Universal Free School Meals Toolbox

UNIVERSAL FREE SCHOOL MEALS TOOLBOX

TIPS, HINTS AND TRICKS FOR A WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH TO DELIVERING UFSM

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COOK SMART RECIPES & KITCHEN HACKS

21 Nerissa’s top time-saving tips in the kitchen

22 Recipe – Jollof Rice

23 Recipe – Focaccia 2 Day Fermented

24 Recipe – Penne Pasta in Steamer

25 Recipe – Vegetable Tomato Sauce

26 Recipe – Butternut Squash Cake

27 Recipe – Squash and Red Lentil Dhal

28 Recipe – Flapjack

INCREASING TAKE-UP AMONGST

30 Increasing take-up of free school meals

31 How to host a taster evening

32 Gather feedback from parents

33 Case Study – Engagement work at Rushey Green

34 Template letter to parents/carers about trying free school meals

36 Case Study – Surrey Square puts food at heart of school

37 Tips to ensure children eat FOOD

45

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOOLKIT

This guide contains insights from teachers, kitchen teams, our charity’s school chef trainers - Nerissa, Adam and Andy, and our co-founder and exec chef, Nicole. It’s been created to:

• Help kitchen teams prepare for increased demand while keeping quality high

• Help schools support kitchen teams and provide resources to meet demand

• Encourage take-up of free school meals .

If you find this toolkit useful, head over to our website www.chefsinschools.org.uk for more resources about improving school food, a toolkit for delivering food education hubs and our pioneering training for school chefs.

Thanks for caring about the food in your school,

From all of us at Chefs in Schools.

hello@chefsinschools.org.uk

Providing all of London’s primary school children with free school meals could change the way in which our society cares for our children forever. It could not only be hugely beneficial for thousands of London school children, it could be the launching pad for the policy across the country.

But only if it is done well.

This pack of resources is aimed to help every school put its best foot forward. At Chefs in Schools we believe in a whole school approach to school food. This pack contains advice for kitchen teams, school business managers and teachers to help them work together to meet increased demand.

This policy could mark the blueprint for further school food intervention across the country, proving that both an extension of eligibility and universal provision can be workable and successful when approached positively. Children are our future, let’s work together to feed them like it.

Thank you, Henry

Dimbleby

co-founder Chefs in Schools, writer of School Food Plan and National Food Strategy.

If you want to return to the index at any point, click this link which you’ll find at the top of every page.

IF YOU ONLY DO TEN THINGS, DO THESE:

IN THE KITCHEN

1. Calculate what demand will be like in September and if the kitchen team needs more equipment or staffing hours. Check out our formula on page 7.

2. Introduce regular team debriefs to work through challenges and identify solutions with service or workload, feeding back to the School Business Manager where required (p15).

3. Ensure team members are trained and confident on existing or new equipment (p11).

4. Start trialling new menus and smart recipes now, these can simplify service without reducing quality (p12).

FOR SPEEDY SERVICE

5. Ensure all staff know correct portion sizes, this will ensure a speedy service and reduce waste (p17).

6. Make sure you have the most efficient service - don’t be afraid to try new things (like family dining, or getting children involved in food service) (p19)

7. Familiarise children with the menus and ingredientsdisplay them in reception or as screen savers.

SCHOOL OFFICE

8. Ask parents to sign up for a term’s worth of meals in advance. This enables better budgeting, which in turn saves the school money (read more on p12).

9. Start engaging with parents about school food to encourage take up of a free school lunch (p30).

10. Don’t forget to LOVE your kitchen team: Recognise the incredible contribution kitchen staff make at your school, include them in decision making, provide development opportunities and ensure they feel part of the community.

PREPARE FOR INCREASED DEMAND

START GETTING YOUR KITCHEN READY NOW

OVERVIEW

If you’re already serving around 85 to 90% of pupils, you’re unlikely to see take up increase and will be able to manage. However, if take up is currently around 60 to 70%, you could have a big jump in the number of mouths to feed. This might seem daunting but you can start preparing now.

Sreshta, School Operations Manager at Chefs in Schools, says:

“WE EXPECT 10% OF FAMILIES/CARERS TO CONTINUE WITH PACKED LUNCHES DUE TO ALLERGIES OR FOR OTHER REASONS SO AN INCREASE IN DEMAND TO AROUND 90% IS LIKELY AND A FIGURE TO WORK TO.

AS A GUIDE, WE’VE FOUND A REASONABLE EXPECTATION FOR A KITCHEN TEAM IS TO PRODUCE BETWEEN 10 TO 14 MEALS PER LABOUR HOUR, WITH THE AVERAGE BEING 12 MEALS PER LABOUR HOUR. WHEN ESTIMATING DEMAND, LOOK AT WHAT’S ACHIEVABLE FOR YOUR TEAM BASED AROUND THIS FORMULA.”

FIRST STEPS - ASSESS CURRENT OUTPUT.

Determine how many children are fed each day. Work out the total number of hours the kitchen team works each day.

Take the number of children being fed, divide it by the total number of staff hours per day (minus breaks), this will equal the number of meals made by labour hour.

For example: A school with 272 pupils has 170 children who eat lunch.

There is a Head Chef, who works 7.30 to 2pm. A Sous Chef works 9am to 2pm. A Kitchen Assistant works 10am to 2pm. Minus breaks = 15 hours of kitchen time a day. 170 children divided by 15 labour hours worked = 11.3.

