26 May 2013 - The Sunday Times - Heads plead for lessons on serving pupils better lunches

NINE out of 10 head teachers believe that giving children healthy meals boosts their academic performance — but many admit needing help to improve dinners in their own schools.

The figures are expected to be released next month as part of a government-backed plan to improve school meals. They also reveal that 41% of heads in primary schools and 31% in secondary schools want more guidance on how to serve up tasty yet nutritious fare.

Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, the restaurateurs who have been leading the review, will say in their report that heads must take responsibility for the quality of food served in canteens. They want to double the number of pupils eating school meals within five years and say the current school dinner system is “economically bust”.

Since Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef, went into schools eight years ago and criticised junk foods such as Turkey Twizzlers, take-up of school dinners has dropped to about 40%. Most pupils bring in packed lunches or buy food from outside school.

Dimbleby said: “One of the things we were told when we started was that a lot of head teachers did not believe that eating good food was important to attainment. They thought making school dinners better was some wishy-washy do-gooding thing but that it had nothing to do with how their kids did in exams. This poll shows that they believe really strongly that it is important but not all of them have the skills or knowledge to do it.