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School
Nutrition Action Group
Winter 1997 Newsletter
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SNAGs,
or School Nutrition Action Groups, are school based alliances
in which staff, pupils and caterers, supported where appropriate
by health and education professionals, work together to
review and expand the range of food and drink provided
through
• the tuck shop
• vending machines
• the midday meal
• catering at social functions
• breakfast provision
in order to increase the uptake of a healthier diet. |
Some
four or five years ago the concept of school food policy
- set up and driven by a School Nutrition Action Group
(SNAG) caused some to snigger in disbelief and others
to snort in anger.
The ‘status quo’ is such a powerful influence
there is no doubt that many catering organisations while
worried about continuing as they were feared change more.
The assertion, often still heard, that “we know what
kids want” was rarely accompanied by any real listening
process. The involvement of children in a service specifically
intended to meet their needs was even more unusual.
Headteachers and governing bodies fared equally badly.
Often critical of the quality and balance of the lunch
time provision, some would blatantly abuse their responsibility
of care by making large profits from tuck shops selling
nothing but confectionery, crisps and high sugar soft
drinks.
Meanwhile the government continued its laissez-faire “market
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place knows best” approach ignoring its responsibility
for the public health - perhaps forgetting that food in
schools is a very important part of present and future
public health.
Now I’m not suggesting for a moment that all this
is changed or that what has changed is down to SNAGs.
What I am delighted about, and proud of, is that the philosophy
and principles of the SNAG initiative are now built into
UK government guidance, that there has been a significant
shift in catering organisations’ attitude to health,
quality and customer care and that many more school managers
are seeing the relevance of food (and activity) to the
duty of pastoral care owed to their children.
And finally we appear to have changed from a government
whose approach to food regulations was “might”
or “may” to one responsible enough to say “will”
and “must”!
I hope appearance translates to reality
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Our
conference, in partnership with the Department for Education
and Employment, is set for 3 February 1998 at Regents
Park College. Chaired by Professor Philip James and with
a key address by the Minister responsible, Estelle Morris.
It will take place at a time of exciting change. Speakers
from health, education, catering and politics will offer
views of the future with an optimism not possible for
many years. I hope you will be with us to comment on the
challenges which will be presented. If not, conference
proceedings will be published and full details will be
in the Spring newsletter. |
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The Health Education Trust is the managing organisation
for SNAG News and runs the help and advice line service
for those with concerns about food in schools across the
UK. The newsletters are sent to a targeted 15,000 people
in health, education, catering and politics but many thousands
more read them.
The advice line offers guidance and encouragement
to a very broad range of callers, from large contract
caterers to concerned parents. The underlying message
is always the same: children need and are entitled to
a healthy, high quality food service at school and there
are always ways each of us can help progress towards achieving
that for them.
Joe Harvey
Director Health Education Trust
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Joe
Harvey
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and HET visual identities and SNAG newsletter designed by
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Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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| Whitburn
Comprehensive SNAG |
South Tyneside Education Catering Service has recently
become involved in a SNAG with Whitburn Comprehensive
School. The group has developed a curriculum-based Health
and Food Project as a long-term vehicle to improving
the children’s health education at
the school.
The group has also established clear aims and objectives
for the project. These are:
Aim
The project’s aim is to deliver an educational
package to children to enable them to select the healthiest
choices about their diet by taking more responsible
and informed decisions.
Objectives:
• To formulate a school food policy.
• To heighten personal and food hygiene.
• To encourage greater take-up of healthier choices
that are available.
• To ensure curriculum teaching is in harmony with
the service provided by the contractor.
• To instil healthy eating habits in the pupils
entering the school.
The scheme of work for the project is opposite. The
project is specifically designed so that pupils theoretical
underpinning knowledge is reinforced by combining their
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practical
work, both in the classroom and school kitchen, with
the marketing of their own work to the whole school
population. In real terms there must be an end product
which is sold successfully within the school kitchen.
The kitchen staff will therefore be an intrinsic part
of the project.
