For those of you who missed a chance to look at the results of the Osted report published in October 2007, here is a brief summary of their findings.

Brief summary of Ofsted report: Food in Schools Encouraging healthier eating
3.10.07

Ofsted has published a report assessing the progress a representative sample of primary and secondary schools have made in improving school food since the introduction of the interim standards for food in schools in 2006. The report finds all surveyed schools meeting the standards and highlights examples of successes and challenges schools have faced in a range of food-related issues including the quality of dining areas, the take-up of school meals, and pupils’ understanding of food and healthy eating.

The Ofsted survey aimed to evaluate the progress schools were making in meeting the new interim standards for food in schools which came into force in September 2006 and to identify the strategies they were using to help pupils and families understand healthy eating.

The report considers a range of food-related issues, including the new food standards, the quality of dining areas, the take-up of school meals, and pupils’ understanding of food and healthy eating.

Inspections were conducted during 2006/07 in 18 primary/middle schools and nine secondary schools in 12 local authorities. The schools were selected to represent small clusters within authorities that made different types of provision for school meals. Information from two Ofsted survey reports on personal, social and health education, and from school inspections conducted since 2005, provided additional evidence.

Below is a summary of key findings and recommendations. The full report has interesting case studies and examples.

Key findings

School Meals

• The meals served to pupils met the interim food standards in all the schools in the survey

• All schools provided meals from fresh seasonal ingredients. The best food was provided in those schools with experienced, well qualified and appropriately trained cooks. The ‘best’ food according to pupils, and that which exceeded the standards, was prepared on site, although not all schools had appropriate facilities

Take up of school meals

• The number of pupils eating school meals had fallen in the majority of schools visited. The reasons included cost; a lack of choice; lack of consultation with pupils over the content of menus; pupils’ unfamiliarity with some of the food; and poor marketing

• Pupils entitled to free school meals were sometimes deterred from taking them because paying for them singled them out

• In instances where schools and the local authority worked very effectively together schools take-up of school meals tended to be higher

Pupils’ understanding of food and healthy eating

• Most of the pupils in the survey schools had a good understanding of healthy eating but too often this had little bearing on the food they chose.

• Cross-curricular approaches were very effective in reinforcing and broadening pupils’ learning, especially in primary schools, although limited facilities restricted the practical food-related activities pupils could do

• Schools had the most impact on encouraging healthy choices when close partnerships existed between staff, pupils and their families, and where senior managers gave a high profile to this work Headteachers’ views on school meals and the priority they gave to healthy eating influenced the quality of provision

Support for pupils and families

• The primary schools visited had been more active than the secondary schools in supporting pupils and their families

Quality of Dining Areas

• The quality of dining areas was important in determining whether pupils ate school meals. They were more likely to eat them when queues were short, they could sit with friends who brought packed lunches, and the arrangements allowed enough time for extra-curricular activities

Key Recommendations

Take up of school meals

• monitor the take-up of school lunches

• identify the factors which discourage pupils from taking school lunches and work to eliminate them

• ensure that the cost of school meals and the methods for paying for them do not discourage children from low income families, or those entitled to free school meals, from eating them

Pupils’ understanding of food and healthy eating

• provide consistent messages on healthy eating across the curriculum

• give pupils practical experience of preparing food and learning about healthy eating through activities within and beyond the formal curriculum

• involve pupils closely in developing school menus and in exploring a wider range of food

Support for pupils and families

• work closely and sensitively with families to advise them on how to provide healthy packed lunches

Quality of Dining Areas

• ensure that dining areas are attractive and well organised and that school lunchtimes contribute to pupils’ social development

• allow enough time for lunch, especially in secondary schools

Standards of packed lunches

All the primary schools in the survey gave advice to parents on packed lunches but only three of the secondary schools did so. Where advice was provided, more pupils ate healthy lunches than before and pupils were able to explain how they were part of their balanced diet. In two of the secondary schools visited, packed lunches
had improved because pupils had discussed their learning of healthy options at home and had influenced the views of their parents/carers.

Breakfast clubs

All the schools visited had identified pupils who did not have breakfast at home and many had set up breakfast clubs to compensate. In the best instances, schools coupled providing breakfast with other support for pupils, such as extra literacy and numeracy sessions at the beginning of the day and reported that the breakfast club had been a successful first step in engaging pupils with making healthy choices

Tuck shops

All the tuck shops seen during the survey provided healthy snacks.

In primary schools, the tuck shops tended to provide a different range of food from that available at lunch time. One school, which had particularly good inclusive practices, had involved the pupils in deciding what charges to make for snacks. This ensured that no child was prevented from taking advantage of what was offered because the price was too high.

In secondary schools the range tended to be wider, with the choices overlapping those available at lunchtime. There were two main reasons for this. First, the schools had recognised that, to avoid queuing later in the day and to enable them to take part in extra-curricular activities, many pupils bought food for lunch during their morning break. Second, this more flexible arrangement provided increased revenue for the canteen which safeguarded jobs.

Vending Machines

One of the clearest indicators of the impact of the new food standards and the focus on healthy living was the absence of vending machines. In the large majority of the schools visited, they had either been removed or were awaiting removal.

Some schools with sixth forms regarded vending machines as part of the ‘perks’ provided for senior pupils and argued that they should not interfere with their pupils’ rights of choice. In these schools, students still had access to food which was not necessarily healthy but, in most cases, healthier options were being researched which would be in keeping with the overall policies on food.

Ofsted report: Food in Schools Encouraging healthier eating
Reference no: 070016
3.10.07

To read the full Ofsted report click here