History of our school lunches and the future......

 

Three years ago the governors took a major decision not to renew the contract the school had through the LEA with a well known catering contractor. Although committed to the provision of hot meals they were concerned about the quality of the ingredients and the long distances that the prepared food had to travel. They believed that is was possible to provide locally produced, appetizing, healthy and nutritious meals at a competitive price. 

 

After careful consultation with parents and children we approached the owner of the Bathurst Arms. Although quite new to the village James Walker was known to many of us as the local landlord who was building a reputation for excellent food and also through his connections with the Storyteller Restaurant in Cheltenham.

 

Although the small amount of money available was an eye opener for James he rose to the challenge and it was agreed that the Bathurst Arms would produce, healthy, well balanced, main courses for the children at the same price as parents had been paying. In reality it meant that the meals were being provided at cost.

 

It was also agreed by the governors that to supplement the main meal the school would provide healthy low sugar bakes, freshly baked whole meal bread and fruit or yogurt as a dessert.

 

This was just before the Easter break in 2005 and over the holiday the school were interviewed by local radio and TV stations, Radio 4 and the national press.We were delighted with the publicity for our school and with the resulting meals, which were excellent!

 

That was 3 years ago and since that time we have continued to work with James, listening to the children's and parents' views, altering menus when appropriate and managing the costs so that there has only been the need to raise the price once in this period.

 

The three goals set when we started were to:
- provide appetizing, healthy and nutritious meals that are locally produced with ingredients from local suppliers
- introduce children to new, sometimes unfamiliar dishes
- provide every child with the opportunity to sit down and share a hot meal at school with other pupils and staff

Most of all though, we wanted everyone to enjoy the food and the social and educational opportunities associated with a shared meal.

 

With this in mind we are now working with James to further improve the quality of the ingredients that he can afford to use in the meals. Our ideas include a shift to using only free-range meat, using locally produced vegetables and an increased focus on seasonal ingredients.

 

To make this possible we must give James the flexibility to order the ingredients that are best at the time, and better manage the number of lunches supplied each day to reduce waste and unnecessary costs. This we are doing by asking parents to commit to the days of the week when their child will want a cooked lunch.

 

In this way the menus can be planned around the number of children eating; making better use of ingredients, assuring portion sizes and ensuring we continue to provide consistently high quality meals.

The staff will gently encourage a child to try new foods and ensure that he or she has a healthy balanced meal. The children never go hungry.

 

 

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