The school also see this project as an integral part
of their Healthy School Award entry. The degree of enthusiasm
and commitment to the project has been very high.
The project has also gained support and recognition
by South Tyneside Legal Health Authority as it is tackling
many of the major health and social concerns within
the region.
However, the major thread throughout is to maintain
pupil ownership of the project. Ownership in many ways
raises the esteem and value of the project in the eyes
of the children.
As they ‘own’ the project the desired outcomes
may be more readily achieved and their decision making
processes involved as a consequence and to a greater
degree. More ‘informed’ choices by the children
can then be made.
Further information on the project can be obtained from:
Town Hall and Civic Offices
Westoe Road
South Shields
Tyne and Wear
NE33 2RL |
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News From SNAG
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DATE
TOPIC (ONE HOUR SESSION)
21 April 1997 -- Examine food outlets
available during lunch time.
25 April 1997 -- Examine School Meal
provision
28 April 1997 -- Good diet
2 May 1997 -- Relate diet to good
health
9 May 1997 -- Consider foods available
at present. Class consider alternatives. Research
for homework. Surveys in own class or use results
from school survey.
12 May 1997 -- Consider range of
recipes: Are they healthy? Do they appeal? Make
necessary
changes to make them healthier.
17 May 1997 -- Practical - Produce
healthy options
19 May 1997 -- Evaluate
work done - Seek further alternatives.
23 May 1997 -- Examine menu-planning:
presentation, appearance,cost, flavour, texture,
etc.
2 June 1997 -- Re-evaluate present
situation. Examine marketing. Plan Friday practical
session.
6 June 1997 -- Practical session
to improve product. N.B. South Tyneside Health Bus
to visit the school all week to raise drugs education
awareness.
9 June 1997-- Evaluation. Report
back. Final decisions made on recipes.
13 June 1997 -- Hygiene talk. Visit
to school kitchen.
16 June 1997 -- Working in school
kitchen (part of group). Marketing (remainder of
group).
20 June 1997 -- Working in school
kitchen (part of group)
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SNAG
and HET visual identities and SNAG newsletter designed by
KYSEN,London.
Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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Food
Hygiene and Safety
in the Kitchen |
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Even
in our technological age with refrigerators, chillers,
microwaves and high speed heat flows to cook and preserve
food, the existence of harmful organisms in our food can
still affect our health, especially in the more vulnerable
groups - young children, infants, the elderly and the
infirm.
When contaminated food or drink is consumed, depending
on the type of bacteria, the symptoms of food poisoning
can occur anywhere from 2 hrs to in excess of three days.
Many types of bacteria cause food poisoning, the best
known names are Salmonella and Escherichia coli 0157-H7
[E.coli 0157]. Escherichia are natural inhabitants of
the gut in humans and animals.
E.coli 0157 are found in untreated water supplies and
land slurry. It may take as few as 10 bacteria to cause
food poisoning. In 1996, several thousand school children
were affected by an outbreak associated with radish sprouts
consumed with school meals in Japan. Other outbreaks have
been associated with apple juice, yoghurt, handling soiled
potatoes, undercooked burgers, cooked meat, unpasteurized
milk and in the 1994 West Lothian outbreak it was cross
contamination of pasteurized milk. Person to person spread
can occur and E.coli 0157 has been found in a children’s
paddling pool.
Food at warm temperature is the perfect environment for
bacteria
to grow and multiply in great numbers. Most bacteria do
not thrive at cold temperatures and
are destroyed when food is cooked at high temperatures.
Thus to avoid outbreaks, proper temperature controls and
the prevention of cross contamination by good personal
hygiene practices are important key points.
| Storing
your Meat at Home |
The
MLC consumer leaflet
‘Food safety information for our customers’
has ten guidelines on storage, thawing, preparation and
cooking temperatures for meat.
