Providing free school meals to all secondary school pupils is feasible, acceptable and brings many potential benefits according to a new University of Bristol-led study of a pilot scheme in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. In January 2020, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) trialled providing free school meals to all pupils (aged 11–16-year-old) in two secondary schools comprising approximately 400 and 100 pupils. Of the 500 pupils in both schools, more than a quarter were shown to be experiencing food insecurity in a survey carried out during the research. Results from interviews showed an overall positive impact on pupils’ behaviour, concentration, food insecurity.

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School meal provider Caterlink has said food items including tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce are not available to use in school meals because of ‘extreme shortages’, it was reported by The Independent. According to an email sent by Caterlink, which was seen by The Independent, some fruit and vegetables will won’t available for two weeks from 1st March. Onions, aubergines and fresh peppers are also unavailable due to recent cold temperatures and last summer’s drought. Neil Fuller, manager director of Caterlink who provide more than one million meals across 1,300 schools a week told The Independent: “We’re experiencing shortages and increased costs of some fresh fruit and vegetables. We continue to ensure all schools have access to fruit and vegetables as part of balanced menu options.

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Jamie Oliver’s Good School Food Awards have just launched, celebrating the amazing catering teams, beautiful canteens, holiday programmes, campaigners and unsung heroes who, day in and day out, go the extra mile to make sure Britain’s school children are well nourished. Starting in 1906, Britain has the oldest school meal system in the world. It now has a workforce larger than the Royal Navy and Air Force combined, serving nearly 5 million meals every day; that equates to about 41 meals per second. After 17 years campaigning to improve school food, Jamie has set up the Good School Food Awards to recognise what excellence looks like. A panel of twenty expert judges will shortlist the awards and our stellar celebrity judges will have the final say.

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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced an historic £130m emergency scheme to help families with the spiralling cost of living by ensuring that every primary schoolchild in London will receive free school meals in the next academic year. The Mayor is stepping in with the one-off proposal to ensure that healthy free school meals are universally available to all primary school pupils for one year from September due to the extreme pressures currently facing households across the capital. The unprecedented move will help around 270,000 primary school children and save families around £440 per child across the year. Sadiq, who received free school meals as a child, has repeatedly called on the Government to make the meals available to all as research has shown that hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren live in poverty but do not receive them due to the Government’s restrictive eligibility criteria and lack of universal provision.

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Survey results show the average price of a school meal will rise to £2.65 this year meaning more children will be at risk of being denied access to a healthy diet, says The Food Foundation. The survey carried out by LACA, which represents more than 3,300 school food suppliers and kitchen staff, shows an average rise of almost 20% in the cost of a school meal since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, when it was around £2.24.  School caterers say they are seeing rising debts as increasing numbers of children come to school with no lunch money. There are fears that many more will fall through the cracks because their families cannot afford to pay for school food, but do not meet the threshold for free meals.

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An additional 1.5m free school meals have been served in primary schools across Wales since the rollout of Universal Primary Free School Meals began in September 2022. As part of the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru, Universal Primary Free School Meals now allow an extra 45,000 primary schoolchildren to have the option of a free school meal. All primary schoolchildren and more than 6,000 nursery-age pupils attending a maintained school will be eligible for free school meals by 2024. Its estimated nearly 66,000 extra pupils will be fed in the first year of roll-out. Minister for Education and Welsh language, Jeremy Miles, said, “I’m pleased that so many primary schoolchildren have benefited from the scheme already.

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Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has called for a sugar tax to raise millions of pounds for the expansion of free school meals, it was reported by BBC News. Oliver brought up this issue on BBC Radio 4, saying, 'If you look at the money raised from the sugary drinks tax, it's not far off what's needed [to fund the expansion of free school meals]. If you've got a couple of kids coming in not fed, that affects plan A, plan B and plan C of a teacher's hour. “It's like passive smoking. We're talking about all children being affected by some of the kids maybe being disruptive or sleeping or any other kind of carnage that goes along with the poverty of hunger.' Jamie believes that children living in households that receive universal credit should be included on the free school meals scheme.

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Family First has bought Cherry Childcare Day Nursery & Pre-school Group, a family-run, independent day nursery group with 11 settings across Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire.

Established in 1993, Cherry Childcare is renowned for delivering outstanding premium childcare, and boasts an impressive annual fee income with profits to match.

Previously owned by Nigel Rolfe, the portfolio has now been purchased by Family First Nurseries, taking the group close to 100 settings.

Nigel Rolfe.

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The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department of Education (DfE) have launched a School Food Standards Compliance pilot across 18 participating local authorities in England. The pilot was initially announced as part of the Levelling Up White Paper, which set out to ‘transform’ the UK into a more equal society. The joint initiative aims to design and test a new approach in supporting schools to comply with the existing School Food Standards. Professor Susan Jebb, FSA chair and one of Public Sector Catering’s Top 20 ‘most influential’, welcomed the 18 local authorities’ participation. She said, “Schools play a crucial role in providing children with healthy food to help them concentrate and thrive in the classroom and beyond.

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At the Conservative Party Conference MP for Surrey Heath, the former education secretary, Michael Gove highlighted the importance of expanding free school meals to the 800,000 children living in poverty who are not eligible to receive them. He said, “What we can do is extend free school meals to every child in a family in receipt of universal credit… Given the scale of the challenge we face and the benefits that it brings… It seems to me that this is a more than worthwhile intervention.” Michael’s comments were supported by LACA chair Brad Pearce, who said via Twitter: “Fully support this call #everychildeverytime #makingadifference.” He received support from school meals campaigner and chef Jamie Oliver.