Conclusion: The team produces 11 meals per hour worked.

OTHER ISSUES TO CONSIDER

ESTIMATE LABOUR HOURS NEEDED POST SEPTEMBER

To know how many labour hours are required to meet the expected demand of 90% of your pupils eating lunch, complete the following formula.

First, work out the figure for 90% of your pupils - this calculator will help: https://percentagecalculator.net/

Divide the figure by the number of meals currently made per labour hour. If you don’t know this, head back to page 7 for help.

The result shows how many labour hours will be needed to meet demand.

In our example school, the number of children needing lunch would increase from 170 to 244.

244 (number of children) divided by 11.3 (number of meals produced each hour) equals 21.5.

Conclusion: The team needs 21.5 hours of labour. They will need 6.5 more labour hours to meet demand or extra equipment to reduce workload.

Not every kitchen is equal. Other factors play a part:

• The amount of space your team has to get prepared ahead of time.

• If cleaning duties include the dining hall.

• Do they have the right equipment?

• Are they trained to use it?

To get the most effective ratio, we recommend auditing your equipment and training needs. Steps include:

• Assess existing equipment to see if it is effectiveequipment that isn’t working well means extra manual work, slowing the team down.

• Ensure the team have been trained on all equipment and get the best out of it.

• Invest in new equipment, e.g vegetable prep machines, to decrease workload.

These steps can increase productivity and decrease the need for more staff hours.

NOTES ON KITCHEN EQUIPMENT

A kitchen team can only be truly effective if given suitable equipment and the training to use it. Before any additional staff recruitment, ensure that the kitchen has everything it needs - even small things like making sure you have enough utensils and crockery so they don’t have to be washed up during service, can make a big difference to time.

SRESHTA, SCHOOL OPERATIONS MANAGER AT CHEFS IN SCHOOLS, SAYS:

“INVESTING IN EQUIPMENT CAN BE DAUNTING BUT, OVER TIME, IT CAN SAVE MANY WORKING HOURS.”

YOUR ESSENTIAL TICK LIST.

√ Enough utensils and crockery for a full lunch service

√ Adequate fridge space for the team to prep ahead

√ Veg preparation machines

√ Sharp knives!

√ Gastronorm trays

OTHER EQUIPMENT THAT CAN HELP

√ Racking trolleys - these can stack trays and free up prep space

√ A bratt pan - this can replace a four or six burner range and make big quantities of food

√ A good oven - preferably a combination oven that cooks different items efficiently. Train the team on all of the above equipment.

OUR CHEF TRAINER, NERISSA, SAYS: “VEGETABLE PREP MACHINES ARE VITAL BECAUSE BUYING PREPARED VEGETABLES IS REALLY EXPENSIVE –AND NOT EVERYONE HAS KNIFE SKILLS, EITHER.”

STAFFING REQUIREMENTS

Look at current staff structures/rotas, see if these can be adapted for better cooking, cleaning and service efficiency. E.g. change start and finish times to have more prep time first thing or more cleaning time later.

ASSESS ROTAS

Someone on a 20-hour week contract should be working from 10am to 2pm. They’re in early enough to help prep, and can help clean up.

SCHOOL CHEF TRAINER ADAM SAYS: “IF EXISTING STAFF CAN’T WORK MORE HOURS, START RECRUITING ASAP SO AS TO HAVE PEOPLE IN PLACE STRAIGHT AWAY, RATHER THAN HAVING TO FALL BACK ON EXPENSIVE AGENCY STAFF.”

Head Chef Emma, from Newington Green Primary School, says some parents might want occasional shifts and to be called in to support when necessary.

EMMA SAID: “IT GIVES THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO UPSKILL AND RETRAIN AND SAVES US A FORTUNE IN AGENCY FEES SO IT’S WIN/WIN. THEY’LL ALSO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE SCHOOL, CHILDREN AND YOUR WAY OF WORKING IF YOU’VE TRAINED THEM.”

Tip: It is vital your team has enough time to clean up to maintain high standards of organisation and hygiene.

UTILISE KITCHEN SPACE

We’ve seen chefs cooking for hundreds of kids in kitchens no bigger than a glorified cupboard! Look at your space and think about how you can utilise it in a clever way.

Chefs - you understand the kitchen flow better than anyone, explain to the business manager or head teacher what is working and what could be improved.

Key considerations - how can you increase kitchen prep areas and refrigeration space?

Before buying equipment, consult the companies you’re going to purchase from. They can come in and look at the space and suggest what equipment you should purchase and what can work well.

TRAINING THE KITCHEN TEAM

All of the staff and all of the equipment can only do so much - training is essential to build confidence, efficiency and staff retention.

There are lots of free training courses out there. For example, Westminster Kingsway College is offering free upskilling courses for all kitchen staff. You can also contact companies like Rational, who can offer training for kitchen teams.

Our charity offers in-depth training courses tailored to school chefs, head to: chefsinschools.org.uk to find out if they could be right for you.

BUSINESS MANAGER AND HEAD CHEF COMMUNICATION

While increasing capacity, we advise regular check-ins between business managers and the head chef. These should be at least once a week to discuss staff wellbeing, workload and any challenges. With understanding, these challenges can be overcome. If problems are flagged early, then it is easier to plan around them and identify what resources are required.

