School praised of variety and thought put into school meals
The catering team at a Wyre Forest school have been recognised for their work feeding and educating their students.
James Sommerville and his team at Wyre Forest School in Kidderminster were recognised as the Catering Team of the Year in the Jamie Oliver Good School Food Awards.
The chef and child health campaigner was joined by a celebrity judging panel to go through more than 2,000 entries from across the country across eight categories, with the judge for each category travelling to the winner to present their award.
The team at Wyre Forest School were visited by Joe Wicks, who had highly praised James Sommerville and his team in his award summary.
He said: "With pupils that have a wide range of special educational needs, James and the team not only provide a fantastic menu every day, they also cater for pupils who need pureed food, who are peg fed and for all types of allergies and dietary requirements.
"James, the chef, enjoys receiving the pupils' feedback about his food and will always try and make amendments that the pupils ask for.
"As well as providing a range of healthy, nutritious different main courses and puddings each day, there are also different breads and a salad bar.
"The catering team's attention to detail is amazing! They will notice if one pupil out of the 331 pupils is not eating properly or if their eating habits have changed.
"They will then work with class staff and the pupil to find out how they can be tempted to broaden their choices.
"Pupils are encouraged by the team to try the other options, even if they have not ordered it and this is free of charge."
Other winner came from Manchester, Chelmsford, Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Stalybridge and Doncaster, with celebrity judges Mary Berry, Jessica Ennis-Hill and more travelling far and wide to surprise the winners with their awards, appearing in cookery lessons and school canteens across the country.
Jamie Oliver said: “The Good School Food Awards have kicked off in the most incredible way, and I want to congratulate all the winners – you’re all utterly brilliant.
"All those involved have gone above and beyond in our first year. There’s such an appetite to shine a light on best practice, as well as passionate, caring people who devote themselves to inspiring the next generation.
"I really think these awards also highlight how essential it is to feed kids at school and during school holidays, and to teach them about food and how it affects their body and the environment.
"These are incredibly challenging times for schools, with budgets, resources and leadership all being put under pressure, but never have I been more passionate that through schools we can achieve anything in this beautiful little country.”
To find out more about the awards, go to jamieoliver.com/schoolfoodawards/