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Bright Futures Educational Trust has awarded Sodexo the £5m school meals contract for all 12 schools in its portfolio. It is the first time the Trust has chosen one provider. Sodexo was the incumbent caterer for the past ten years at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.

The new contract which is for three years with the option to extend a further two will see Sodexo deliver its Food & Co school meals offer at its three secondary, two SEN and seven primary schools. The schools are situated in Greater Manchester and Blackpool.

Steve Hawkins.

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Kath Dalmeny, chief executive of food and farming alliance Sustain, is one of 100 civil society leaders who are calling on the Government to extend free school meals to every primary school pupil in England to help combat the ‘worst cost of living crisis in a generation’. The letter, which was launchedby The Mirror and the National Education Union, is urging new Prime Minister Liz Truss to ensure no children in England are left hungry. The letter has been signed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and TV presenter Gary Lineker. Children's Food Campaign co-ordinator, Barbara Crowther said, 'There is an urgent need to provide targeted support for families with children who are facing increasing food and energy bills.

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irst Minister Mark Drakeford and leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price have welcomed the start of the expansion of free school meals to primary school children in Wales. Whole classes of children in primary schools across Wales are enjoying free school meals together for the first time from the start of the new school year. First Minister and Sian Gwenllian, Plaid Cymru’s Designated Member, has announced the expansion of free school meals to more than 6,000 nursery-age children in schools. Nursery-age pupils attending a maintained school for at least two full sessions, on any one day per week, will be eligible for a free school meal. £35m of new capital funding will support the roll-out of the scheme.

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School caterers can now start planning for this year’s National School Meals Week (7-11 November), which is focusing on green issues. School caterers across the country are working hard to lessen the impact we, as an industry, have on the planet. LACA is encouraging as many school caterers as possible to get involved in activities during the week. LACA chair Brad Pearce said, “We know school meals have such a positive effect on children’s attainment and development, but school caterers are also making a huge impact on green issues, lessening their impact on the planet as together. 'We tackle environmental issues such as reducing food waste, reducing food miles and increasing the amount of plant-based foods children eat.

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The award-winning Fennies Nurseries has acquired the lease on its 18th site and its second nursery in Beckenham, which lies in the London Borough of Bromley.

The new venue, in the Langley area of Beckenham, offers 6,000sq ft of nursery space, a large outdoor area and a car park, and sits on the perimeter of a Cala Homes housing development.

Fennies plans to refurbish the building and transform it into a new children’s day nursery.

This acquisition takes the group to 20 settings.

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The Craft Guild of Chefs is delighted to announce that The Sheffield College has successfully passed all the standards required to receive its prestigious accreditation.

The Craft Guild of Chefs College and University Accreditation scheme was launched in July 2020 and is a mark of the high standards achieved by the accredited sites.

To achieve the accreditation lecturers and students at The Sheffield College were interviewed in addition to skills training sessions being observed to ensure they met the strict criteria required by the Craft Guild of Chefs to pass.

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British primary and secondary school children are getting nearly two-thirds of their lunchtime calories from ‘ultra-processed’ foods, according to a study led by researchers at Imperial College London and published in the journal Nutrients. The analysis, which looked at the content of school lunches of more than 3,000 children between 2008-2017, found that 64% of the calories in meals provided by the school came from ultra-processed foods, contributing to the consumption of high levels of processed foods and increasing the risk of childhood obesity. The study, which identified ultra-processed bread, snacks, puddings and sugary drinks as among the biggest contributors, also found that packed lunches contained more calories from such foods than school meals.

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South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck appeared in Westminster Hall to lead a debate on the eligibility criteria of free school meals as she believes that no child should go hungry. Speaking at the debate she said, “There is nothing more grotesque than a Government that not only presides over thousands of children going hungry but actively pursues policies that plunge them into hunger and poverty. 'As we debate here today nearly four million children are living in poverty, over 800,000 are missing out of free school meals and hundreds of thousands are missing out on school breakfasts.” Emma added that in her part of the world the problem is getting worse and not better. The North East region now has the highest child poverty levels in the UK where 38% of children are living in poverty with this number rising to 42% in South Shields.

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One of the UK's largest highly acquisitive nursery operators, Bright Stars Nursery group has acquired The Cheshire Day Nursery business via Christie & Co for an undisclosed sum.

The Cheshire Day Nursery group comprises four nurseries and one kindergarten, which occupy extensive freehold and leasehold properties. Over the years, these have been sympathetically modernised to make the most of their original features and create first class environments for all the children attending.

All sites sit in premium locations in and around the North West of England.

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A major survey of school meals has highlighted the views of parents on the key issues for the school meals service including allergen management, sustainable sourcing, meal uptake, cashless payments and the role of digital technology. Building on the success of the 2021 survey ParentPay, Cypad and LACA have again conducted one of the largest studies ever undertaken with 306,354 respondents answering questions on school meal provision in the UK. The report was unveiled at the LACA Main Event today (8th July). The research was run via a survey of ParentPay users, with organisers saying it will help understand what caterers and school leadership teams need to do to ensure their clients and families are happy with the service provided.

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