NSMW Blogs

Healthy food at lunchtime is a life skill worth learning

Fri, 30 Jul 2010

Well that was the LACA conference that was and it was great to see so many familiar faces. I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and my congratulations to all the LACA Award winners. I was helping Karen and Nicola on the NSMW stand and the Guide to organising NSMW was a great success, hundreds were given out. If you could not get to the conference then you can download a copy once you have registered for the week. Another reason for registering is that Mars Foodservice are giving away £2 off vouchers for their Dolmio pasta sauce.

LACA is writing to MPs and asking them to support the week. You will find a copy of the letter below and this will be with them now. You may receive a letter from a local MP offering to visit one of your schools or you could get in early and invite them. It is up to you.

This is what has been sent:

Healthy food at lunchtime is a life skill worth learning

I am writing as Chair of the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) to congratulate you on your recent success at the general election and to introduce you to LACA (www.laca.co.uk).

A healthy school meal at lunchtime has the potential to save very many millions from the NHS budget. We must all work together over future years to: encourage young people and children to make healthier, balanced food choices; help improve diets and decrease obesity levels; and also help to combat poverty and malnutrition that is suffered by many children in this country.

Recent news concerning the cancelling of the increased free school meal eligibility and the potential loss of the School Lunch Grant will force many Local Authorities to reconsider the level of service they can provide. I believe the school meals service, as a whole, may well be at risk.

The previous government underestimated the journey needed to convince young people to change their eating habits following the introduction of the new Nutritional Standards. Five years of hard work and commitment in implementing the Standards have passed and no one wants to see this work undone. With Nutrient Standards requiring computer software and analysis and with greater use of fresh ingredients, purchasing and operational costs have grown considerably.

I am sure you can see in your own constituency the tremendous work that is carried out in schools, on a daily basis. May I ask and encourage you to visit a local school of your choice and participate in National School Meals Week which runs from Monday 8th November to Friday 12th November 2010. There is more about it at www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk.

Please do not hesitate to contact myself or our Business Manager, Vicki Young on 07810 307182, should you have any questions about the above events or indeed other work that LACA is carrying out nationally.

I hope that we can count on your support to ensure that future generations do not miss out on the fundamental right to have access to a nutritious school meal during their school day.

Yours sincerely

Beverley Baker
National Chair, LACA Ltd

Runner up - but a brilliant achievement for Beverley

Tue, 06 Jul 2010

I was sat waiting for the call. I had numerous cups of coffee to calm the butterflies in my tummy. But then the call came from Karen and Nicola to tell me that it had just been announced that NSMW had not won the Best use of technology Catey for 2010. I admit this was a disappointment but it is still fantastic that we were shortlisted. This is the second time LACA has been shortlisted for a Catey so perhaps it will be third time lucky. Thank you to all of you that took part in the week and I am sure we can still improve in 2010.

Next the night changed completely when the Public Sector Catey was announced. The winner was LACA Chair, Beverley Baker. I was ecstatic. I had nominated Beverley because of all the work she has done for LACA while still managing to do her day job as head of Surrey Commercial Services. Well done and thank you Beverley for everything you have done to help school catering.

I must say a big thank you to Arnold Fewell and his two daughters Karen and Nicola. They have organised NSMW and been a marvellous support to me in the lead up and during the event. They are always positive, enthusiastic and full of ideas. They have made such a difference and enabled us to move into the digital age.

A very exciting time ahead

Thu, 01 Jul 2010

It is almost here. In just a few days time it will be the LACA AGM and Conference at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. And before that, on Monday 5th July, it is the Catey Awards Dinner in the Great Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel. LACA has been shortlisted for the Best Use of Technology Catey for National School Meals Week 2010. I will be on tenterhooks waiting to hear the news. Win or lose it is still a fantastic achievement for LACA and my thanks again must go to everyone that made it the biggest and best week yet.

National School Meals Week 2010 makes a big step forward this week with the launch of the website at www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk on Wednesday 7th just before the AGM at 3.45pm. Karen and Arnold Fewell will tell everyone what is planned for each day and how we have listened to your feedback to make the week even better. There are more downloads, the daily themes work in both Primary and Secondary Schools and there is even more fun. Also I am delighted that Mars Foodservice will support the launch day and they are making available 1,000 free jars of their pasta sauce plus 10,000 vouchers for £2 off a jar. Even Papa Dolmio will be going to the launch in the London Borough of Havering on 8th November. I must thank Gerry Clinton for offering to host this day.

