Wolverhampton pupils choosing healthy school meals
Released: 11 January 2007
Children in Wolverhampton are giving the thumbs up to healthy school meals thanks to a wide variety of tasty options encouraging pupils into the dining halls.
Wolverhampton is maintaining its numbers taking school meals since last September, with many schools showing a marked increase.
Figures reveal that more than 50 per cent of secondary schools have shown an increase in the number of meals taken, compared to the same period last year, while a number of other local authorities are reporting problems with the uptake of new school menus.
Wolverhampton City Council’s Catering Services provide around 2,500 meals daily to nine secondary schools in the city.
The introduction of new standards last year called for little to change in the city as Wolverhampton Catering Services had already reduced the amount of processed food on the menu year-on-year, and increased the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables.
At the same time pupils have continually been asked for their opinions on what healthy options they would like to see on the menu.
Councillor Christine Irvine, Wolverhampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “Wolverhampton Catering Services are doing a great job in our schools, providing meals that are not only healthy but also really popular with the children and young people.
“We are working through the School Meals Review to bring together the views of catering staff; headteachers; health professionals; local authority officers; parents; elected members and young people themselves to ensure that we provide real value for money with healthy meals that children and young people really want to eat.
“For families that are still not trying our meals or parents who remember the sometimes unappetising meals of old, I would urge that they give the new look school meal service a go - and it may be that many of these families could qualify for free meals so please check this out with the school or the local authority.”
Listening and acting on the requests of its ‘customers’, Wolverhampton Catering Services has introduced pasta bars, soups of the day and frozen ice 100 per cent fruit drinks.
The menus at a number of the city’s secondary schools feature delights such as barbecue chicken wrap, salmon steaks and lamb balti. The longest and fastest moving queue is often for jacket potatoes, which in many schools are served from the brightly coloured ‘Spuddy Buddy’, with a variety of tasty fillings and salad accompaniments, all for less than £1.
Further initiatives encouraging pupils to eat healthily include theme days which are popular citywide, and the calendar of special meals includes the highly popular Divali and Christmas lunches, as well as Caribbean Day, World Cup celebrations and St Patrick’s Day.
In addition pupils at a number of primary schools were joined in the autumn term by Beacon Radio’s Fresh and Jo and the Black Thunders. The station reported on the choice of meals pupils are enjoying and children rated meals “ten out of ten”.
For further information see www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/schoolmeals.
Issued by the press office.