School Chef Tracy Scoops National Jamie Oliver Award

And at the centre of it all is Tracy Nwabia, who joined this kitchen thirteen years ago as a catering assistant and has just been named The Sun’s School Chef Champion at the prestigious Jamie Oliver Good School Food Awards. 

The national title is well-deserved. All 122 pupils at Spa School Bermondsey have a diagnosis of autism, and every meal Nwabia and her small team produce must navigate sensory processing differences, rigid food preferences, and complex dietary requirements, not as an exception, but as the daily norm. 

At Spa School, inclusivity isn’t an afterthought, it’s the entire operation. The menu is shared with pupils using symbols, as well as written and verbal communication, so they know clearly what is being served each day. By training her team to use symbols to support pupils in making choices, regardless of their communication needs, and by launching a student voting system to recommend dishes, she has given the children real ownership over their food. 

The philosophy, she told The Sun, is disarmingly simple:

And that philosophy is producing results. One pupil arrived eating nothing but cheese sandwiches. Through patient, gradual exposure to small tastes of the daily menu, she now regularly clears her plate. Another child, whose world of acceptable food started and ended with pizza, now routinely comes back for second helpings of dishes she once wouldn’t have considered.

Working alongside just two colleagues – Abi and Stella – she overhauled the entire offer six years ago, and the school has never looked back. All bread is baked on-site from scratch, and the daily menu runs to lentil lasagne, rich dahls, vibrant jollof rice, and jerk cauliflower.

The uptake figures tell their own story. Nearly 68% of pupils at Spa School qualify for free school meals. Yet the school’s current meal uptake sits at over 94%, remarkable in a sector where persuading children to eat school lunches can often be a challenge.

The ripple effect has reached family dining tables too. One parent told The Sun she has started replicating Nwabia’s recipes at home, because her daughter has started holding her to account, reprimanding her when weekend meals don’t meet the standard she’s used to at school.

Nwabia’s path to national recognition was not swift. She joined Spa School’s kitchen after raising five children, starting as a catering assistant and working her way up through every tier to Head Chef.

Her professional development was supported by our own School Chef Educator Programme, with Southwark Council funding her place on the course. Spa School remains an active member of our Chefs in Schools Membership offer.

Jamie Oliver was unequivocal about her win: “Tracy’s patience and dedication to the students makes her an unbelievably deserving winner of The Sun’s Chef Champion Award.”