Renaissance Education – the local teacher agency for South London
Food for thought
JAMIE OLIVER turned the nation’s stomach with his tales of turkey twizzlers and constipated school children but just what are Southwark’s kids being served up come lunchtime?
Smilie faces might be long gone from the menu at Walworth’s Michael Faraday primary but head teacher Karen Fowler said the time had come to turn organic.” You are what you eat and it can’t be good to fill children up with additives. I think I’m an old hippy at heart!”
Organic vegetables and free range chicken will be on the menu next Monday and, then if that’s a success, the school will look at bringing in organic red meat.
Charles Dicken’s School in Borough revolutionised their menu back in 1997, but now that the government has promised extra funding, they are looking at ways to bring in better, fresher ingredients. “Now we can be far more imaginative,” said head teacher Liz Owens. The school has been working with both the Food Commission and Soil Association, analysing their meals to ensure their high nutritional value. The results mean the menu has recently been tweaked and given an extra edge. Much of the food is now locally sourced - the white fish served every Friday is from a wholesaler just around the corner. “People don’t want to hear about more documentation but it only needs to be done the once,” said Mrs Owens. Today the children have vegetarian sausages, tuna and pasta bake, fresh carrots, swede mash, crusty rolls and lots of salads to choose from.
“Obesity is not such a problem but under nourishment has been. Many children skip breakfast.” It doesn’t seem like there is much chance of them skipping lunch. “It’s even better than my Mum’s,” said four year old Aisha. Once upon a time the bin would have been full to the top at the end of lunch, now it’s only a quarter full.
As Jamie Oliver found out, if you give kids choice then they all too often choose hamburgers and chips. The attitude of too many children to food was summed up for Liz Owens at Barnardo’s Conference: “Posh Girls or Sporty Boys.”
The children had been given plates of food and had to decide who ate it. The plate with chips and the can of coke was seen as being the food of the sporty kid whilst salads and pasta were viewed as being girly. Tell that to David Beckham.
“People think it’s cool to say they don’t like it,” said Liz Owens. “So choice has to be good or good.” Much of the change is about changing attitudes: foods have to be respected. Out go Charles Dickens’ plastic trays: in come ceramic plates. At Michael Faraday new dining arrangements will come in with the new food. Adults will sit down with the children and serve vegetables from dishes in the centre of the table.
“Children can be encouraged to try new things. It’s also good for a sense of community. We want the kitchen to be the heart of the school, “said Karen Fowler. The move to organic is a popular choice with kids. The school council was involved in deciding which one of the new menus, drawn up by catering company Caterhouse, to plump for, “When I went to the tasting the organic food really tasted nice,” said eleven year old Monsurat Giwn.
“I think it will be good to have adults sitting at the table. It will be good to talk to them and learn more about food as well,” she added.
Southwark is looking to set up a pilot project with interested schools to improve standards and set up breakfast clubs. The borough already provided support to schools wanting to make the change through Geoff Collins at the Primary Care Trust’s Healthy School’s team, but Geoff said parents could play an important role. “Get in touch with your head and governors and offer to support them make the change.” (Southwark News 21.4.05)
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With the Lions
FIFTY CHILDREN from a Bermondsey secondary played for Millwall this month.
St Michael’s School orchestra and choir performed in the Den for an hour, before the Lion’s kicked off against Crewe, led by music teachers Mr and Mrs Laurence and other members of staff.
A picture of the young players appeared in the match programme and refreshments were laid on by Millwall’s head of security Ken Chapman and Veronica Quinn. “The game was brilliant,” said David Laurence. “Four-three to the Lions, with a nail-biting finish. It was a great cross-curricular study of PE and music.” (Southwark News 21.4.05)
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Top gear for SE16 primary
Pupils at Rotherhithe School are to get £20,000 worth of intensive cycle training, starting this week. Pupils and parents at St John’s Roman Catholic Primary School will get cycling tuition plus bikes servicing at maintenance workshops.
The project was dreamed up by Southwark Cyclists, to encourage children to cycle to school, and funded by Rotherhithe Community Council as part of the Cleaner Greener Safer Fund. The number of pupils cycling to school before and after will be counted to measure their success of the project.
Southwark Cyclists say they choose St John’s because of the enthusiasm of the headmistress Ms Jacinta Coyne and of the pupils, 84 per cent of whom said they wanted to cycle to school. The school hopes the scheme may end congestion problems on St Elmos Road, caused by parents bringing their children to school by car. (Southwark News 14.4.05)
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Ofsted schools boost
Southwark is making good progress with improving schooling for its 14 to 19 year olds, according to the Government inspector of schools.
OFSTED gave an ‘overall’ good rating to Southwark and Lambeth in its report into education for older school and college pupils. Results are getting better, faster than the national average, whilst participation is also on the up with more pupils going onto higher education. However inspectors said there was still work to be done to ensure every child has a school place.
Cllr Caroline Pidgeon, executive member for education at Southwark Council said: “The report recognises the steady progress that Southwark’s schools have been making and also outlines key areas where we can make improvements.
“We’ve made a commitment to all of our pupils through the Southwark Guarantee to offer education that is flexible and geared to their individual needs. This report shows we are moving in the right direction but we will continue to work with our partners to improve the educational opportunities for every 14 to 19 year-old in Southwark.”
The report recommends that more partnerships should be built with voluntary organisations and employers in the area. (Southwark News 14.4.05)
Renaissance Education – quality service for south London teachers
Suspended school governor must pay
By Megan Welford
There were demonstrating last week outside the council’s education department in support of a suspended school governor, with demonstrators saying they will meet every fortnight until her £7,000 court costs are waived.
Peckham mother Jackie Fergus was on the board of governors at her children’s school, Gloucester Primary, from 2002 to November last year, but was suspended for allegedly harassing teachers.
A group called African People’s Campaign to End Racism and Corruption have been formed to fight her cause, since she tried unsuccessfully to take the school to the High Court both to appeal against her suspension and to order an independent public inquiry into financial irregularities at the school.
After losing the case she was ordered to pay £7000 court costs. She told the ‘News’: “The council is trying to bankrupt me. I am a single mother with four children. They should wipe the debt.”
A council spokesperson said: “Ms Fergus has already taken unsuccessful high court action against Gloucester Primary’s governing body and the LEA in relation to the decision to suspend her. This action failed and the court has awarded costs against her which the council is seeking to recover. The school continues to make good progress and had a positive report from OFSTED in 2003.” (Southwark News 7.4.05)
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