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How we did it

Food for a good life

The Food for Life Partnership uses food as a way to improve the whole school experience. Kate Hopkinson explains how her school got involved.

I’m Head of Humanities at Humphrey Perkins School, Barrow upon Soar, near Loughborough. We have 900 students aged 11 to 14. We got involved with Food for Life because we believe in the creative curriculum and wanted to give students the opportunity to learn about food provenance and make the link between food, health and their future.

We signed up four years ago and were really proud to receive our Silver Award last year. Food for Life is lived out through much of the school. We’ve found that healthy food has a big impact on learning and behaviour.

When we started we held a Big Dig where, with the help of the community, we established what is now a thriving school garden. Local people built ten raised beds. We grow fruit, herbs and vegetables which are used in our restaurant kitchen. Students devote time every lunch break to care for the garden and in the holidays the local allotment society looks after it for us.

Seven years ago we revamped the canteen, now called Humphrey Perkins Restaurant. There is a seasonal fortnightly menu that meets Food for Life’s silver criteria. All our meat, dairy, dry goods and fruit and veg are sourced from local suppliers.

Pupils used to eat their lunch straight off a tray – we didn’t have plates – and behaviour in the canteen was terrible.

Now things are different. Around 85 per cent of pupils use the restaurant at some point each month and we ask pupils what food they’d like. Staff eat with pupils to help develop positive relationships and eating habits. Every Thursday, around 30 local pensioners join us at the school for lunch.

Richard Plumb, our chef, (pictured above right) and teacher Rebecca Premdjy run popular after-school cookery classes. In May 2011 Food for Life funded a Cooking Bus – basically a giant lorry with a kitchen inside – and pupils, parents, staff and community groups experienced healthy food.

We incorporate food into the curriculum, for example with lessons on famine, farm animal welfare and the impact of the British Empire on diet.

One of our most exciting projects has been the Y7 visits to nearby Manor Farm in Long Whatton, now in its second year. Pupils experience farming cycles as they happen and have helped the farmer during the lambing season. Seeing animals being treated in a humane way is an important part of their learning. For some, it’s the first time they’ve seen a farm animal or tasted fresh warm bread after grinding wheat to make flour.

I think the farm visits are a great leveller, especially for more vulnerable pupils, and have really helped with self-esteem. The visits broaden our curriculum and students get a chance to take charge of their learning, sharing their experience back in school. We’d like to develop animal husbandry, possibly by getting our own chickens.

Everyone at the school has a real sense of ownership about their involvement in food. By teaching food skills and sharing in healthy food culture we are giving our pupils and their families skills for life.

For details visit www.foodforlife.org.uk