Long term, we advise those check-ins continue every month. Dialogue and working together as a team is key to driving success, whether the kitchen team are employed directly by the school, or contracted to an outsourced provider. Great school food exists where there is cooperation between everyone involved!

CHEF TRAINER ANDY SAYS: “IF YOU MAKE TOMATO PASTA ON A MONDAY, THERE’S NO REASON IT CAN’T BE A PASTA SALAD ON THE TUESDAY. ZERO-WASTE ISN’T JUST A BUZZWORD ANYMORE –IT’S VERY USEFUL FOR BUDGETS AND FOR FEEDING CHILDREN.”

BUDGETING AND PLANNING THE MENUS

BUDGETING

Simple changes can make a big difference to budgeting.

• Avoid daily opt-in systems for school meals. Knowing how many kids are eating ahead of time aids budgeting, preparation and reduces waste.

• Switch to a system where families opt-in for the term.

• Engage with parents to explain this benefits the environment, school budgets and keeps school meal costs down.

Tip: Read our section on increasing take-up for help engaging with parents about the benefits of school food.

MENU PLANNING

Smart menu planning can make life easier for the team.

• Plan meals that are simple but tasty. Ditch dishes that are fiddly or time consuming to individually portion (e.g. burgers).

• Introduce larger tray bake style dishes.

• Offer more vegetarian days, because they’re good for the planet, health AND usually cheaper to prepare. Vegetarian days on a Monday relieve the pressure of problematic late deliveries.

• Kitchens should always try to work one day in advance.

• Keep it simple: Mondays can be ‘pasta or potato day’, because that’s an easier dish to make, freeing up prep time for the next day.

MENU PLANNING CONTINUED...

Head Chef Emma, who runs the kitchen at Newington Green Primary School, says getting ahead is key.

Emma’s Top Tips

Consider minimising waste by batch cooking a base recipe that can be reused for another dish later on in the week. Mondays we often make tomato and basil pasta (with hidden veggies of course) we batch cook and the extra sauce can be utilised in homemade pizzas or enchiladas later in the week.

If roasting and blitzing whole veggies on a Monday for a sauce, double the quantity so there are some prepped for baking, incorporating into other dishes, condiments etc.

When making flatbread, make a quarter or so more than you need and freeze them to use as pizzas bases.

These are also good tips for when you have to consider after school club covers and menu planning.

TEAM BRIEFINGS

Planning is crucial to making a kitchen operate smoothly –and morning briefings are fundamental to a well-running kitchen.

School Chef Trainer Nerissa says, “IN A MORNING MEETING, YOU CAN DISCUSS WHAT’S HAPPENING THAT DAY – WHETHER YOU’RE SHORT-STAFFED, FOR EXAMPLE. YOU CAN BE CLEAR ON HOW MANY PORTIONS YOU NEED TO DO THAT DAY, MAKING SURE ALL JOBS ARE DELEGATED. ALSO, A DEBRIEF AT THE END OF THE DAY IS HELPFUL, TOO.

“What works really well is regular meetings between the kitchen and the business manager. The kitchen feels like they’re part of the school, not just like they’re coming in the back door and not connected to the school.”

School Chef Trainer Andy advises assessing what worked well. Andy says:

“HAVE REGULAR MEETINGS, SCHEDULED AT THE END OF EACH MENU ROTATION, TO DISCUSS HOW THE MENU WENT. IT COULD BE FIVE MINUTES LONG, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE SOLUTIONS-BASED.”

PREPARING FOR MORE CHILDREN AT SERVICE

Speedy Service Tips

Service speed can be a downfall for the kitchens. To help overcome this, there are a few simple hacks to try:

• Make sure you have enough service equipment - enough plates, cutlery, utensils etc

• Be batch cooking sides & veg throughout service, so that you don’t run out

• Can you create a second food service station, to split queues?

• Try self-service areas, or putting food on the table to share, so pupils can help themselves to salad, bread and vegetables

GET PORTION SIZES RIGHT

Getting portions right isn’t just the healthiest approach for children – it will also save the kitchen time, and cut down on food waste. School Chef Trainer Nerissa advises schools to use the portion guide from the School Food Standards.

A Task to Try.

One way to demonstrate this to your team is to ask everyone to put what they think is a good portion size onto a set of scales and then assess whose guesses are the closest to the guidelines in the School Food Standards.

NERISSA SAYS: “THIS IS A GOOD WAY OF SHOWING PEOPLE IF THEY’RE GETTING IT RIGHT. IN OUR TRAINING, WE ALSO SHOW A PLATE FOR BOTH KEY STAGES TO SHOW THE DIFFERENCE, AND TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY DON’T NEED THE SAME PORTION SIZE.”

Tip: Getting some of the kids involved with service is a great way of engaging them in the lunchtimes and helping the kitchen staff. For example, give trusted kids the responsibility of serving on the salad bar or giving out desserts.

Portion Tips

1. Giving children too much food can put them off – they think they have to eat it all.

2. Buy serving spoons that hold a portion of rice/pasta.

3. If there are empty plates, offer more savoury food.

CASE STUDY

Rotherfield’s dinner monitors

At Rotherfield primary school in London, every Friday, the head teacher invites the dinner monitors into his office to be told ‘well done’, and have a hot chocolate. The children love it and it allows the dinner staff to do their jobs better. s:l

School Chef Trainer Andy says:

“I’D RECOMMEND APPOINTING DINNER MONITORS AMONG YEARS 5 AND 6. THEY CAN INTERVIEW FOR THE POSITION, AND DO JOBS SUCH AS POUR WATER AND CLEAN UP THE TABLES.

