Eighty eight schools in Greenwich now have healthier school dinners thanks to celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. SAMANTHA PAYNE visited Plumstead Manor School to sample some of their quality homemade food ...

I THOUGHT my days of school dinners were over. But despite flaskbacks of sausages swimming in baked beans and stodgy custard-covered puddings, I joined a queue of children to sample the cuisine of the school catering staff.

I was dreading what I was about to be served but was pleasantly surprised to see a choice of four homemade dishes under the big bite section chicken korma, Mexican beans, fresh salmon or tuna bake.

I opted for the tuna bake with salad and was not disappointed.

And neither were the pupils I sat with.

The group were very enthusatic about the difference the meals have made to the school since they were introduced in December last year.

Pupil Muna Abdallah, 13, said: "The food is better than it was before, I feel more full up and satisfied.

"At first, some of us used to moan about not having chips and burgers but now everyone loves the food. It has even changed people's behaviour."

Hayley Sanders, 13, said: "I used to prefer my mum's cooking.

"The shepherd's pie was nasty but now I like the food just as much as my mum's."

She added: "My brain is more ready to go."

Plumstead Manor Secondary, in Old Mill Road, is one of many schools across the borough which have been blitzed by Jamie Oliver and his team.

They helped roll out healthy menus, banning all packaged foods except tinned tomatoes for sauces and perhaps the occasional serving of frozen peas.

At this school there is now not a turkey twizzler or fizzy drink in sight.

Dawn Gardiner, one of the catering staff, was one of 70 school cooks from across the country who trained alongside Jamie Oliver at Aldershot army barracks last October.

Experts then visited the schools to provide hands-on support to the catering crew as they adopted the new healthy menus.

At Plumstead they got rid of the burger and chips bar and increased their homemade meals choices.

"It was great fun learning from Jamie Oliver and his team," said Mrs Gardiner.

"We used to have one homemade meal a day which has now moved to four, so the changeover for us wasn't as radical as for other schools.

"We have a real pride in what we do. I look after the girls here as I would my own children.

"There is nothing better than seeing the look of their faces when they see the food."

Council leader Chris Roberts joined me to sample Mrs Gardiner's new cuisine.

He said: "The dinners when I was at school were not a patch on what we have here. It's much better quality.

"Since the roll-out of the menus, the status of the catering staff has risen too. They contribute to how pupils achieve at school.

"We are very pleased. It has been a success all round."

Dishing out new menus

  • The roll-out of the healthy menus were at a rate of two to five additional schools a week from October last year and cost more than £600,000
  • By the end of this year's summer term, 81 schools in Greenwich were serving the new menus to a total of 37,000 pupils
  • The new ingredients are all fresh vegetables and meat. Nothing is processed.
  • There is evidence from schools children's behaviour is better in the afternoons, with some reports the number of children needing an asthma inhaler has reduced since the menus have changed
  • Research is being carried out with Greenwich Primary Care Trust on the positive impact the new meals are having on children's health