CATERING & NUTRITION
Beyond the dining hall: how a whole- school approach can help schools implement the new food standards
S
tephanie Slater MBE, Founder and CEO of School Food Matters, shares her insights ahead of the introduction of the revised school food standards.
September 2026 will see the introduction of revised school food standards in England, creating an important opportunity to improve children’s health. For many schools, the changes will raise practical questions about implementation and how to balance nutritional ambition with operational reality. For schools already working hard to provide nutritious meals while juggling competing priorities and limited budgets, the revised standards don’t have to mean more pressure – they present a valuable opportunity to rethink how food fits into school life.
At School Food Matters, our experience delivering the Nourish school food transformation programme has shown that lasting improvements to school food do not come from menu changes alone. They happen when schools take a whole school approach to food – connecting food provision, food education and the wider food environment
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www.education-today.co.uk across the school day.
This matters because food in schools is about far more than compliance. It affects children’s concentration, behaviour, readiness to learn, health and lifelong habits. The schools making the strongest progress are often those that treat food not simply as a catering issue but as part of a wider school culture that connects health, wellbeing and learning.
What does a whole school approach look like?
A whole school approach to food brings together everyone involved in shaping children’s food experiences: senior leaders, teachers, caterers, governors, parents and carers, and children and young people. It recognises that what happens in the dining hall should align with what children learn in the classroom, what is celebrated across the school, and messaging around health and wellbeing.
In practice, this includes improving food provision, strengthening food education, embedding nutritious eating in policies and integrating catering teams into school life. It also involves engaging children and young
June 2026
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