Latest News

Bernard Matthews supports ‘traditional view’ of National School Meals Week

28 May 2012

Bernard Matthews Foodservice and its Big Green Tick range will be lauding the benefits of a traditional British turkey roast as sponsor of Get Traditional Day in National School Meals Week (NSMW) 2012.

Its new British turkey products for creating roasts will also be showcased on November 7th, the Wednesday of LACA’s annual celebration of food in schools which will run from November 5-9.

As part of British turkey’s role during this year’s NSMW, school caterers have the chance to enter a free online prize draw to win prizes from Bernard Matthews Foodservice.

Alison Gann has been crowned School Chef of the Year 2012

23 May 2012

Alison Gann from Chartwells has been voted Britain’s number one school chef by a panel of judges at the national final held at the Food Services Wing, Defence Logistics School, Worthy Down today (23 May).

Winning schools set the standard for a summer of patriotic menus

23 May 2012

Four schools have been selected as winners of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall’s competition inviting schools to create a special Diamond Jubilee menu for The Queen.

Mark Flanagan, royal chef at Buckingham Palace, has selected the winning schools from over 200 entries. The four schools are now being invited to Buckingham Palace in June to see their recipes prepared by the Royal Chef and will help serve them at a special reception attended by The Queen and The Duchess of Cornwall.

Campaign launched to close ‘free school meal’ loophole

22 May 2012

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has launched a new campaign in a bid to ensure that 16 to 18-year-olds from a disadvantaged background at colleges have a free lunch.

The campaign focuses on the fact that if a disadvantaged student attends a maintained school sixth form, free school, university technical college, city technology college, or an academy, they are provided with a free school meal.

But if the same student chooses to study at a college they lose that entitlement - due to a funding anomaly.

Education caterer Aspens Services achieves Food for Life Gold Catering Mark

22 May 2012 | South West Region

Education caterer Aspens Services has achieved the Food for Life Gold Catering Mark for its healthy menus at eight North Somerset primary schools.

The eight schools are Blagdon Primary School; Churchill Primary School, Langford; Dundry Primary School; Sandford Primary School; St Andrew's Primary School, Congresbury; Winscombe Primary School; Winford Primary School and Wrington Primary School.

TV doctor promotes school milk scheme

18 May 2012

Pupils at Four Marks Church of England Primary School in Alton, Hampshire met television’s Dr Hilary Jones when he came to talk to them about the importance of drinking milk.

Celebrity GP Dr Hilary Jones is best known for his role on the ITV’s Daybreak couch in the mornings discussing various health issues.

But he took a break from the TV studios visit the children at Four Marks C of E Primary School to mark the start of their school milk scheme.

Schools invited to trial healthy food ‘workstations’

17 May 2012

Yorkshire design company KanGarRoo has developed a range of workstations designed to help teachers put the fun, practicality and sense of achievement back into healthy food preparation - with the ultimate aim of encouraging children to lead healthier lifestyles.

Working with schools, industry bodies and children across the UK, the company is now looking for nutrition and healthcare education and pre-school and primary educators to help evaluate the workstations before they are manufactured.

Cook for the Queen finalists are announced

16 May 2012

As Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall’s competition inviting schools to create a special menu for The Queen approaches its grand finale at Buckingham Palace in June, the first round of judging has taken place.

Sixteen schools have been selected from over 200 entries to go through to the next round where their menus will be judged by Mark Flanagan, royal chef at Buckingham Palace.

Primary school pupils get a slice of the action

16 May 2012

Budding young chefs from Christleton Primary School and Waverton Community Primary School competed in a pizza cook-off recently with the chance of having their recipe put on the menu at the Ring O'Bells in Christleton.

Three children from each school were shortlisted out of over 100 entrants to go to the award-winning Ring O'Bells and make their pizzas with the help of the restaurant's pizza chef Andy Posniak.

Academy food standards: LACA responds to SFT survey findings

15 May 2012

The School Food Trust (SFT) has today published the results of a survey conducted among a sample of 100 academies into their attitudes towards following the nutritional standards for school food.

Currently academies and free schools are exempt from the nutritional standards legislation that applies to all other maintained schools in England.

The SFT wrote a letter in January to the heads of more than 1,500 academies asking them to indicate their commitment to following the legislation and applying the standards across all food provision.