Seren Griffiths and Lamar Pettigrew tuck into fresh fruit

IN school staffrooms across the land, there’s a universally acknowledged suspicion among educators as they slowly head back to their classrooms after lunch that their charges will have turned into gremlins.

Perhaps caused by a combination of approaching the end of a long day of learning with a hectic lunchtime playing outside, it can lead to poorer behaviour in classrooms in the afternoon.

But one headteacher who may have found the answer to hours of ruined learning in the afternoon is Abi Misselbrook-Lovejoy. The executive headteacher at Rotherfield and Newington Green primary schools, Ms Misselbrook-Lovejoy says the introduction of a totally fresh menu the children helped to design with a bi-monthly food council meeting has led to pupils feeling up to 80 per cent more alert during the afternoons.

The two schools, which federated in July, and are both south of the borough near Dalston, have ditched Caterlink, the “specialist” national catering company, and undertaken their own mini food revolution, hiring Emma Cobb, a chef who was previously teaching inmates at Wormwood Scrubs how to cook.

Calling for schools across the borough to adopt an in-house approach, Ms Misselbrook-Lovejoy said: “The thing is, you see the impact and then you want other kids in Islington to have it really. I think that’s the bottom line. At the moment there is a variable quality in other schools.”

Labour councillor Jenny Kay, a governor at Newington Green for 10 years, called on Islington to prove its progressive reputation more than a decade after it became the one of the first local authorities to offer free school dinners to all primary-aged children.

Fish Friday at the school

She said: “Twelve years ago the commitment to free school meals for all primary-aged children was a leading policy. But it’s not enough for the meals to be free, we need to be considering the quality of the meals and their environmental impact as well as what businesses we are supporting when we purchase the food.”

Lamar Pettigrew, from Year 5, is on the food council. He said: “The food used to be a little bit sloppy. It used to splatter. It used to give me a stomach ache. Now it’s really good and it’s really healthy and it’s all fresh.”

Fellow food council member Seren Griffiths, from Year 4, said: “I feel kind of lucky. They’ve improved the cooking just for us to be more healthy and the school lunches are really good.”

Some have expressed concern that in other schools in Islington up to one in four pupils still bring in a packed lunch despite having the offer of free food, including some of Islington’s poorest families.

Under Caterlink, which cooked most of its food from frozen, “the waste was appalling – more was thrown away than was eaten,” according to longstanding governor Andrew Bosi.

In Ms Cobb’s kitchen, just one per cent is thrown away as almost everything is incorporated into the food, with “hidden veggies” in most dishes and homemade ketchup.

While the amount of food left uneaten by children has not been measured, the number of bin bags thrown out by the kitchen has dramatically reduced, Cllr Kay said.

Furthermore, unlike with Caterlink where the children must make their meal choice in the morning during the register – without any knowledge of the menu – children in Ms Cobb’s kitchen can see what takes their fancy when they are queuing up.

An Islington Council spokesperson said: “We’ve been giving free school meals to all primary school children since 2010, and were one of the first local authorities in the UK to do this.

“We know what a difference free, nutritious meals make to children and are always looking at new and different ways to bring good food to our children.

“When the current contract for school catering comes to an end, we will look at all options for providing the best possible lunches to young people in Islington.”

Ofsted praise ambition and kindness

Newington Green Primary School’s head Mairead McDonnell, top left, with executuve head Abi Misselbrook-Lovejoy, far right, and pupils

A PRIMARY school has been confirmed in Ofsted’s “good” ranking but could be on the way to reaching “outstanding” status.

Inspectors came to Newington Green Primary School in Matthias Road, Mildmay, in February to check its current rating. These are known as ungraded visits.

A report said “pupils flourish” while leaders “have very high expectations for what all pupils can learn” and teach a “highly ambitious” curriculum with many subjects, including Spanish, taught by specialists.

The report also said pupils were “exceptionally polite and kind to each other” while behaviour in class was “exemplary”.

“Pupils love to help each other,” it added.

Reading was another strength of the community school, which has just over 400 students of which just under half are eligible for pupil premium, a national government marker for deprivation.

During the check inspectors carried out a “deep dive” into maths, reading and Spanish, and spoke to leaders about their decision to break away from a Caterlink catering contract, instead, along with Rotherfield Primary School, choosing to bring their food preparation in-house.

Councillor Jenny Kay, vice-chair of the Federation of Rotherfield and Newington Green Primary Schools, said: “We are very proud of the speciality teaching across the two schools in Spanish, computing, music and PE. And we’re thrilled that Ofsted praised the focus on health and the integration of food into the curriculum. We hope other schools will follow our example.”

Abi Misselbrook-Lovejoy, executive head of the Federation of Rotherfield and Newington Green Primary Schools, said: “I’m very pleased that Ofsted have recognised the quality of the teaching, the ambition of the curriculum and the high expectations we have for pupils.”

The school expects to be revisited by Ofsted for a full graded visit within two years.