“THIS ALSO FREES UP SOME TIME FOR THE MIDDAY SUPERVISORS TO INTERACT WITH CHILDREN, AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO EAT, AND GIVES THE YOUNG DINNER MONITORS A SENSE OF PRIDE.”

At Newington Green, the dinner monitor system changed to having alternating children come in daily across a fortnightly rota, with a day out treat at the end of term. Head Chef Emma says the incentive works well as it feels less like a chore - they want to be there to feel helpful and like the responsibilities.

SPEEDY SERVICE START OUTSIDE THE DINING HALL

Making children familiar with the menu ahead of time, makes service far easier.

• Menus should be celebrated and clearly displayed around school.

• Share them in the classroom as registers are taken.

• At any morning announcements, include the menu.

• Trial using it as a teacher’s rolling screensaver on their whiteboard.

• Be proactive with parents/carers - send them the menu.

• Run tasting evenings, so they can see and understand the quality of the food being made.

As well as putting food at the heart of a school, this will help to reduce decision time when the children are being served. Read our section on food education for further tips.

MANAGING QUEUES

Top Tip: There is no more effective intervention than adults eating lunch with the children. Many schools offer free meals to teachers who are happy to sit and eat with the children, all of which helps to model good behaviour.

More kids being served in the same time period needs to be crowd managed properly. If it isn’t, it can create additional problems and stress to the kitchen team and the kids trying to eat.

• Make sure the dining hall is well managed.

• Recruit teachers into helping, in exchange for a free duty lunch.

• Engage with the kids who are eating the food for the first time.

• Have adults on hand to explain what the flavours are and to encourage them.

CASE STUDY

What works well at Woodmansterne:

Nicole, our co-founder and exec head chef, visits hundreds of schools. The dining experience at Woodmansterne School, in Streatham, is one of the best Nicole has seen.

Nicole says:

“THEY HAVE A HUGE SALAD AND VEGETABLE OFFERING, AND THE STUDENTS HAVE AUTONOMY THAT MEANS THEY CAN CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT TO EAT. IT’S A GREAT DINING EXPERIENCE, YOU GET A SENSE OF THE ENJOYMENT AND PLEASURE AROUND THE FOOD, RATHER THAN IT JUST BEING FOR NUTRITION. THERE’S A LOT OF LEARNING OUTSIDE THE DINING HALL, TOO, AND THE STUDENTS ARE INVITED INTO THE KITCHEN. FOOD IS INTEGRATED INTO THEIR LEARNING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. IT FEELS LIKE THE KITCHEN IS AT THE HEART OF THE SCHOOL.”

TRY FAMILY STYLE DINING

Family-style dining is where the food is brought to the tables and served to the children. Students can be allocated tables, but also roles, such as one student who serves the food, and one who clears it away at the end of the meal. This is a great way to save time and get rid of long queues. The children also learn to serve their friends and clean the table – as well as learning about food waste. On top of this, the kitchen team will have more time to prepare for the following day, since the students are serving themselves.

Family-style dining can be used to make service easier for the youngest children – nursery, reception, and even year ones. This can be a case of giving the food to the teachers to serve at the table. This frees up an extra 20 minutes for the kitchen before the service fully begins – and you can do a lot in 20 minutes.

Different age groups can also eat together, rather than separating older and younger pupils.

“IF YOU BRING THE OLDER ONES IN WITH THE YOUNGER ONES, THEY ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER,” NERISSA SAYS. “THE OLDER ONES HAVE A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE YOUNGER CHILDREN LOOK UP TO THEM. THEY WATCH OTHER CHILDREN BEHAVING PROPERLY.”

COOK SMART KITCHEN HACKS

COOK SMART KITCHEN HACKS

Offering free school meals to all pupils will undoubtedly involve feeding more children than the kitchen is used to – with the same amount of time to prepare.

This means staff will need to find ways to be more efficient, without compromising on taste, healthiness or staff morale. We spoke to our chef trainer Nerissa Buckley for her top tips on preparing for universal free school meals.

Ordering prepared items like peeled onions saves time, but make sure you’re saving at least the difference in cost of product, in labour time.

Repurpose leftovers as much as possible. Re-using cooked lentils and adding to a shepherd’s pie to bulk out, for example, can cut down on cost and time.

Always try to think ahead on the prep. If you have some time with not much to do, slice some onions and put them in the fridge ready to go.

Batch cook. “Cooking smarter is fundamental,” says Nerissa. “Train kitchen staff to batch cook and cook in ways that save time and equipment.”

Cook the whole vegetable, for example, a whole cauliflower, so you’re not spending loads of time preparing vegetables.

Organise the kitchen, dry store, fridges and freezersensure everything is clearly labelled.

Don’t peel vegetables unless you have to! Carrots can just be washed, potatoes can just be washed (mash with potato skins on is absolutely fine!) the skins also add extra nutrients.

Think of all the small tasks you can fit in ahead of time. E.g. prep veg the day before, make large batches of sauces, weigh out ingredients for cake/ bread the day before, make extra trays of cake that can be frozen, such as butternut squash cake.

Tomato sauce - make a lot. It can be refrigerated/ frozen in batches and used for pasta, pizza, curry bases, chilli con carne base, bolognese base etc, see our Basic sauce recipe.

