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'We're going our own way on school meals'
A GROUP of enterprising Sheffield schools are going it alone at lunchtimes - by providing their own independent school meals services.
The schools - including Charnock, Woodhouse West and Woodthorpe primaries - have chosen to opt out of the new local authority contract provided by Scolarest, which came into operation this term.
Instead they are planning, cooking and serving up their own daily dinners with the help and advice of Eat, a firm of consultants.
The vast majority of city schools - more than 130 - have stuck with Scolarest, which has taken over from previous caterers Serviceteam.
But schools like Woodthorpe believe they can do a better job themselves - providing lunches which are healthy, nutritious and increasingly popular.
"We made the decision in principle towards the end of last year," said headteacher Chris Thew.
"We can provide good healthy food for the children and at the same time enjoy the flexibility of meeting their particular tastes."
Cook supervisor Michelle Gregory said the children enjoyed traditional favourites like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, pies and hotpots.
"The new system means we can cook them their favourites more often, say once a fortnight.
"But we are also encouraging them to try things they may not have tried before, like curry, chilli and tuna," she said.
"We have a team of four and we cook everything from scratch for the children each day. It's a lot more work than before but we enjoy it and numbers are gradually going up.
"And there is very little food wasted, which has to be a good sign," Michelle added.
All schools this term have to match up with tougher new nutritional guidelines introduced by the Government, and the schools' consultants are able to provide advice on menu cycles and suppliers.
"Running a school meals operation sounds complicated and you could argue it is not our core business," Mr Thew said.
"But it is our core business to ensure our pupils are healthy and we are enjoying having this important function under our control.
"It is still early days and at the moment we are leaning heavily on the consultants, but as time goes on we could well find our own suppliers who provide better value."
The agreement with the consultants is renewable annually and the schools believe their costs will come down as their expertise grows.
Take up at Woodthorpe is broadly in line with last year so far, while prices are at the same level as in Scolarest-catered schools at 1.60 a day.
"Reducing the percentage of children bringing packed lunches is still a nut we have to crack. But parents have been supportive and we have had no negative feedback at all," Mr Thew said.
"The feeling we have here is that this has to be the right thing to do," he added.
Do you think school meals are now healthy enough? Email starletters@sheffieldnewspapers.co.uk or write to The Star, Letters, York Street, Sheffield, S1 1PU.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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