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School food

For parents and carers

Our commitment to you

Calderdale Council, together with Calderdale Primary Care Trust and other valuable partners, wants to support all children and young people in Calderdale to achieve their full potential.

We are committed to the Every Child Matters agenda, and our priority is to provide the best services possible to the children and young people of Calderdale. We are working on helping children and young people to:

• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Achieve and enjoy
• Make a positive contribution
• Achieve economic well-being.

Every Child Matters|
Background to the Government green paper Every Child Matters.

If you would like to find out more about the priorities of Calderdale Council with regard to children and young people, see the Children and Young People's Plan.

Our priorities include working to further improve school meals in Calderdale. The Government has launched new standards for school food.

School Food Trust|
Detailed information about the new standards for school food.

Why have these standards been introduced?

• Encouraging children to eat more healthily from a young age can influence food choices they make in later life.
• The food that children eat can also make a difference to their health now and in the future.
• Diets that are high in fat, sugar and salt, together with a low level of physical activity, are leading to an increase in the number of children who are overweight and obese.
• It is estimated that one in every three children in England will be overweight or obese by 2010 (Source: Department of Health, 2006).
• By ensuring that schools provide healthy food, and by providing education for children and young people about healthy lifestyles, it is hoped that children and young people will have the knowledge and opportunity to be able to make healthy food choices now and in the future.

The balance of good health

A healthy diet is about eating a balanced diet and enjoying a wide variety of different foods.

Look at ‘The eatwell plate’ image below. It is like a plate, which is divided into sections, each of which shows a different food group.

There are five food groups:

1. Fruit and vegetables
2. Bread, other cereals and potatoes
3. Milk and dairy foods
4. Meat, fish and alternatives
5. Foods containing fat; foods containing sugar.

The aim is to try and keep the balance of all the foods you eat over the course of a day or even a week like the one shown in the eatwell plate.  So, the two biggest groups: 'fruit and vegetables' and 'bread, other cereals and potatoes', are the ones you should eat the most of.

You only need moderate amounts of 'milk and dairy foods' and 'meat, fish and alternatives' (like beans, chickpeas, nuts and eggs).

You don’t need foods high in fat or sugar, such as crisps, fizzy drinks and spreads, for a healthy diet, so they occupy a very small section of the balance of good health plate. However, as long as you eat them in small amounts, or keep them as treats, they can add interest and variety to your diet.

The new standards for school meals will encourage children and young people to make healthy food choices at school. By eating a variety of food, in line with the balance of good health, children should receive the nutrients they need to develop into healthy adults.

You can find out a lot more about healthy eating on the following web sites:

School Food Trust|
The School Food Trust was set up to help transform school food and food skills, promote the education and health of children and young people and improve the quality of food in schools.

Food Standards Agency: Eat well, be well |
Eatwell is the Food Standards Agency's consumer advice and information site.

Food - a fact of life|
Food - a fact of life provides a comprehensive and progressive approach to teaching about food, cooking and healthy eating in the UK.

British Dental Association|
The British Dental Association is the professional association and trade union for dentists in the UK.

British Nutrition Foundation|
British Nutrition Foundation website provides healthy eating information, resources for schools, news items, recipes and details of the work undertaken around the United Kingdom / European Union.

National Healthy Schools

A healthy school promotes the health and well-being of its pupils and staff through a well planned, taught curriculum, in a physical and emotional environment that promotes learning and healthy lifestyle choice.

Healthy Schools|

School Nurses

The school nursing team in Calderdale works in partnership with children, young people, their families, schools and communities to improve their health and well-being.

The aim of the team is to promote positive attitudes to healthy lifestyles and this is done in different ways including undertaking health needs assessments, providing health information and promotion, providing confidential advice and referring people to other agencies as appropriate.

Healthy eating is one of the school nurses’ top health priorities and is promoted by the school nurse team in a variety of ways including:

• Supporting the Healthy Schools Programme
• The monitoring of growth patterns
• Working within school settings, supporting classroom and curriculum work on the topic of healthy eating and nutrition
• Working with individual children / young people and their families and offering individual support where there are concerns about diet or growth.

If you would like any more information regarding the above please contact your school nurse. If you are unsure of who this is or how to do this please ask in school or contact:

• Kathy McMahon, School Nurse Team Leader on 01422 832036
• Diane Catlow, Professional Lead School Nursing on 01422 307316.

Free school meals

Free school meals are available to pupils whose parent(s) or guardian(s) receive certain benefits.

For further details please visit Free school meals .

Alternatively, please ring the following number for help and advice regarding free school meals: 0845 245 8000.

And finally, if you think healthily, your kids will think healthily!

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