Redbridge School wins £5,000 for healthy meals

The School Food Trust's Million Meals School of the Month award rewards schools' excellence and innovation in school meals provision. Tomorrow (Tuesday 22nd June), Carl Morgan, Million Meals project manager, will hand over the £5,000 cheque to Valentines High School in a special presentation. The prize money is to be spent on further improvements to the school's food offering, including a remodelling of the canteen's serving area. Valentines High School head teacher, Mrs Jones, said: "We're so proud to have won the School of the Month award. Since signing up to the Million Meals campaign we've applied a 'Whole School' approach to healthy eating by engaging with pupils, parents and carers. This reflects our school motto - 'In Harmony, Achieving Excellence'." Valentines High School made a number of improvements to its school meal service to make it worthy of winning the award. The school introduced a futuristic biometrics system which allows pupils and staff to 'pay' for their food using a fingerprint scanner. A Healthy Eating policy was also introduced, with a menu that is sensitive to the diverse cultural requirements of the pupils. The school's catering company now sends a visiting chef twice a term to generate interest in school food by producing themed menus with recipes from around the world. The canteen has also adopted the pupils' suggestion of a 'meal deal', whereby customers receive a free dessert when purchasing a main course. This has ensured that more pupils are opting for a nutritionally balanced lunch rather than snacks. Valentines High School has increased their school meal take up. Carl Morgan from the School Food Trust, concluded: "Anyone running a restaurant will tell you that you have to listen to your customers - and school food is no different. That's why we were so impressed by valentine high taking on the meal deal idea that students suggested. It just goes to show that when you involve students in designing your service, you can make the changes that will really appeal to them."