A group of nine health professionals and primary school staff from Cornwall went by early-morning plane to get to an amazing school in Charlton, South-East London, for the start of the school day.

They were the latest visitors to be “blown away” by the healthy eating programme at Charlton Manor Primary School that has two full-time chefs teaching children from Reception class to Year 6.

“It was just fantastic. It’s safe to say we were blown away by all that is happening at Charlton Manor,” said Jennifer Rickard, Cornwall Healthy Schools support worker who organised the trip.

“The teaching kitchen with two full-time chefs is just wonderful. A lot of our schools don’t have any cooking/teaching facilities like that at all. We stayed for two days and shared our cultural food with the chefs including the Cornish way of making pasties and how to crimp them at the side, not on the top!

“The school lunches we had were lovely and it was great to talk to the children. Even when we walked through the playground children stopped playing to shake our hands. The lifestyle is so natural for them and all the staff were friendly and helpful even though we had lots of questions.”

Some of the group had met Tim Baker, Charlton Manor’s headteacher, at a Food in Education conference held in Cornwall last October and he invited them back to the school in Indus Road.

Jennifer’s colleagues included primary school chefs and catering managers from Cornwall and Devon, public health representatives and family support workers such as Lizzie Heath, whose social enterprise Little Kitchen Magicians works in several primary schools in Cornwall.

“It was great to see the school has its own garden and has just opened a community garden for growing vegetables at a city farm in the area,” said Jennifer. “It is also reassuring to see that this kind of work is replicated in our schools in Cornwall.

“We want to improve healthy eating links between Cornwall and then go further afield towards London, especially Greenwich. This was a fact-finding visit and our trip confirmed the good work we are all doing. We would like Tim Baker and the two chefs to visit our schools and see what we are doing as well.

“If children are fed good quality food they learn far better in the classroom, behaviour and attainment are improved and children are much happier and more confident as individuals and together.

“It’s important to emphasise these things to parents as well, so it was great to see so many people from different cultures at the school’s international food day.

Our family events are very different in Cornwall and we have taken some ideas to take home.”