Prizes to send school meals packing

Pupils in Staffordshire could be given rewards for eating school meals in an attempt to cut the numbers bringing in packed lunches.

Schools are to be hit with an action plan to boost the number of children eating healthy school dinners. Figures recently revealed fewer than four out of 10 children in Staffordshire eat school food – transformed after pressure to improve from the likes of TV chef Jamie Oliver. Now council chiefs are concerned about the health implications.

They are looking at ways they can convince youngsters and their families to opt for in-school meals.

As well as a reward system, schools will be asked to carry out surveys with parents and pupils will be asked their views on the meals they receive.

The schools will also have to carry out a review of dining areas and produce their own action plans on how they can be improved and how to encourage healthy eating.

School councils will monitor the choices of food available for children at lunchtimes and the amount of time given to eating meals will be reviewed.

Where there are large families in primary schools, the council is to look at the possibility of offering a free meal to one child to increase the level of take up.

A nominated governor at each school will take a lead role on overseeing and promoting school meals and will work with the head teacher and catering staff.

The ideas are the results of a working group set up to combat falling numbers of youngsters eating the newfangled healthy meals since Staffordshire overhauled menus in 2006.

The report will be presented to the council's health scrutiny committee next Monday.

It appears the new menus introduced into schools have put pupils off as the number eating school meals has dropped to 39 per cent.

In Staffordshire in 2006 healthy options menus were brought into every school and since then a steady decline has resulted in only 25,000 of the county's 60,000 primary pupils eating a school meal.