2026 annual conference
School Chefs Gather in London to Learn, Cook and Connect
We look forward to this day all year! On September 1st, around 150 school chefs and kitchen team members from across the country packed into the National Bakery School at London South Bank University for Chefs in Schools’ annual conference – a hands-on day of cooking, training and connection, built entirely around the teams who feed children every day.
Cooking, learning, celebrating
Across the day, chefs took part in practical cookery sessions. There was a delicious smell in the air, as loaded carrot muffins, soda bread and apple turnovers were baked en masse. We enjoyed a school chef panel, and roundtables on neurodivergence in the dining hall, as well as about child nutrition and food systems.
Jenny Paxman of the School of Artisan Food gave an inspiring keynote on the future of school food, and Matthew Green of Bishop Gilpin School, Wimbledon, received the Chefs in Schools Chef Achievement Award for Innovation and Creativity.
Community Matters
A huge part of the day was about bringing together a workforce that too often works in isolation. For the chefs in the room, the value was immediate. “It’s really nice to have support because the kitchen can be quite a lonely place. When you look around, you can see what you’re missing, and you see how you implement it in your daily work at school”, said first time attendee, Stella.
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– Nell Baker, Head Chef at Lakenham Primary School in Norwich
As the school food system heads into its biggest change in a generation, days like this are proof that investing in the people behind the dinner hall pays off far beyond it.