It has an illustration showing how best to store your
food at home in the refrigerator. For copies of the leaflet,
see offers on this page. |
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| Recommendations
after the Outbreak in Scotland |
The
April 1997 Pennington report and recommendations apply
to the whole of the food chain and cover aspects such
as:
• caterers and food handlers to be taught food
hygiene widely
• school curriculum to feature food hygiene, where
possible
• storage of raw meat should be separate from cooked
meats and meat products
• applying the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Point system (HACCP) in food businesses.
See box with an example of good catering practice using
HACCP
• good hygiene practices on the farm, slaughterhouses
and in
the kitchen
• studies on the prevalence of E.coli 0157 in farm
animals (detection is made difficult because in farm
animals it
rarely causes symptoms)
MLC
provided research and welcomed the Pennington recommendations.
MLC has been involved in disseminating good practice information
to producers and slaughterhouse management. To raise awareness,
MLC, an accredited food hygiene trainer at all levels,
held seminars nationally across the butcher retail sector.
The seminars were endorsed by each Health Authority and
the local Environmental Health Officers participated to
give the enforcement viewpoint. The 4500 delegates gave
positive feedback at the seminars, the guidance notes,
poster and consumer leaflet were well received. For more
information contact MLC. |
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Good
Catering Practice
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Food
Step
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Good
Practice
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| Storage
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Wrap
and cover food; Store raw and cooked foods on separate
shelves with cooked food above the raw foods. Storage
temperature for meat should be 0°C - 4°C. |
| Preparation |
Limit
time left at kitchen temperatures, use clean
equipment. Clean basins/sinks after using them to
prepare raw foods, wash knives in-between use with
raw and cooked foods. Use separate cutting boards for
raw meats and other foods. |
| Personal
Hygiene |
Cover
cuts properly, wash hands in between handling
raw and cooked foods. Always wash hands after using
the washroom/toilet or after coughing, sneezing. |
| Cooking |
Use
a thermometer to ensure meat is cooked topiping hot to
72°C centre temperature. |
| Hot
and holding |
Maintain
a hot temperature, above 63°C for cooked
service foods. |
| Cooling
cooked |
Cool
food quickly, divide large batches into smaller
foods portions for quicker cooling. Cover. |
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MLC
Offer of two food
safety leaflets:
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a.‘Handy Hints’ by the MLC Home Economists has
food safety points, recipe ideas on healthy ways of cooking
meat, vegetable suggestions and ingredient tips.
b.‘Food safety information for our customers’
has ten guidelines on meat.
Telephone 01908 234423
or e-mail: nutrition@mlc.org.uk
with your request and postal details
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and HET visual identities and SNAG newsletter designed by
KYSEN,London.
Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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Preliminary
assessment of the Birmingham School Nutrition Action
Group project shows success - in more ways that one.
The five key findings are:
• Consumption of healthier foods by secondary school
pupils can be increased without reducing either the
catering service income or the number of pupils taking
meals.
• Allowing pupils a leadership role in changing
food provision means their peers are more willing to
choose the new food options.
• A school by school approach to introducing changes
means that each schools strategy for improving food
provision is ‘owned’ by the pupils, caterers
and teachers.
• Resistance to change can be overcome by the LEA’s
legitimisation of the project’s aims.
• School Nutrition Action Groups offers a realistic
strategy for influencing young people’s dietary
habits and contributing to the nutritional needs of
secondary school pupils.
One example of the success of the School Nutrition Action
Group initiative is Golden Hillock School, an inner
city, mixed school in the heart of Birmingham.
The initial questionnaire of the pupils showed that
the changes they would like to make to the food and
drink service in school were:
• More choice/more variety of food.
• More healthier food.
• More choice of drinks.
• More fruit.
• Less fatty food.
• More vegetarian food.
• More Asian food.
Anne Morton, Food Technology teacher set up the School
Nutrition Action Group. With the help of pupils (and
particularly Firuza Begum, Kelly Bradshaw and Sharanne
George) and Marcia Williams (the cook) planned changes
to the food provision.
To
help publicise the School Nutrition Action Group they
first ran a competition to design a publicity poster.