Then it is on to the conference and exhibition. There is an excellent programme and I will enjoy the lively debate under our new host Dr David Bull. It will be an exciting evening on the 8th when the LACA Awards will be announced and you can see all those shortlisted on the LACA website. While you are there please ensure you go to the LACA stand and sign the School Meals Matter campaign letter. We need every signature so we can show central Government how important it is to continue the investment made in school meals and not undo all the hard work that has gone in over the last five years.

If anyone fancies a chat about NSMW then please have a word with me at the conference. See you there.

Dolmio to support Get Eating day on 8th November

Tue, 08 Jun 2010

Great News! One of LACA's Partners is sponsoring the Get Eating Day which is the first day of this year's National School Meals Week. The LACA Partner is Mars Foodservice and the day is officially sponsored by their Dolmio sauce brand. You may well have seen the fun Dolmio characters that appear regularly on television. If not, you can also see them at http://www.dolmio.co.uk/Meetthefamily.aspx

Schools will be able to get a free jar of traditional Bolognese sauce and download other resources to promote the day such as how to run the day, draft invitations to celebrities and menu posters. There will be a Dolmio page on the www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk website and at the launch day meal young people will be tucking into a delicious plate of spaghetti Bolognese.

I am really delighted that one of our Partners has got involved in this way. This is the first Partner to do so and I really hope that others will come forward in the future. As Sarah Gray from Mars said to me, "NSMW is a highlight of the catering calendar in our books. It is a fantastic event and one that Dolmio is delighted to help and support. The Education Catering market is a very important marketplace for us and we realise that times will be tough over the next few years as the country has to make savings. This is why I am sure the free product and resources that we are sponsoring will help caterers effectively promote a healthy, good quality and value for money school meal. Last year there was clear evidence that the week increased meal numbers and I am sure this success can be repeated. If anyone needs any help from Mars Foodservice then please contact me at sarah.gray@eu.effem.com".

School Meals Matter

Tue, 20 Apr 2010

In a few weeks time we will have a new Government. As yet we don't know what colour it will be red, blue, yellow or even a mixture. Whatever the result of the election, it is the economy that will be at the top of the agenda? And local Government will be squeezed of money and school meals could be seen an easy hit.

I believe that over the next few years the financial pressures on school caterers will grow considerably. As individual trading units the requirement will be for caterers to breakeven as a minimum. This is a challenge when meal numbers have not reached the pre Jamie Oliver figures and the transitional grant will run out in April 2011 and may not be renewed or if renewed, may not be ringfenced.

I realise that no Government can make school catering a bottomless cash hole but I do believe the money put in must be seen as an investment in the future health of this country. The savings in future NHS costs will be very substantial if there is a vibrant and successful school meals service now. And it may mean that free healthcare for all is an affordable service for the country in the years to come if we act now and improve the health of the nation.

So much has been achieved over the last few years with new nutritional standards, improved training, more money spent on food and it would be a tragedy if all this was lost. I urge an incoming government to extend the transitional grant for at least another four years. This will ensure all the success that has been achieved can be consolidated. However, there is something you can do to make this happen and this is where I am asking for your support.

LACA with Caterer and Hotelkeeper has launched a campaign called School Meals Matter. It is vital that everyone involved with school catering supports it. That includes caterers, contractors, suppliers, elected members, school based staff, local authority staff and parents. Please take a few moments to download the petition letter and pass it on to as many people as possible. Alternatively you can register your support online. The worst thing that can happen is you doing nothing. You can tell friends, family and colleagues. The more support we have the better it is so I urge you to act now. On behalf of LACA I say thank you. Let's see if we can get over 10,000 supporters. That would be brilliant.

Brilliant Feedback re NSMW 2009

Thu, 18 Mar 2010

As part of the evaluation process for the LACA Board, AVF Marketing undertook market research with all the people that signed up for last year's event. The feedback was excellent and produced a very interesting fact. It showed that where schools and authorities had a sales increase in meal numbers the average figure was 7.81%. This is a very encouraging figure and proves that not only does the week increase awareness but it can also have a significant increase in meal numbers. We will be actively promoting this result in the build up to 2010 to show the benefits of taking part.
Thank you to all of you that sent back constructive comments about the week. We discussed all these last week and will incorporate as many as we can. This includes; having more downloads; promoting more to teachers; having days that can be run in both Primary and Secondary Schools. So please keep coming back for more information in the build up to the week. The closer we get the more blogs there will be.

