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The school on a mission to transform its menu

Katie Haseldine,North Westand
Rachel Braund
News imageBBC Cheesy pasta, pasta bolognese and jacket potatoes were on the menu, with crackers and cheese or fruit for dessertBBC
Cheesy pasta, pasta bolognese and jacket potatoes were on the menu, with crackers and cheese or fruit for dessert

A primary school in north Manchester is embarking on a year-long project to transform its school meals.

Crab Lane Primary School in Moston is one of 10 schools selected to take part in a programme aimed at improving food quality and food education.

The initiative, from the School Food Project, will see professional chefs work with school kitchen staff to provide them with support and extra training.

The project comes ahead of government changes to school food standards due to take effect in 2027.

News imageKim is pictured smiling at the camera. She has long straight blonde hair and wears a pink / taupe t-shirt and has a lanyard around her neck.
Head chef, Kim, says she is excited to introduce pupils to new cuisines.

At Crab Lane Primary, 65% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, compared with a national average of 26.5%, meaning many children rely on the school for a significant meal each day.

For head chef Kim it is an opportunity to gain skills and design the menu "a bit differently" and introduce the children to some more cuisines.

"Maybe put some African food in there, some Thai food, Chinese food, Indian food, so it's not just a full British menu. It would be nice to see a different variation," she said.

News imageHeadteacher Rebecca Harrison has long dark hair and wears a khaki coloured jacket over a black turtle neck jumper. She is standing in front of a school board that says '"We are learners".
Headteacher Rebecca Harrison said the school's menu had become "quite stagnant"

Headteacher Rebecca Harrison hopes the project will liven up meal times: "We have a menu that's been quite stagnant for a number of years.

"Pupils like certain days more than others. Pizza and chips come up quite often as a favourite."

The school is at the beginning of the year-long mission, and for some pupils, the changes are disappointing.

Pupil Noah was less than impressed with the healthy additions on his plate. Looking at the sweetcorn he said: "I don't want it".

He said he liked to add sugar to most foods: "I eat everything with sugar on - at home or in a restaurant," and added he even likes "cucumber with sugar".

News imageA kitchen trolley loaded with a series of different bowls of food, including carrots, broccoli, lettuce and melon.
Crab Lane Primary school has committed to providing children with more fruit and vegetables at lunchtimes

Four-year-old Rome has just started reception and had hoped there would be dessert available in reception.

"There was pudding in nursery. Fruit, yogurt and ice cream."

Asked which of those is her favourite, she replied: "Ice cream."

New school food standards due to come into force in September 2027 will ban deep-fried foods and limit cakes and sweet desserts to two days a week.

Stephanie Slater, founder and chief executive of School Food Matters, said it is an "exciting moment" for school food.

"You can have a delicious pizza but we're going to make sure there's a lot of vegetables packed onto that. You're going to see more vegetables and more salad bars.

"Our part in this School Food Project is to do all the work with the children and young people to introduce them to new tastes and flavours - because change takes time".

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