School meal numbers at Rotherham rise by over 10%

26th March 2010, 11:04am

Representatives from Rotherham School Catering, the School Food Trust and local councillor Shaun Wright visited the Rawmarsh Sandhill School to help pupils launch a national school meals project.

The school is one of 10 schools from the Rotherham area chosen to take part in the Trust's consultancy project, which aims to evaluate the impact of effective marketing on school meal uptake.

As part of the project, the school has undertaken a number of promotions and activities including Mexican and Oriental theme days, healthy eating promotions and opportunities for parents to enjoy a healthy school meal alongside pupils.  

As a result, meal numbers have grown by more than 10% on figures from January/February last year.

Cllr Shaun Wright, cabinet member for Children and Young People's Services, is pleased at the increase in meal uptake at Rawmarsh Sandhill and the other schools involved: "We are delighted that the meal uptake figures have increased by such a large percentage.  We aim to make school meals fun for the children and they have certainly enjoyed taking part in all of the activities over the last few months."

School Food Trust marketing manager, Kirsten Bolton, added: "It's been fantastic to see how much the children are enjoying healthier school lunches and to see the changes that Rawmarsh Sandhill has made in action. The pupils tell me that lunchtime here really is a highlight of their day, which is exactly what we want to hear."

Related Articles:

• 20 Aug 2010 - New guide launches to make lunch time easy for kids
• 10 Aug 2010 - Signing up to school lunches could save parents between 50-190 hours a year
• 21 Jun 2010 - Redbridge School wins £5,000 for healthy meals
• 04 Jun 2010 - Sunderland school wins £5,000 for outstanding meals service
• 23 Mar 2010 - School Food Strategy launches
• 01 Feb 2010 - The School Food Trust appoints new chair

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