LACA set dates for NSMW 2010

Mon, 15 Mar 2010

Here we go again on the blogging front as we start the build up for this year. At the last board meeting of LACA the dates for this year's NSMW were agreed. The event will take place from Monday 8th November 2010 until Friday 12th. It was also agreed that the "Get involved" theme would be continued and that all schools and local authorities would be able to register free and then download all the materials they want. The event will be launched at the LACA Conference that is taking place on 8th and 9th July at the Hilton Metropole at the NEC in Birmingham.

Those magic words

Fri, 13 Nov 2009

I have always believed that when we say thank you to someone you can see them grow that little bit taller. I am sure that feeling will apply to lots of school caterers today as they receive thank you cards from their customers. Some schools have done this already and the results can be seen in the gallery at www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk. Well done to them all because too often we forget all the hard work that is going on during morning lessons. May I add my thanks to everyone for all their efforts on this year's NSMW. It has been a brilliant week!

It's get thanking day and we want to say a big thank you Colin Jackson

Fri, 13 Nov 2009

The NSMW Girls have loved working on National School Meals Week and we're already wondering what we will do with our lives once this year's is over...no doubt the planning will soon begin for next year!

One of the highlights for us has been working with Colin Jackson. We first met him at the filming for the Get Active Day where he showed us what a true professional he really is. The day was so much fun and we are sure you will agree the exercise videos are just brilliant! Karen also met Colin when he was speaking at the School Food Trust Marketing Conference in September, where she was also speaking.

Colin arrived at the hotel we were all staying at late on Sunday evening. He had been busy filming in Kenya with Usain Bolt so he was extremely tired and we arranged to meet up at the school at 8.30am. Both Karen and Nicola had a late night as we had to stay up to put the result of Britain's favourite school meal live at 12.01am and our alarm was set for 5.30am so we could get ready for the big day. As we were having breakfast so early we didn't think we'd bump into anyone so Karen went to breakfast with the biggest, frizziest hair you could imagine and we both looked very tired. Colin was sat bright eyed and full of beans with our get active expert, Chris Lee and he looked a lot more ready for the day than we did at that time. However his energy must have rubbed off on us as 20 minutes later we were ready to go to the school (with straight hair).

Colin arrived at 8.30am and met many of the NSMW team including Beverley Baker, Chair of LACA. What was great about him was whether he was speaking to a team of young people, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, representatives from LACA or us he was constantly upbeat and positive. Whatever was asked of him he did with a great smile and nothing was too much trouble. Even when the curtains didn't open for the launch it was Colin who took charge and between Nicola, Chris and Colin they pulled the curtains back.

You could really tell that National School Meals Week was a cause that Colin truly believed in as he talked about his experience of school meals at his Secondary School. Obviously to a sports person of his level eating a balanced diet was vital for him to have been at his peak for training. He explained how his catering staff went out of their way to make sure he got a hot meal at lunchtime. And then he announced the result of Britain's favourite school meal - Roast dinner with sponge pudding and custard!

Later in the morning Colin spoke to a group of pupils who are all keen and excel at sport. They all listened with fascination as Colin talked about how he believed his over-confidence had cost him a gold medal at the Olympic Games. He then went on to talk about how he had to overcome this disappointment that then led to him breaking the World Record and becoming World Champion. The one message that really struck a chord with both of us was when he told the young people to day dream...as he was proof that sometimes day dreams really do come true. This actually brought a tear to our eyes as we watched the video back later in the week! If his words of wisdom had this effect on us imagine what an inspiration he was to young people who are potentially just at the start of their sporting careers!

Next it was over to the school dining hall where Colin put on his hat and white jacket and joined the ladies in the kitchen to serve Britain's favourite school meal. Lots of laughter could be seen and heard as he put the Yorkshire puddings, vegetables and gravy on the children's plates. He then joined a group of pupils to taste the delicious meal.

After lunch it was time for the Get Active session which was run by Chris Lee from Trojan Training. The school teachers commented they had never seen the pupils work so hard as Colin and Chris motivated them to put everything into the circuit. Chris asked the students to give them the scientific name of different muscles in the body and said if they got it right he and Colin would do ten press up's each. This backfired when one student answered correctly and without a second thought they both did ten each. You have to watch the video blog below to see which completed ten first!

A group of Primary School pupils joined us for the next session and Colin was as great with the younger children as he was with the old. They were learning how to make coleslaw and he encouraged them all to get involved. He then helped them make thank you cards for their school cooks ready for the ‘get thanking' day and even coloured his own card in. However he was slightly concerned his colouring wouldn't be up to standard as art wasn't one of his strong points.