As I illustrated in the last newsletter, poster competitions
are a very useful way to generate interest in the school
about changes to the food and drink provision. The winning
poster design was chosen and printed.
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Then the group started to plan the changes and get new foods
onto the menu, to highlight foods that already existed but were
often overlooked and to raise general awareness about the food
provision.
To make sure that the School Nutrition Action Group stayed in
touch with what pupils in the school wanted, further mini surveys
and straw polls were done to generate further ideas for changes
to the menu.
Then the follow-up evaluation was done. The questions we were
looking to answer were:
Did anyone notice the changes made to the food and drink provision?
Were the changes that the pupils had asked for in the original
survey?
Did it make any difference to the sales of food?
And the answers seems to be yes, mostly and yes.
Changes noticed by pupils were:
1. More Asian food.
2. Different variety of foods available.
3.
More choice of food.
4. More drinks available.
5. More healthy food available.
6. More vegetarian foods available.
So yes, pupils had noticed the changes and they were mostly
the changes asked for in the original survey.
So, did it make any difference to the sales of food? Yes it
did! The table below shows the percentage of pupils buying each
food item. . The sale figures are from the computerised tills
that the Birmingham LEA’s caterers, Citiserve, use. |
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The full detailed report was not available at the
time of this going to press, but a full report will
be available in the near future. If you would like
a copy of the evaluation report please contact me
in April.
A teachers‘/professionals’ pack
on how to set up a School Nutrition Action Group,
drawing on the experiences of the Birmingham schools,
will also be available
in April.
Finally I would like to record my thanks to Citiserve
- both management and cooks; Client Services Catering;
all the teachers in the schools with School Nutrition
Action Groups and the many pupils on those groups.
I would also like to thank Birmingham Health Authority
and Birmingham Education Authority for funding the
project which is now showing such excellent results
and helping to achieve success for everyone.
Please contact:
Sandra Passmore
Health Education Consultant
Birmingham Education Department
Tel: 0121 428 2262/1197
Fax: 0121 428 2353
Email: healthed@lea.birmingham.gov.uk
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before
snag
% of pupils buying each food
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after
snag
% of pupils buying each food |
| Pupil
Meal of the day |
1%
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11%
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| Main
meals |
68%
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78%
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| Sandwiches |
7%
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10%
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| Potatoes
(not chips) |
24%
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23%
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vegetables,
salad
Chips |
71%
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69%
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| Dessert |
37%
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40%
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| Sugar
free drink fruit juices |
38%
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51%
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* this is
a complete meal, main course, dessert and drink for the price
of the dinner ticket
** all drinks sold in Birmingham LEA schools are sugar free.
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SNAG
and HET visual identities and SNAG newsletter designed by
KYSEN,London.
Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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| School
food and drink Investing for the future
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Two
one-day seminars organised by the National Dairy Council
will address practical issues relating to food and
drink provision in schools, and the implications for
bone health and dental health of school age children.
They will be of interest to teachers and health professionals
who work with school children, and will provide an
ideal forum for sharing ideas and for information.
The seminars will be held in:
Manchester Tuesday 11 November 1997 at Manchester
Conference Centre.
Bristol
Tuesday 17 March 1998
at Cadbury House,
Congresbury, Bristol.
The registration fee for each seminar is £37.00
(inclusive of VAT) which includes lunch and refreshments
throughout the day.
For further information, and
an application form, please contact:
Esther Jones,
National Dairy Council,
5-7 John Princes Street,
London W1M 0AP
Tel: 0171 499 7822
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| British
Nutrition Foundation News |
The Foundation was delighted to launch its new education resources
for pupils aged 11-16, entitled “Diet and Health”
and “Food Technology”, in October, by Jeff Rooker
MP. The launch was held at Selly Park Technology College,
Birmingham.
The Minister said, “The BNF programme presents intellectually
stimulating activities within Science and Technology that
will help raise the academic standing of food in schools.”
