Posh nosh for pupils

Freshly caught lobster, venison and mackerel are among the mouth-watering dishes on offer to pupils at Oldbury College of Sport.

And the food is not the only thing about dining at the school which is different from the norm.

Students can tuck into their meals while sitting at tables covered with white lace cloths and bearing fresh flowers. Each dish is painstakingly prepared by cook Blodwen Hinton and her team, who spend hours every day putting the meals together.

And the amazing food is available at an affordable price.

A three-course meal and drink will set pupils back £1.65.

Many ingredients are sourced locally and Mrs Hinton and her husband Des even catch the lobsters themselves.

The couple have a farm cottage near Anglesey and so are able to bring an abundance of free range eggs, fresh fish and honey back to Sandwell at the start of each week.

Bread is baked freshly each morning in the school kitchen and desserts dished up include homemade peach muffins. The menu transformation took place long before TV chef Jamie Oliver launched his mission to transform school dinners.

Mrs Hinton and her team, Mandy Furness and Susan Scott, took over the kitchen at the Pound Road school three years ago.

They were challenged by headteacher John Martin to provide good quality, healthy food for students.

Since then producing tasty and nutritious food has become a labour of love for the dedicated kitchen staff.

Mrs Hinton said that the school menu allowed youngsters to sample dishes they may not get at home.

"We like to think it's modern food, that's what we want to do," she said.

"We don't just want to put dishes of stew out and hide the vegetables, we want to give them fresh vegetables every day.

"It takes a lot of time but we want everything that comes out of the kitchen to be prepared freshly.

"I bought some nice lace table cloths and put out fresh flowers weekly to make it a nice experience."

She said chips had been struck from the menu since her team took over the kitchen and, while the menu met with some resistance at first, the pupils now loved it.

Headteacher Mr Martin said: "When I joined the school seven years ago the kids used polystyrene boxes and there was no cutlery.

"They're entitled to better, how can you expect the best from children when you treat them like that?"