City school has struck gold
OVERDALE REAPS REWARDS OF SEVEN-YEAR FOOD PROGRAMME
A SCHOOL has become only the second in the county to be awarded top marks for its efforts to educate and integrate pupils in the food production process.
Overdale Junior School achieved the Gold Food for Life award for its work both before and during the coronavirus pandemic, and in doing so became the first in the city to receive the accolade.
Food for Life is a Soil Association programme that encourages schools to grow food, helps deliver cooking on the curriculum, assists in improving school meals and promotes learning about farming and integrating these issues into everyday learning.
There is a strong emphasis on community involvement.
Public Health in Leicester City has commissioned Food for Life to offer a support framework to schools, helping children to achieve a healthier lifestyle through making the right choices about food and understanding where food comes from.
The success for Overdale Junior comes seven years after it began taking part in Food for Life.
Head teacher Juliet Hart said: “The award gives recognition to the tremendous work of the staff, in particular our Food for Life lead Mrs
Cooper. It acknowledges the excellent opportunities the children and families have had following this initiative.
“The Food for Life programme has become an integral part of the diverse learning experiences we offer”
When Ms Hart took up the post at the school, she held a strong “health for all” ethos.
She timetabled cooking into the curriculum and hugely expanded the growing and gardening work in the school garden.
The commitment to Food for Life grew year on year and the school embraced going on farm trips, developing a healthy tuck shop, holding family cookery sessions, learning about where food comes from and increasing school meal uptake through bronze, silver and now gold standard menus.
Overdale was the first school in Leicester to gain the Bronze Food for Life Award in November 2015 and similarly the Silver Award in November 2018.
The school’s Food for Life work continues despite the Covid-19 crisis.
Home learning online includes cookery lessons and there are a variety of recipes on the website for children to follow.
The children who were in school last month were gardening, growing seeds and planting vegetable crops.
The school is also continuing to provide food parcels, delivering them to vulnerable families during lockdown.
Since autumn last year, the school caterer, Leicestershire Traded Services Catering, has provided a goldstandard menu for about 600 meals a day.
The menus are developed by the School Nutrition Action Group, which meets regularly with the catering team, and the school works with children, families and caterers to produce meals to suit all.
The work has received international recognition, with a delegation from Sweden coming to Leicestershire to find out more about the work of the programme.
Its members wanted to hear about the work at Overdale and how this has impacted on the general health and well-being of the school.