The “Diet and Health” unit can be used across the
curriculum, and focuses on current dietary advice, health
and lifestyle, and aims to promote an understanding of the
role of diet in growth and development throughout life. It
can be used to support GNVQ Health and Social Care, Home Economics
and PSE.
The “Food Technology” unit looks at the whole process
of food product development from concept to distribution.
It meets the requirements of the National Curriculum and exam
boards.
For further information contact:
Georgina Strutt,
Tel: 0171 404 6504 |
A resource and information pack for schools.
Produced by Mancunian Health Promotion Specialist Service
A valuable resource and information pack to help and support
all educators address food and health issues in schools.
The pack provides comprehensive information including diet
and health of young people, school meals, the way forward
and examples of good practice across the curriculum.
Copies cost £18.00 each (inc. P&P).
Contact:
Vanessa Brown/Poonam Jagota
Mancunian Health Promotion Specialist Service,
Tel: 0161 291 3437
Now one and all, large and small - I’m ready for your
contributions, complaints and concerns for the next issue.
For the disk copy please keep material in basic type face
and avoid bold or underlining to save editing time this end.
If you want your disc returned please print your name and
address on it.
Please send all articles to:
Joe Harvey,
The Health Education Trust,
18 High Street
Broom
Alcester
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Notice
Board
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Join
the SNAGs Network
(Free of charge!)
The School Nutrition Action Group (SNAGs) concept
is a policy tool designed to help teachers, caterers,
school managers, parents and children to work together
in improving the provision of healthy food and nutrition
education in schools.
Further copies of the SNAGs guide are available
at £6.00 (inc. P&P) each.
SNAGs Advice line offers:
Membership of SNAGs Network and inclusion on our
mailing list for SNAG News.
Further information on a range of services available
to individuals and organisations and workshops from
experienced health, education and dietetic consultants.
Free telephone advice on all issues to do with food
policy development in schools.
Please telephone for advice on all issues to do
with food policy development in schools.
Please telephone or fax the SNAGs Advice Line on
01789 773915 or write to SNAGs, c/o Health Education
Trust, 18 High Street, Broom, Alcester, Warks, B50
4HJ for more information.
The Health Education Trust gratefully acknowledges
the support of TESCO Stores Limited
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SNAG
and HET visual identities and SNAG newsletter designed by
KYSEN,London.
Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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Snack Attack Award
What is it?
An award presented as a symbol of recognition to those
schools which are taking an active part in the promotion
of healthier eating.
A school that meets the qualifications for the award receives
a certificate valid for two years.
To renew the award, a school is required to submit their
certificate and prove that the qualifications are still
being met.
Who is behind the award?
Nutrition and Dietetic Department of Essex and Herts Community
NHS Trust and North Essex Health Promotion.
For a Snack Attack Award Pack, complete the tear-off slip
and return to
Sally Adams,
North Essex Health Promotion,
Cuton Hall Lane,
Springfield,
Chelmsford, Essex
CM2 5PX. |
Please
send a Snack Attack Award Pack to:
Name
Role
School Name
Address
Postcode
School Telephone Number
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North
Essex Health Promotion, in conjunction with the Nutrition
and Dietetic Department of Essex and Herts Trust, has produced
a Snack Attack Award scheme for use in nursery schools, pre-schools,
primary schools and secondary schools throughout North Essex.
It is an award similar to the Heartbeat Scheme and is designed
to be a symbol of recognition for those establishments which
are taking an active part in the promotion of healthier eating.
The original idea was initially produced by the South Essex
Dental and Dietetic Department and with their permission was
further developed to the current package that is now being
offered to all schools in the Essex area.
In order to achieve the award five simple criteria or qualifications
have to be met:
1. In schools which have a tuck shop, healthier choices (low
in sugar, fat and salt) should appear for sale and be highlighted
in some way. A checklist is provided to help.
2. Schools without tuck shops but providing snacks should
ensure that these are of a healthy alternative (fruit, vegetables,
bread, milk, water, diluted fruit juice).
3. Pre-school and infant schools should promote the use of
“Teddy’s Club” materials.