Baking bread from scratch? Make focaccia dough on Friday, to bake Monday. Or on Monday to last the week. Portion and prove it in the fridge in the trays it will be baked in. Need a recipe? Head to page 23.

Nerissa’s Ten Cook Smart Kitchen Hacks:

RECIPE: JOLLOF RICE

PORTIONS: 100

BLITZ

WASH RICE WELL.

PARBOIL RICE.

WHEN ALL WATER IS EVAPORATED, ADD YOUR PASTE AND CONTINUE TO COOK THE RICE WITH LID ON UNTIL COOKED THROUGH.

RECIPE: FOCACCIA 2 DAY FERMENTED

PORTIONS: 1 x 100mm 1/1 Gastronorm tray (60 -80 portions, depending on primary or secondary)

INGREDIENTS QUANTITY METHOD

WHOLEMEAL FLOUR 0.5KG FINE SALT 1 TSP

DRIED YEAST 8g (or 5g if proving all wknd)

TEPID WATER 700ml ROSEMARY/THYME 1 STICK

BREAD FLOUR 0.5KG PUT FLOUR, SALT AND YEAST INTO A MIXER ON LOW. ADD WATER AND 50ML OLIVE OIL & MIX FOR 10 MINS OR UNTIL THE DOUGH COMES AWAY CLEAN FROM THE BOWL, LINE YOUR TRAYS WITH PARCHMENT PAPER TIP DOUGH ONTO A CLEAN WORK SURFACE AND PORTION INTO THE NUMBER OF TRAYS YOU’RE BAKING. PUT EACH PORTION INTO A LINED TRAY AND PUSH DOUGH OUT TO FILL THE TRAY. COVER WITH CLING FILM AND A LID AND LEAVE IN THE FRIDGE OVERNIGHT OR OVER THE WEEKEND. IN THE MORNING, PREHEAT OVEN ON COMBI 220C & 90% HUMIDITY.

TAKE TRAYS OUT OF THE FRIDGE AND UNCOVER. DRIZZLE WITH OLIVE OIL, HERBS, GARLIC AND SEA SALT AND DIMPLE THE DOUGH ALL OVER WITH YOUR FINGERS PUT IN OVEN, USE THE HOSE TO SPRAY THE SURFACE OF THE DOUGH WITH WATER AND CLOSE THE DOOR. BAKE FOR 1015MINS TIL LIGHT BROWN ON TOP.

THEN SWITCH OVEN TO DRY HEAT AND 170C AND BAKE FOR ANOTHER 10 MINS.

BREAD IS READY WHEN THE INTERNAL TEMP READS AT LEAST 90C WITH A PROBE THERMOMETER

RECIPE: PENNE PASTA IN STEAMER

PORTIONS: 100

INGREDIENTS QUANTITY METHOD

DRIED PENNE PASTA 5.5KG DIVIDE INTO FOUR GASTROS. COVER WITH SALTED HOT WATER AND PLACE IN A STEAMER AT 130C FOR 10 MINUTES.

DRAIN AND SERVE. IF NOT USING IMMEDIATELY REFRESH IN COLD WATER AND CHILL.

RECIPE: VEGETABLE TOMATO SAUCE

PORTIONS: 100

INGREDIENTS QUANTITY METHOD

ONIONS, SLICED

1.5KG ROAST SQUASH AND CAULIFLOWER WHOLE UNTIL SOFT AT 220C BOIL LENTILS UNTIL SOFT.

SWEAT ONIONS AND LEEKS IN OIL UNTIL TRANSLUCENT THEN ADD GARLIC AND ROSEMARY. ADD CARROTS, PEPPERS AND COURGETTES AND COOK FOR 10 MINS.

PICK CAULIFLOWER AND ADD. CUT SQUASH IN HALF AND REMOVE PULP. ADD TOMATO PASTE AND COOK FOR 5 MINS THEN ADD SQUASH PULP, LENTILS, PASSATA AND TINNED TOMATOES

STIR WELL AND COOK FOR 45 MINS - IF TOO THICK - ADD WATER.

BLITZ TO A SAUCE.

RECIPE: BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKE

PORTIONS: 1 TRAY - 60 PORTIONS

INGREDIENTS QUANTITY

COOKED BUTTERNUT SQUASH, DICED AND STEAMED 500G

METHOD

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 170C

CREAM BUTTER AND SUGAR TOGETHER ADD EGGS WHILE MIXING ADD COOKED SQUASH

ADD DRY INGREDIENTS

POUR IN A LINED GASTRO

BAKE FOR 40 MINS

PORTION 40G-50G PER CHILD

RECIPE: SQUASH AND RED LENTIL DHAL

PORTIONS: 100

FRY ONIONS UNTIL SOFT, ADD GARLIC MINCE AND SPICES. COOK FOR A FEW MINUTES THEN ADD THE SQUASH. FRY FOR 5 MORE MINS.

ADD LENTILS, STOCK AND COCONUT MILK. COOK UNTIL SQUASH IS TENDER.

SEASON TO TASTE.

