project. It’s also rewarding - that sense of giving back means a lot for the chefs working for us. It’s hugely satisfying when you feel that you’re making a difference in any child’s life.

I imagine some of these school projects have been really big. Schools that weren’t even meeting the food standards to something really quite different?

A lot of schools who work with us do extremely well. We have a primary school where the children are always coming to ask for halloumi skewers. It just shows the amazing transformation the school has gone through as it’s something that wouldn’t have been on the menu beforehand.

With the curriculum in secondary schools it’s a merging of the food tech departments and the food menu, so what children are taught in cooking lessons is mirrored in the canteen. We had a school where the children came up with their own snack menu - they made it and delivered it and it was really successful. For us, the successful model comes from bringing the children on board and making sure they’re part of the journey.

Sometimes we simply share our resources with schools and we have a great example of a school in Bournemouth where we did this and they just ran with it and created one of the best food provisions we’ve come across. Originally they didn’t even have a proper cooking space but six months later they’re making fresh pasta daily and they have a fire pit outside with a grill to make food. When you have senior leaders who get on board and are fully engaged in the project - a miracle is going to happen.

Should all schools have a food vision?

We believe so - it should be used throughout the school and also be in line with the school’s mission statement or values. Whatever it is, we suggest dividing it into 4 pillars: food provision, service, food education and the growing of food onsite. We encourage schools to focus on those key areas when producing their vision.

How can governors or trustees begin to move food up the agenda if it’s not currently being given much thought?

As a governing board, you're ultimately responsible for making sure the food standards are met, and that your school is creating a culture of healthy eating and supporting pupils to make healthy eating choices.

But this can be fairly low on the board priority list. I was shocked that none of the induction training I undertook when I became a governor gave any insight into the power the governing body has in making decisions on food provision in maintained schools and yet it’s really important to make sure schools are providing a substantial meal to young people. Food education needs to be part of the conversation too, rather than just the need to serve as many kids as possible at lunchtime. It comes back to a food vision which we will all need in light of climate change and a growing need to for sustainability.

I’d encourage governors and trustees to look at the resources on our website and really begin to engage with what children and young people are eating and drinking at school if they haven’t already. Ask leaders to develop a whole-school food policy which is shared with stakeholders, monitor take up of school meals and ultimately, create a food vision which is fit for the future and monitor the delivery of it.

How are you finding the governor role yourself - focusing on so many different priorities rather than just the one?

I’m a governor at a high school in Streatham called Woodmansterne where we’ve worked with Chefs in Schools for the last three years.I joked in the beginning that I’d be the person bringing healthy snacks to the meetings but the reality is I’m running from one school to another before the meeting so it hasn’t happened yet.

I’ve always worked with schools from the food provision point of view. It’s interesting to see how school operates at the board level and where food provision is at this level. Schools are often working with really tight budgets and managing competing priorities. At the charity, food is fundamentally one of the most important things in school and can make a difference to a child’s day, helping attainment and behaviour. But from a board point of view it’s very different, it’s about the future of the school itself, not just the kitchen. It’s certainly useful to understand those different priorities.

Notes

Lots has changed in school food over the last few years since the turkey twizzler expose and following the publication of the School Food Plan (summer 2013), including:

Universal Infant Free School Meals (Sept 14)

A new Ofsted Inspection Framework (Sept 2015)

Cooking on the curriculum for KS1-3 (Sept 2015)

Mandatory School Food Standards (Jan 2015)

Meanwhile, Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy, published in 2020 (part 1) and 2021 (part 2), was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to independently review England’s food system.

The DfE’s strategy to improve sustainability and its response to climate change by 2030 includes this on food waste:

By 2023, the DfE will: 

• Work with schools to share best practice for delivering and improving uptake of nutritionally balanced, affordable and sustainable meal choices 
• Pilot a food curriculum and a whole-school approach to food, which will involve encouraging schools to complete a statement on their website setting out their whole-school approach. This will initially be voluntary, but the DfE intends to make it mandatory once schools can do it effectively 
• Pilot new training for governors on a whole-school approach to food
• Support schools to drive up their sustainable practices in line with the school food standards, with consideration of the ingredients they use and their environmental impact 
• Encourage and support schools to gather data and take action on food waste, and share their evidence-based best practice for sustainable waste prevention and management 
• Share resources with schools that support food waste prevention 
• Encourage schools to consider a rounded approach to providing food, including practical guidance on consolidating food deliveries and sourcing food locally where possible 

Free resource

Get to grips with what the school food standards are and how you can monitor compliance, including what questions to ask with this free resource from The Key for School Governors.

Learn more about school food standards