‘How difficult is it to bake a potato?’
Head roasts caterers’ poor school meals
a hEaDTEaChER has written a despairing letter to parents about the ‘unacceptable’ lunches handed out at his school.
Jason ashley, of Redbridge Community School in Southampton, said he could ‘no longer tolerate’ the meals provided by his catering firm.
The ‘angry and disappointed’ head reached out to pupils’ families after failed attempts to ‘make a difference’ in discussions with the company. his letter included photographs of the unappetising meals, with the question: ‘ how difficult is it to bake a potato?’
One image showed a small portion of baked beans and chips, and another a single baked potato with tuna mayonnaise. The state secondary school’s meals are provided by leading school caterer, Chartwells.
Mr ashley said he had no control over the lunches offered to his pupils. ‘The food that is served in the canteen is completely unacceptable – so much so that if my own children’s school served this, i would be exceptionally unhappy,’ he wrote.
‘We have concluded with our photo evidence that Chartwells do seem to be unable to “bake a potato” correctly. in recent times, portions have gotten smaller whilst prices have risen.’
Mr ashley told parents he could ‘no longer tolerate, provide reasons or even justify to you the unacceptable nature of the food’.
‘For those of you that pay from your hard-earned wages – i can only apologise and i am sorry. however, nothing i seem to do or say makes any difference and i feel you have the right to know.’
Chartwells said ‘operational challenges’ at the school, including staffing problems, had temporarily affected service levels. But it denied there had been a reduction in portion sizes or an increase in prices over the past two years.
a spokesman for the catering firm said: ‘We apologise that in this instance our usual level of service has fallen below the high
‘Parents have a right to know’
standards we demand. We are committed to working with the school and are implementing an immediate action plan to rectify these issues.’
Chartwells faced a backlash in 2021 after photographs of free school meal parcels were slammed online. Then prime minister Boris Johnson said they were an ‘insult’ to families, while former home secretary Dame Priti Patel called the parcels ‘appalling in every way’.