Teachernet, Food and drink

School food and drink

This page sets out the Department's policy on food and drink in schools, including the new nutritional standards.

To access information on all food and drink available in schools, follow the links in the left-hand column.

The food children eat can have a significant impact on their performance at school and their wider well-being, both directly and indirectly. View letters from the Secretary of State to:

LA Lead Members, copied to Directors of Children's Services and Finance Directors
headteachers and Chairs of Governors of primary and secondary schools

which seeks their continued support with increasing the take up of healthy school meals.

View letters about collection of data on the take-up of school meals.

View the survey and guidance showing how to collect data on the take-up of school meals.

In March 2005 the Secretary of State announced a package of measures designed to improve significantly the quality of school meals. These included:

new nutritional standards for school food
the establishment of a School Food Trust to advise and support the implementation of better school food
additional, transitional funding to authorities and schools of £220m between 2005 and 2008
new qualifications for catering staff
new arrangements for monitoring the standards through Ofsted
priority within the school capital programme for the building and refurbishment of kitchens.

Following the confirmation in May 2006 of the final standards for school food, further measures to improve school food were announced. These were:

£240m to subsidise ingredients for healthy meals in schools from 2008 until 2011. This will ensure that all schools have the money they need to continue to provide healthy meals to everyone;
the establishment of a network of Food Excellence and Skills Training centres for school cooks and caterers to improve their catering skills. Experts on cooking dishes that meet the new tough standards will train, support and mentor school cooks, including supporting them in their own school;
plans to give every secondary-school pupil an entitlement to learn to cook from 2008. All pupils who wish to will be able to take lessons on basic cookery skills allowing them to leave school with a 'licence to cook', giving them knowledge to prepare a range of healthy meals;
further measures to improve the quality of school kitchens, including:
- making capital funding available for building school kitchens where there is a need
- issuing new design guidance on kitchens and dining areas (published 2007)
- reinforcing kitchens as a priority in all other building guidance
- a review of School Premises Regulations.
Defra-led activity supporting small and local food producers to create regional or sub-regional groups that would be invited to bid to supply school food providing:
- greater commitment to the Government's Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative from leaders in the education sector (and other public sectors)
- a programme of activity to reconnect young people with the food chain, farming and the countryside.

Read the Government's response document, and access the 2005 press notice and the 2006 press notice.

New nutritional standards
The new standards for school food are being phased in by September 2009 in four stages. Together they cover all food sold or served in schools:

breakfast, lunch and after-school meals
tuck, vending, mid-morning break and after-school clubs.

The first of the new standards are the interim food-based standards for school lunches which came into force from September 2006 and apply to all local-authority primary, secondary and special schools in England. These standards mesh the new food-based standards with the standards in the Education (Nutritional Standards for School Lunches) (England) Regulations 2000. Read the guidance to help implement the new standards.

The Educational (Nutritional Standards and Requirements for School Food) (England) Regulations 2007 set out some technical changes to the interim food based standards, standards for food other than lunch (e.g. tuck shops, vending and breakfast clubs) and the final food and nutrient-based standards for school lunches. The timetable for implementation is as follows:

September 2006: Introduction of new 'interim' food-based standards for school lunches, and expectation that schools will begin to move towards standards for food provided at other times
September 2007: Introduction of food-based standards for all other school food and drink
September 2008: Date by which all primary schools must comply with 'final' food-based and nutrient-based standards for lunch
September 2009: Date by which all secondary and special schools must comply with 'final' food-based and nutrient-based standards for lunch

Free school meals
The Secretary of State recommends that the value of a free school meal should be set to enable eligible children to have a standard two-course lunch and a drink. Access the eligibility criteria for free school meals here.

The School Food Trust
The School Food Trust was set up in 2005 by the Department to help deliver the new school-food standards, deveop food skills amongst children and young people, and bring longer-term improvements to their health and education. The Trust provides advice and information to anyone involved in school food. You can learn more about the work of the Trust by visiting the School Food Trust website.

Training and qualifications for catering staff
The Department has worked with a number of partners to put in place a range of qualifications and training for catering staff as well as supporting the School Food Trust in establishing the school FEAST network. More information can be found via the Qualifications page on TeacherNet.

Procurement guidance
Guidance for headteachers and governors on procuring a school-meals service looks at the practical steps schools can take to improve their school-meals services. It provides advice on procurement options available to schools, including contracting-out the service to a different provider, improving the service provided by the existing contractor, or bringing the service in-house and managing it entirely within the school. It also provides help and guidance on the major issues, including links to other relevant help, and provides tools such as an example specification. You can access it via the procuring school meals page in this area of TeacherNet.

Read some case studies on school lunches

You may also find the following links useful:

The Food in Schools Programme is a joint venture between the Department of Health (DH) and DCSF that encompasses a range of nutrition-related activities in schools.
The Food Standards Agency is an independent Government department set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food.
The 5-A-DAY programme aims to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables. It is run by the DH and consists of five main strands, including the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, lottery-funded local initiatives in 66 primary-care trusts, a communications programme including a 5-A-DAY logo, work with industry, and work with national Government and consumer health groups.
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, part of the 5-A-DAY programme run by the DH, entitles every child aged 4 to 6 in LA-maintained infant, primary and special schools to a free piece of fruit or vegetable each school day. Coordinators and materials are available to provide advice and support. The materials include step-by-step guidance, a Foundation Stage curriculum, a Key Stage 1 curriculum pack, a booklet about integrating the scheme into the whole school, a series of posters and a CD of fruit and vegetable songs.
The My school lunch website raises awareness of school lunches and helps LAs work together to promote their catering services. It includes advice on healthy eating with links to the national curriculum.
The Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) supports its membership by creating networking opportunities for the exchange of views and information by holding briefings, regional meetings and an annual conference.
Find out about the provision of school meals and free school-meal eligibility from the Parents Centre website.
The Health Education Trust has an independent national database of information on catering excellence in schools; read examples of Best in Class. If you are a pupil, parent, governor, teacher, school council, catering contractor or supplier and you think that what you are doing is exciting and could be used by other schools, why not get in touch and help us create the directory of good practice in school catering services.
Eco schools is a great way to make sustainable development a part of the life and ethos of your school. Designed to fit into the curriculum, it is an awards scheme that gets everyone in the school community involved in making the school environment better.
For ways to improve your meals service, see the Food for Life site.
Look at catering practices from Wired for Health.
Read the survey of school meals in secondary schools in England.
Catering for health has a guide for teaching healthier catering practices.
Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI) gives guidance regarding procurement of food and catering services.
The Vegan Society supply free materials, including lesson plans, PowerPoints and various activities. They also run a school speaker network, where they can organise someone to come and give a talk at your school, to cover lessons, assemblies and focus days.