We chat with two headteachers and the founder of the Chefs in Schools charity to explore ideas and options for how schools can deliver quality food experiences for pupils.
We ask how we can work with families to improve packed lunches and also discuss how we can raise money via our food growing and education initiatives.
We talk about what we can do to improve the take-up of free school meals, and we offer advice how we can deliver high-quality breakfast clubs that make a difference.
We discuss food education. What should we be teaching about food and how? What does a good food curriculum look like? And we consider the impact that high-quality school food can have for children and their attainment and wellbeing.
The episode is hosted by Helen Frostick, a retired primary school headteacher and a long-standing member of the Headteacher Update editorial board. Her guests are:
- Dr Jason O'Rourke is headteacher at Washingborough Academy in Lincolnshire. The school has gained national and international recognition for its curriculum, which puts healthy living and food education at the forefront of children’s learning. Jason is the President of SAPERE, a network dedicated to promoting sensory food education; co-founder and trustee of food education charity TastEd; and a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on School Food. He won the Edu-catering School Food Plan Awards in 2016 and The Caroline Walker Trust Food Hero of the Year 2019.
- Nicole Pisani is co-founder of the school food charity Chefs in Schools. She learnt about food and restaurants growing up in Malta. After moving to London she went on to become head chef at Ottolenghi’s NOPI. Nicole left restaurant life to transform the food on offer at Gayhurst Community School in Hackney. After seeing the impact of good food and food education on pupils, Nicole co-founded Chefs in Schools and has since supported schools to improve their food and food education. Nicole has published cookbooks including Magic Soup, Salt Butter Bones, and Feed Your Family. Visit https://chefsinschools.org.uk/
- Hilary Priest is headteacher of The Grove Primary School in Totnes. She has been involved in a number of food initiatives, the most successful of which involved working with the school's professional chef via the Chefs in Schools initiative and developing a growing and cooking life-skills curriculum. The Grove won Best School at the APPG on School Food’s Excellence in School Food Awards in January 2024. Hilary has written about her school's food journey and her school's food curriculum in HTU. She was also interviewed for the Radio 4 Food Programme last year. Find her articles via www.headteacher-update.com/authors/hilary-priest/
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For details about The Headteacher Update Podcast, or to suggest future topics, email editor Pete Henshaw at pete.henshaw@markallengroup.com