Government plans on healthy eating at school and home
Monday, February 11th, 2008£21 million funding for the School Food Trust over the next three years has been announced by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in England. The aim is to drive up the quality of school food and increase take up of meals through better education for parents, children and young people.
A further £2 million capital investment has been announced for the Trust to expand the School FEAST network of training centres for the school food workforce. The cash will be invested in new training facilities to equip staff with the skills they need to produce healthy, tasty food. The School Food Trust has been placed by the government at the forefront of improving take up of school dinners.
This funding settlement is on top of the £627 million ringfenced funding for school food since 2005, which includes: • £220 million transitional funding for schools and local authorities to adjust to tough, new nutritional standards from 2005-08;
• £240 million subsidy for cost of producing school lunches from 2008-11;
• £15 million for the School Food Trust from 2005 to 2008;
• £2 million capital funding for the School FEAST network
• and £150 million capital funding to help authorities with the greatest need build new school kitchens – on top of the broader £22 billion capital funding settlement last November for schools and local authorities.Background
1. The School Food Trust (SFT) is a non-departmental public body established by the DCSF in September 2005. Its remit is to transform school food and food skills, and promote the education and health of children and young people by improving the quality of food supplied and consumed in school. Visit http://www.schoolfeast.co.uk to find out more.
2. The School Food Trust is launching the School FEAST network funded by an initial £2m Capital Fund Grant in the period 2007 – 08 from the Government. Allocation of the Capital Fund Grant has been made following a robust and vigorous assessment process. The network includes further education colleges, private and employer led training providers. These organisations either provide training or qualifications individually as a School FEAST centre or together with others as a School FEAST partnership.
3. The School FEAST network will provide a comprehensive package of training and qualifications, from hands-on cooking lessons to formal qualifications at NVQ level 2 and beyond 4. The network will consist of School FEAST centres and School FEAST partnerships. As a member of the School FEAST network each centre and partnership is required to provide a ‘Core Offer’ of qualifications. The ‘Core Offer’ consists of:
VRQ Level 1 Award in Providing a Healthier School Meals Service o Support Work in Schools Level 2 o Support Work in Schools Level 3
NVQ Level 2 Professional Cookery
NVQ Level 2 Food Processing and Cooking It is likely that centres and partnerships will provide additional training and qualifications that have been designed to meet the specific needs of their learners.
5. The organisations that make up the School FEAST network are:
6. The South East o Oxfordshire County Council School FEAST centre
o Kent County Council & its partner KEY Training Services
o Oxford and Cherwell Valley College & its partners Oxfordshire LA; Scolarest (Oxfordshire); St Gregory the Great School; and Cheney School The South West
o Royal Agricultural College & its partners Cirencester College; Gloucestershire College; Stroud College; and Swindon College
o Yeovil College & its partner Somerset College
o The Blue School and its partner Community Skills and Learning (Somerset County Council)
o Ashburton Cookery School & its partner City College Plymouth
o City of Bristol College & its partner Bristol Chefs Forum
The West Midlands
o Bournville College & its partner Birmingham City Council
The East Midlands
o Northamptonshire County Council & its partners Moulton College; Northampton College; Bedford College; and Tresham College The East of England
o The East of England School FEAST Partnership o South East Essex College School FEAST centre The North West
o St Helens College o Manchester Fayre - Manchester City Council & its partners Accrington and Rossendale College; Manchester Metropolitan University; and Manchester Primary Care Trust.
o Cumbria County Council and its partners Furness College, Lakes College, Kendal College, Carlisle College and Cumbria Colleges Limited Londono Thames Valley University School FEAST Centre
You can read more about education in the UK at www.schools.co.uk