4. Schools should send representatives to our sessions on
healthy eating and/or oral health.
5. Each school should draw up a written policy covering the
consumption of food and drink, including snacks, tuck shop,
school lunches. A checklist is provided to help.
All schools in the area were sent a flyer in June 1997 promoting
the new project, entitled, “Eating in School can be fun”
and by September 1997 54 schools andfive
nursery schools had requested a copy of the award pack, and
three pilot schemes will be completed by December 1997.
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The Snack Attack Award pack provides information on nutritional
and oral health issues, promotes The National Food Guide, Balance
of Good Health messages alongside reducing risks on coronary
heart disease and promoting physical activity for children.
Teddy’s Healthy Eating Club (for under eights) which encourages
healthier snacking habits in young children is a successful
and well evaluated teaching pack produced by West Essex (for
more information contact Christine Purves on 01245 466000).
The pack also contains comprehensive information on food policy
checklist, food in schools survey in pupils and parents and
information on the workshops available from North Essex Health
Promotion on nutrition education in schools and the oral health
workshops.
Once schools have indicated an interest they are sent the award
scheme information alongside a criteria checklist.
If they wish to apply for the award they invite a representative
from North Essex Health Promotion to visit to ensure they meet
the criteria and the award is issued for a period of two years.
To renew the award a school will be required to submit their
certificate and prove the criteria are still being met.
There are plans to market the Snack Attack Award scheme at a
cost of £5.00.
For more information contact:
Julie Powell
North Essex Health Promotion Cuton Hall Lane
Springfield
Chelmsford
CM2 5PX
Tel: 01245 466000
Further information and evaluation will be available in the
new year. |
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SNAG
and HET visual identities and SNAG newsletter designed by
KYSEN,London.
Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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| Kids
Tuck in to Bread Stick |
Two Mancunian Community Health NHS Trust dental health
educators have devised a way to ensure school tuck shops
help protect children’s teeth while making enough
dough to stay open.
With the demise of the formal school dinner and the introduction
of fizzy drink machines and sweet foods to tuck shops,
Jane Carpenter and Chris Topping foresaw a future of even
worse tooth decay for children and, with Manchester already
low on the list of healthy dental cities, this was to
be avoided at all costs.
They set themselves the task of coming up with a snack
item which would appeal to children whilst meeting the
criteria of the tuck shop. Inspiration came in the form
of a snack item with a shelf life longer than itself -
bread sticks! And now they are selling by the bucket full. |
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| Chris
explained, “It was a real challenge for us and we
were determined to beat it. When we actually came up with
the solution it seemed so simple that we couldn’t
believe we hadn’t thought of if before. The bread
sticks are cheap, last forever and the children love them.
It appears we have created a new trend in the Manchester
schools.” |
(A
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Project)
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has been
running a project called Food in Schools, which focuses
on enriching children’s experiences with food.
Anne Waldon, Project Director, has involved a wide
range of schools in pilot work run specially for the
project. Other schools, already well known for interesting
practice in their work with food, have contributed
their experiences.
Food in schools has two main objectives:
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Food
in schools has two main objectives:
• To produce materials that will promote collaboration
between schools and food experts in teaching students about
food,
in particular its appreciation, preparation and social importance.
• To contribute to the process of developing whole school
policies on food and nutrition.
October 1997 saw an important event in the life of the project
- the launch of three publications.
• Food in Schools - A Recipe for the Future, a leaflet
intended for food experts who might be interested in working
with a
local school.
Estelle Morris MP, Schools’ Minister, Dr Nick Tate, Chief
Executive of
the Qualification and Curriculum Authority and guests representing
many branches of industry and education were present at the
launch, which was held at theFlour Advisory Bureau, Piccadilly,
London.
The aims of the project have been adopted by the Royal Society
of Arts, who will be taking the work forward under the title
“Focus
on Food”.
