Press Release
School Food Minister Visits Hackney Primary School
The Minister for Early Education, Stephen Morgan MP, has visited Mandeville Primary School in Hackney, part of the LEAP Federation and birthplace of the charity Chefs in Schools, to see the transformative impact of the charity’s innovative approach to school food and food education.
During the visit, the Minister spoke with school leadership, including Executive Headteacher Louise Nichols who co-founded Chefs in Schools. He also spoke with kitchen staff and students, as well as the team at food education CIC Hackney School of Food, based in the grounds of the school.
The school’s Headteacher, Marc Thompson, highlighted the impact that taking a whole school approach to school food and food education has had on the health, wellbeing and outcomes of children at his school.
As part of the day, the Minister also visited the Hackney School of Food CIC, a pioneering food education hub set up by LEAP Federation and Chefs in Schools in 2020. He toured the productive kitchen garden and got hands-on in a cooking class being held for local primary school children.
Speaking afterward, Minister Morgan said: “This government has a clear mission to give every child the best life chances and create the healthiest generation of children in our history.
“Charities such as Chefs in Schools are an excellent example of how schools can be supported to serve children with healthy meals and inspire them to take an interest in nutrition, and it was brilliant to see the impact on the children at Mandeville Primary School.
“This work will complement the government’s free breakfast club rollout starting this month, helping to improve children’s attendance, attainment and behaviour.”
Naomi Duncan, chief executive of Chefs in Schools, said:”it was a pleasure to welcome the Minister for Early Years to one of the schools where our charity was born, to showcase the impact that can be achieved when food in schools is seen as an investment in learning, health and wellbeing. Mandeville and the Hackney School of Food are examples of the wide-reaching effects that positive food culture can have on an entire community. We fully support this Government’s aim to raise the healthiest generation and welcome the Minister’s interest in our work.”
Minister Morgan toured the school kitchen and spoke with the chefs about their efforts to ensure every child receives high-quality, freshly prepared meals.
Executive Headteacher of LEAP Federation of Schools, Louise Nichols, said: “We’re very proud of the school food team who work so hard to keep us all fed with the most delicious food, from breakfast to lunch, in term time and in the holidays. It was great to be able to show the Minister our kitchen cookery lessons in action at the Hackney School of Food”.
Chefs in Schools offers a School Chef Educator programme, free in some parts of London, Yorkshire and the South West, which is designed to create passionate school chefs who will serve up delicious, nutritious meals that nourish bodies and minds. Whether a school kitchen team has a seasoned or inexperienced chef, is catered in-house or outsourced, the programme passes on tips, tricks and tools to transform school food culture and to get children happily trying new dishes. Head to chefsinschools.org.uk to sign up.
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