Wirral children get ready to celebrate National School Meals week

Lunchtime dishes served at schools across Wirral have come a long way since spam fritters and lumpy mash served with an ice cream scoop!

Everyone has fond memories of school dinners and the dinner ladies who would serve you every day in the canteen and this week, at schools throughout the area, children will be celebrating National School Meals week.

It’s a whole week dedicated to the canteen food that keeps children well fed at lunchtime while they’re at school.

School dinners are now tasty, nutritious and carefully planned each day by hardworking kitchen staff to appeal to young appetites and hungry tummies.

Youngsters can enjoy meals that are prepared fresh each day with mouth-watering options like sweet and sour chicken and rice, spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread and roast dinner with all the trimmings on the menu.

A typical weekly menu for school dinners in Wirral (Image: Edsential)

They’re prepared by dedicated kitchen and canteen staff across Wirral courtesy of catering company Edsential, which provides thousands of meals a day and millions of meals every year in more than 100 schools across Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East and Wirral.

The menus run on a three-week cycle and support sugar swap and juice free days as well as meat free Fridays and there is always freshly baked bread, seasonal vegetables and salad followed by fresh fruit and organic yogurt available.

They’re a real hit with hungry children taking a break from the classroom with youngsters in Early Years and Key Stage One entitled to free school meals every day.

They even have themed days throughout the year to enable children to try cuisines from around the world or celebrate special events like World Book Day and Remembrance Sunday.

National school meals week, which runs between November 11 and November 15, is an opportunity for school caterers to shout about the fantastic work they do every day of the school year.

It celebrates the tireless efforts of school kitchen and canteen staff who continue to serve up great tasting, nutritious food to school children despite increasing pressures amid the cost-of-living crisis.

As part of National School Meals Week, Edsential Catering will be celebrating its commitment to bringing fresh, seasonal, British-grown food to schools across the north west.

At Edsential, they believe that every child’s meal should be both tasty and nutritious, with ingredients chosen for their quality, sustainability, and ability to support local farmers.

This year, the campaign showcases the benefits of choosing British produce, from reducing food miles to ensuring the freshest, most flavourful meals for pupils and Wednesday will be British Roast Dinner Day.

Children can look forward to chicken, pork or gammon – chosen by each school – with sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce (if pork), cauliflower mornay, roast potatoes and mash, carrot and swede mash, peas and gravy with cauliflower mornay as the vegetarian option.

Jam sponge and custard will be the dessert.

Wirral children can celebrate British Roast Dinner Day on Wednesday (Image: Edsential)

Tracy Moore, Edsential’s head of catering said: “Our goal isn’t just to serve great meals but to help pupils understand where their food comes from.

“We’re proud to work with trusted local suppliers like Birtwistle’s Butchers, who provide high-welfare British meat.

“Our other ingredients are sourced through Brakes, with 65 per cent of what they supply being produced, manufactured and packed in the UK, and 100 per cent of Birtwistle’s meat coming from local farms.

“This means more than £2 million of our food budget goes towards fresh, local ingredients.”

Edsential’s approach gives pupils meals with less food miles and more freshness, ensuring they enjoy seasonal produce at its best, packed with essential nutrients and flavour.

To celebrate national school meals week, we spoke to catering supervisor Vicki Clynch who works at Childer Thornton Primary School.

Vicki started her school catering career as a kitchen assistant nine years ago at Wolverham Primary School and moved to Edsential in 2018 – she’s never looked back.

Vicki said: “With Edsential, I have been given so many training and development opportunities - from accredited courses and qualifications to one-to-one in-house training by my catering supervisor at the time, building my skills and confidence.

“This support from Edsential means I have been able to progress to the role of catering supervisor, running my own kitchen at Childer Thornton Primary School.

“There is no better feeling than seeing children cheering when their favourite meal is on the menu or returning their empty plates at the end of service with full tummies.

“It’s even better knowing that the food they’re getting is high quality and nutritious.”

Edsential menus differ between schools as they allow children to vote for their favourite meals ensuring that the balanced dishes on offer are ones the youngsters are going to enjoy.

Vicki said: “My memories of school dinners include turkey twizzlers and lumpy custard but with Edsential the menus we prepare are made from scratch by us every morning, with fresh fruit and vegetables, meat from the local butcher, and home-baked biscuits and cakes, with less sugar than ever - even the children can’t tell!

“Our roast dinners are made with beautifully cut joints of meat and fish Fridays, made with sustainably sourced fish, are firm favourites with the children.

“They especially love that their meals are made using only sustainable palm oil and learning that they are doing their bit to help protect the rainforest and save the orangutans.”

Catering assistants across Wirral provide thousands of meals a day and millions of meals every year (Image: Edsential)

Amanda Fryearson, who is a kitchen supervisor at Well Lane Primary School in Wirral, introduced her own sticker award programme.

She said: “The children love the meat and potatoes, especially the roast gammon.

“Some need encouragement with the veggies, so I give award stickers to those who try them, especially effective with support from Key Stage One teachers.
“Serving a full plate helps ensure they get a balanced meal.

“I’ve noticed that some pupils aren’t used to roasts, so British Roast Dinner Day, which is this Wednesday, is a fantastic way to introduce them to a wholesome meal.”