The project sponsors to date include the Meat and Livestock
Commission, J Sainsbury plc, The Flour Advisory Bureau, The
National Dairy Council and the Jane Grigson Trust. The committee
structure includes a Steering Group which counts Prue Leith,
Sophie Grigson and Michael Barry among its members. The publications
will be sent to schools in late 1997. |
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Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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| Dartmouth
High School SNAG |
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Dartmouth
High School is situated in the West Midlands Borough
of Sandwell. Dartmouth is an urban multicultural comprehensive
school with approximately 1,600 pupils. It is situated
in a beautiful green environment and is some distance
away from the local shops. It has over 50 feeder schools
and 95% of pupils stayon site for lunch.
Our SNAG group was set up 18 months ago. The start of
SNAG
at Dartmouth coincided with the arrival of our new Catering
Manager, Mr Martin Kimberley.
Mr Kimberley is an “old boy” of Dartmouth.
He was the first boy to do a GCS (as they were in those
days) in Home Economics!
Four pupil representatives sit on the group which meets
twice a term. We raise comments through House/Year Council
and the main School Council. Damian and I are members
of all these groups and we feel this is a great asset
as we benefit from feedback and suggestions from pupils
and staff.
Our aims are to encourage pupils to eat in the School
Dining Room, to help them understand the value of a
healthy, balanced diet. We try to provide this in an
attractive and appealing way to include a wide variety
of dishes which appeal to people of all cultures.
We have started to achieve our aims by issuing surveys,
processing the results and discussing them in detail
at our meetings. We have talked to pupils in the dining
halls and also reported the findings at our meetings.
We are also in the process of launching a competition
to rename our Healthy Eating Bar and this enables students
to take part in SNAG even if it’s only in competition
form.
On SNAG we have four students (who are easily traceable
to receive suggestions!), and Deputy |
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Headteacher,
Mrs Anna Bennett, our School Nurse, Sandwell’s Food Policy
Advisor and representatives from Chartwells (contracted for
Sandwell School meals), Oral Health, Education and Community
Services and dietetic service.
As you can see, our members are extremely varied which we
think aids us in discussions as we have many different and
valuable points of view.
When SNAG started we had two “normal” dining rooms,
and one Healthy Eating bar - which wasn’t! Here pupils
bought their food and were allowed to take food out to eat
elsewhere. If complaints were made through the body of councils,
there was nowhere else for them to go! SNAG provided a destination
for
all these comments good and bad!
Now we have the two dining rooms as before but the “Healthy
bar” that wasn’t is now much improved. We now have
all pupils who use the canteen sitting down, we have introduced
the art of social conversation back into our school! It is
a much more friendly environment to be in during the lunch
hour, as the increasing numbers of pupils and staff will tell
you. All cheese used in cooking and sandwiches is now vegetarian
and all sandwiches and rolls are wrapped and clearly labelled.
We have speciality days - our latest was American Independence
Day. It was very popular, I cannot say though if the popularity
was due to the food or the dressing up by the canteen staff |
Our
most prestigious and recent success was the Heartbeat Award.
This is a nationally recognised award, designed to look at
the provision of healthy food and also food hygiene. We are
the ONLY school in our Borough to have achieved the award
this year and are extremely proud to have done so. It was
presented to us by the Mayor of Sandwell when he lunched with
us in our dining room in July.
We feel that SNAG has been extremely successful at Dartmouth
High School. In our opinion this is because of the strong
links SNAG has established, with the kitchens, the suppliers,
the staff, the pupils and with the school. Another reason
for our success in my opinion is the dedication and enthusiasm
of our catering manager, Mr Kimberley and his staff.
“I think SNAG is a great way for me, as a pupil, to learn
about team work. It has taught me just how much can be achieved
when you work together with things that at first seem impossible!”
Liesa Martin
Year 9 - Curie House
For further information please contact:
Mrs Anna Bennett (Deputy Head) Dartmouth High School
Wilderness Lane
Great Barr
Birmingham
Tel: 0121 358 6186
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SNAG
and HET visual identities and SNAG newsletter designed by
KYSEN,London.
Telephone 020 7323 3230. www.kysen.co.uk
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