RECIPE: FLAPJACK

PORTIONS: 1 TRAY - 60 PORTIONS

INGREDIENTS QUANTITY METHOD

BUTTER 500G PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 160C

MELT BUTTER, SUGAR AND HONEY

ADD FRUIT, CINNAMON AND OATS - MIX WELL

PRESS INTO LINED GASTRO

BAKE FOR 20 MINS

PORTION 40G-50G PER CHILD

INCREASING TAKE-UP AMONGST PUPILS

INCREASING TAKE-UP OF FREE SCHOOL MEALS

Offering free school meals is only the first step, engagement will be vital to ensure all parents and carers accept the offer of a hot lunch for their children. The sooner you can start engaging with parents on school food, the better. Here’s what we find works well.

• Contact Parents: Use the template letter from Woodmansterne School to tell them about the change. (P34)

• Send a survey to families not accepting the free lunches, ask what would change their minds.

• Taster Sessions: Host taster events for parents to try the food. Use this as a chance to explain that hot lunches are far more nutritious than packed lunches. (P31)

• Whole School Approach: We work with a number of schools who host low cost food markets using surplus food providers, like The Felix Project, to support with the cost of living crisis, it’s a way to bring people together through food and can become a passion project and source of pride for staff.

Top Tip: If food is at the heart of a school, everyone can benefit and we find it becomes a talking point, making even the most fearful eaters happy to try something new. Surrey Square Primary School is a great example for inspiration. Read about their weekend market. (P36)

HOW TO HOST A TASTER EVENING

A taster evening is a great way to engage with parents/ carers who haven’t signed up for free school meals.

• Send out an invite weeks before and then a reminder.

• Hold the event from five until seven to boost attendance.

• Make sure staff are given plenty of notice, too.

• Make sure the event is well-staffed, so there’s time for parents to talk to staff and the chef.

Top tips:

• Send out an invite weeks in advance.

• Make extra school lunches and serve those to parents.

• Use a simple survey to gain feedback

“WHEN WE HOST TASTER EVENTS WE OFFER THE SAME FOOD MADE FOR LUNCH THAT DAY FOR THE PARENTS TO TRY” SAYS NERISSA.

SIX WEEK SURVEY

A parent survey should be conducted around six weeks after the pupils come back to school in September. Ask for reasons why some children aren’t having free school meals now that money isn’t a barrier. The questions can be simple:

• Is there a reason you don’t want to take up the offer of free meals?

• What changes would you like to see?

• What would you like students to eat?

Using this information, write an inclusive menu. It’s important to understand what children are eating at home and to reflect that in school.

“WE WANT THERE TO BE A GOOD UPTAKE OF FREE SCHOOL MEALS; WE WANT ALL CHILDREN SITTING IN THE DINING HALL AND EATING THE SAME FOOD TOGETHER. THEREFORE, FEEDBACK FROM THE PARENTS OF THOSE CHILDREN NOT TAKING UP FREE SCHOOL MEALS WILL BE REALLY HELPFUL,” NERISSA SAYS.

“IT’S BEST TO ASK QUESTIONS IN A VERY GENTLE WAY, AND AVOID WORDS SUCH AS ‘STIGMA’. YOU SHOULDN’T USE LEADING QUESTIONS, SO PARENTS CAN THINK FOR THEMSELVES, RATHER THAN YOU FEEDING THEM THE ANSWERS. THEN, YOU CAN USE THE PARENTS’ ANSWERS TO WORK OUT A PLAN.”

RUSHEY GREEN’S ENGAGEMENT PLAN CASE STUDY

At Rushey Green Primary School, in Catford, they started engaging with parents in April 2023. They’ve taken the personal approach and will speak to each parent directly. Head teacher Lisa Williams acknowledges this is a big task but says they want to make the time to do it.

They have devised a three-part strategy to engage the wider school community:

1. Invite parents in for a food taster session and menu writing activity. The idea is to get families to share their favourite recipes for the school kitchen team to use. These recipes will become part of the school’s menu.

2. Invite parents in for an ‘eat with your child’ day at lunchtime.

3. Follow this up by an offer of free school lunches for two weeks for each year group.

Lisa supported the campaign to extend eligibility for free school meals, this is why:

“THERE’S A SAYING - YOU CAN’T TEACH THEM IF YOU CAN’T REACH THEM. WE BELIEVE SCHOOL FOOD SHOULD BE TREATED AS AN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE. CHILDREN NEED TO EAT OTHERWISE THEY CAN’T LEARN. IF THEY’RE HUNGRY, THEY CAN’T CONCENTRATE SO OUR RESOURCES ARE WORTHLESS.”

TEMPLATE LETTER TO START ENGAGING WITH PARENTS

‘Everybody Eats’ free school meal proposal

Dear Parents/carers

We would also like to take this opportunity to discuss changes to school lunches starting in September 2023.

The proposal is about good food and happiness. It is about teaching our children the pleasures of growing, cooking and eating proper food. It is also about improving the well-being and academic performance of our children.

Many parents mistakenly imagine that a packed lunch is the healthiest option. It is far easier to get the necessary nutrients into a cooked meal. A national study found only 1% of packed lunches meet the nutritional standards that currently apply to school food.

Diet-related illnesses are putting a significant strain on the nation – costing the NHS billions every year. We are working every day to tackle the problem now before the costs (both personal and financial) become crippling for our country and the future of our students.

We aim to cook food that is both appetising and nutritious; make the dining hall a welcoming place; keep queues down; get the price right; allow children to eat with their friends; and get them interested and excited about cooking and growing food.

At Woodmansterne School, they sent out the following letter to parents, please copy and paste and use it as required.

Proposition

We propose that we ditch packed lunches for all pupils and get them eating hot school meals.

From September 2023, all children will be offered free school meals in primary schools, so we think this is a great opportunity to utilise this funding and get our children eating balanced and nutritious meals from an early age.

We will help your child to try new flavours and ensure they can do this at their own pace.

Any allergies or intolerances your child may have will be accounted for.

Here’s a quick list of pros and cons:

Pros –

• It’s free

• Nutritious and balanced diets for everyone

• Better concentration in class

• More time efficient for parents not having to meal plan or cook

• All allergies catered too

• Children enriched by exposure to new and exciting flavours

TEMPLATE LETTER TO START ENGAGING WITH PARENTS

At Woodmansterne School, they sent out the following letter to parents, please copy and paste and use it as required.

Perceived Cons –

• Reluctant eaters = From our experience, a lot of children that began term as reluctant eaters, through socialising and eating with their friends have improved. The food becomes an exciting talking point in their day.

• Who is monitoring whether my child is eating? This is monitored by midday supervisors. Any problems that may arise are duly noted and the school is informed.

• I don’t know what my child is eating. Our menu is on the website or available via the school.

• Dietary requirements and allergies and religious sensitivities. All children are cooked and catered to. We make sure that they are never just served a jacket potato with cheese.

• Lunch is the only time of day when the whole school –children and teachers – have a chance to come together. The atmosphere of the canteen sets a tone for the rest of the school and helps to establish the school’s culture.

Thank you for reading.

COL’S MARKET - AN IDEA TO PUT FOOD AT THE HEART OF YOUR SCHOOL

Enjoying food together, is the perfect way to engage with children and encourage them to try new dishes or ingredients. Food projects can also offer support to families.

At Surrey Square Primary School, they put on Col’s Corner Marketplace, a weekend market for parents and students. The aim? To promote physical and mental well-being in a place where families feel safe.

On offer is tasty and filling food for families to enjoy on-site or take away for free.

Fresh ingredients are also available for families to take home for free, including a Felix Project stall with free high-quality seasonal produce from Natoora. This helps parents with the cost of buying fresh ingredients, to cook at home, enabling them to cook great food for all the family with fresh, seasonal ingredients they might otherwise not be able to afford.

There are arts and crafts activities for kids and take-home activity packs to keep children entertained and engaged. A swap shop is set up in the dining room for parents to come with uniforms etc. Not only does this support families with the cost of education, but it also practices important ideas of reusing, recycling, reducing waste and thinking sustainably. The school has also enlisted sports coaches to engage children in some fun physical activities to support their health.

The school is working with different organisations to help to bring their vision to life, currently collaborating with organisations such as Impact on Urban Health, The Felix Food Foundation, and Edible Rotherhithe, and this can serve as a case study for how you as a school can work creatively with your community and local organisations to set up a holistic approach to implementing new changes to school provisions for families.

MAKE YOUR EFFORTS COUNT - TIPS TO ENSURE CHILDREN EAT

Woodmansterne School decided to stop packed lunches in infants, therefore ensuring every child would eat a hot lunch. Here are a few tricks that helped them encourage the children to try the food.

Introduce a daily salad bar consisting of single ingredients such as cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, roasted beetroot and coleslaw ensuring the children had a choice.

Keep elements of any dish separate when preparing it so children can explore flavour combinations at their own pace. For example, when they introduced egg fried rice, they noticed many children were intimidated by the amount of veg. Now, only peas go inside – a firm favourite – and a veg medley is on the side for the children to mix and match at will.

Identify children happy to try new flavours - if they are first in the queue others will follow their example.

4 5

Sit and talk with the children as they eat, ask what they’re enjoying and why. Food can be an exciting talking point in their day.

Stand by the bins encouraging children to try some more of the food on their plates before it is thrown away. Notice what is being thrown away and report back to the kitchen team so you can think of how to change the dish in future.

FOOD EDUCATION

FOOD EDUCATION

Food education is vital to encourage children to try new dishes or ingredients. For advice tailored to SEN schools and pupils, head to page 45

In any school, food education doesn’t have to be a set class, it can be as simple as chatting during lunchtime about whatever is on the plate or when food comes up in the classroom. When our co-founder, Nicole, worked in a school kitchen, she was often seen carrying octopus or fish into classrooms to show children their lunch.

Your school can take part in Eat Them

To Defeat Them just like Head Chef Sergio, at Ickburgh School. Sergio is a passionate participant in Eat Them

To Defeat Them - he’s dressed up as a giant piece of pasta to get children talking about food. He puts on displays of pictures and vegetables to make food interesting to look at.

GET GROWING

A vegetable garden or some herb boxes will enthuse any young chef. Whether you have a large patch of soil or some tubs, you can grow produce and get the children involved. Ask them what they’d like to grow and give it a go. In Hackney, Lead Food Educator Tom has planted wheat, which the children have nurtured.

Head Chef Charlie at Stormont House is a passionate advocate of food education. He says:

”IF CHILDREN HELP US TURN SEEDS INTO SOMETHING THEY CAN EAT, I THINK THAT’S KEY FOR CUTTING DOWN FOOD WASTE. IF THEY KNOW THE EFFORT THAT’S GONE INTO GETTING SOMETHING ONTO A PLATE, I THINK THEY’RE MORE LIKELY TO EAT IT AND LESS LIKELY TO THROW IT AWAY.’

Check out our Create Your Own Food Education Hub for lots of tips on growing vegetables in schools.

INTRODUCING NEW FLAVOURS AND INGREDIENTS TO CHILDREN IN SENS SCHOOLS

Charlie is Head Chef at Stormont House - a SEN school, where they’re experts at introducing new flavours and textures, ensuring children are excited about lunchtime and look forward to eating. Patience and a positive approach are key. Charlie always makes time to talk to the pupils about what they’re eating, finding out what they liked and disliked.

CHARLIE’S FOOD EDUCATION

Food education doesn’t have to be a set class, it can be as simple as chatting during lunchtime about whatever is on the plate. Charlie will also pop into classrooms to show pupils interesting ingredients before he cooks them - fish is always a showstopper.

“WE SHOW PUPILS THE FISH BEFORE WE PREP IT TO ENSURE THERE’S A CONNECTION BETWEEN PRODUCE AND THEIR LUNCHES.”

Charlie has taught classes as well: “We do classes focussing on one ingredient e.g: showing different carrots, how they can be cooked differently, why they taste different, so when pupils come to the canteen new flavours aren’t daunting.”

They’ve offered pasta-making classes. Children who were reluctant to eat pasta, happily tried it afterwards.

Visual recipe instructions were designed by Leah & JodySpeech & Language Therapists at Stormont House SEN school for children to use at home.

They also have a vegetable garden where children can plant seeds and learn about where food comes from.

CHARLIE SAYS: “WE’RE LUCKY TO HAVE A ROOF GARDEN HERE TOO, WITH RAISED BEDS AND A BBQ. OUR GARDENER GROWS PRODUCE THAT WE CAN USE IN THE KITCHEN. THE CHILDREN HELP US TURN IT FROM SEEDS, INTO SOMETHING THEY CAN EAT. I THINK THAT’S KEY FOR CUTTING DOWN FOOD WASTE. IF THEY KNOW THE EFFORT THAT’S GONE INTO GETTING SOMETHING ONTO A PLATE, I THINK THEY’RE MORE LIKELY TO EAT IT AND LESS LIKELY TO THROW IT AWAY.”

All of this encourages curiosity and interest in different types of food.

IN THE DINING HALL

In the dining hall, they’ve made changes across the day. Making sure breakfast is as fresh and tasty as lunch, can encourage children to try a varied diet.

Charlie says: “The majority of the students at the school have autism and textures of food and flavours are really important. When we started to engage with pupils about the menus and introducing new flavours or textures, many of the children were used to soft textures, and vegetables without any crunch. We changed things gradually. Little steps like not boiling green beans for as long so they have some colour and crunch and we bake our own bread to control the quality.

“We made big changes too. Breakfast used to be toast and beans, sometimes bacon. We now have a porridge bar with fruit. Every Monday and Wednesday are veggie days and that’s going well.

PATIENCE IS KEY

“It’s important to introduce flavours gradually. Beetroot wasn’t popular with children until we served up Beetroot Brownies. Slowly we phased out the chocolate, adding more beetroot, so they became comfortable with how beetroot tastes, then we had beetroot salads and they were happy to try this as they were used to the flavour.”

HIDDEN VEGETABLES INTRODUCE NEW FLAVOURS

“We make a sauce for pizza and pasta that has seven vegetables in it – it’s seasonal and always changes but there are herbs, lots of veg all blitzed with a stick blender. They are enjoying that and the children who don’t want extra vegetables on top of their pizza, are still getting the goodness.

“Our tomato sauce is one way we’re reducing food waste. Monday, it’s for the pasta sauce – say a vegetable lasagne, leftovers are used in the pizza sauce on Wednesday and if there is any going spare I can freeze that to use the following week.”

Head to page 25 for our Time-saving Tomato Sauce recipe.

USE EXISTING RESOURCES

One of our school food heroes is Sergio, Head Chef at Ickburgh Schools, a SEN school in London. Sergio is a passionate participant in Eat Them To Defeat Them. He’s partial to broccoli-shaped headwear and has even dressed up as a giant piece of pasta to get children talking about food. He puts on displays of pictures and vegetables to make food interesting to look at. Working with teachers, he created artwork this year which was painted with flour and food colouring, allowing children with visual impairments to touch the art and feel the shape of it.

FUNDING NEW EQUIPMENT

If you need to buy new equipment, there are a few options open to you.

APPLY FOR GRANT FUNDING

The Grants4Schools database is a brilliant free resource to help you find grants specific to educational projects and schools. The website also provides helpful tips on writing a successful funding application. We recommend making sure you talk about how the grant will positively impact your pupils - enabling them to eat well so that they can thrive at school.

Each funder is different and will have specific application requirements but it’s often possible to reuse information from previous bids, which means the application process gets less onerous after a few bids.

FUNDRAISE AS A SCHOOL

Involve your school community in fundraising, www.schoolfundraising.co.uk has lots of activities you can try; from bake sales to fun runs, there is something that can work for your school.

CROWDFUNDING

Set up a crowdfunding page where you can tell people about your project and encourage them to donate.

REACH OUT

Reach out to parents and Governors to support your fundraising campaign – you never know who someone might know! Write to local companies who may be able to donate equipment as well as funds. Send press releases to local media and keep shouting about the project on social media, this can boost fundraising and attract volunteers with expertise.

Thank you for reading. If you have questions or need help with school food, please get in touch: hello@chefsinschools.org.uk

And head over to our website www.chefsinschools.org.uk for further resources.