Despite a long and tiring day Colin still remained upbeat when everyone else had left and he encouraged Karen as she did a piece to camera for the ‘get filming' day. This is not something that Karen enjoys doing and his support meant a lot. The day ended with all three of us talking to the camera about how much we had enjoyed the week and working together. It was a great way to finish what had been a very successful and enjoyable launch for us, Colin, the school and all the guests who attended.

Our thanks go to Michael Hales and his team in Tower Hamlets for organising such a brilliant day. The team was on hand throughout the day to make sure everything ran smoothly.....and it did!

We want to take this opportunity to thank Colin Jackson on behalf of LACA and AVF Marketing Ltd for everything he did! He really is a great ambassador for school meals and believes that what we are all doing can help many young people learn to lead a healthy and active lifestyle!

Personally we don't think we could have found anyone better to be the face of this year's National School Meals Week.

The NSMW Girls

The hard work has paid off!

Fri, 13 Nov 2009

As we approach the end of the week it has been great to receive some stories of what has been happening in schools. When we receive emails like this with such postive stories we know all the hard work has really paid off. Take a look below at some of the great activity that has been going on. Please send your success stories in so we can share them with others.

From Jo at Grange Farm Primary School in Leeds

"Our week has been great! Our Year 6 children have prepared all of the cold elements of the school dinners for the last two days (such as fruit, tarts, pasta and couscous salads) and have served lunches to the rest of the school. They are now working to create their own fantasy healthy school meal which will be on the menu in the future. It has been fantastic working with the staff in our school kitchen. This morning we invited our school cooks into our assembly to give them a very special thank you"

From Anna at Solutions SK in Stockport

"Leading up to the week we ran a competition via the My School Lunch and the Yougo4it sites on healthy eating and exercise. The prize was to welcome Stockport County into their school to ‘get active.' The winners were Jade Molloy from Fairway Primary School, Offerton, Stockport and Connor Jackson from Werneth High School, Romiley, Stockport. The team presented each winner with a signed shirt and tickets to a match of their choice.

In the primary school all of Jade's classmates took part in games organised by the Football in Community Coach Mike Smith and the County Players - Carl Baker, Adam Griffin and Paul Turnball. At Werneth, County players, Matty Mainwaring, David Poole and Gianluca Havern organised a 5 a-side match between 10 selected children, which included warming up and down exercises and a question and answer session.

The event was a great success and demonstrated the benefits of a balanced diet in conjunction with regular exercise."

From Sarah at S Anselm's Prep School in Bakewell, Derbyshire

The Nursery, Pre- Prep and Prep school will be involved in taster sessions with a different theme running each day. A selection of smoothies, fresh fruit drinks and milkshakes will be tasted at each morning break along with a variety of other healthy snacks such as interesting breads (sundried tomato, cheesy and olive); yoghurt coated fruit (bananas, raisins, apricots and ginger) and a variety of seeds and dried fruits (including pumpkin seeds, pine nuts and even goji berries!) One day we will be celebrating British cheeses; on another pupils will be tasting a variety of sausages including beef and horseradish and lamb with rosemary and garlic.

The school has suspended their rolling school lunch menu and introduced new main courses and desserts for the week. Each day pupils will be voting on each dish, choosing whether they want to see it included within future menus. The week started off with pork goulash and rice pudding with strawberry puree. Other dishes include chicken korma with naan bread and various Indian relishes and chutneys and baked stuffed apples and custard.

Throughout the week, the children at S. Anselm's will be also be trying out new healthier tea-time snacks such as teacakes and scones, homemade biscuits and muffins (with poppy seeds and honey lemon and lime), homemade yogurts full of live probiotic cultures and also a variety of new and different sandwich fillings for future afternoon teas.

To top this enormous amount of activity the children will be participating in food and healthy lifestyle quizzes; a ‘What's in the box?' competition (where pupils must try and guess what food component is in the box!); poster competitions and PSHE lessons focusing on Healthy Body, Healthy Mind."

This is all fantastic to hear, please send your stories and photos to nicola@avfmarketing.co.uk so we can share your NSMW succes with others.

Great prizes for teenagers

Thu, 12 Nov 2009

There is up to £350 up for grabs today as students Get Filming their healthy school meals. All they have to do is make an advert to promote healthy eating to their friends and colleagues. There is a lot of help online with information to download plus an interview with Karen Fewell. Karen has been a key player behind the scenes and had a major input into the website. She is an experienced video producer and she shares her ideas to help teenagers produce a great advert. There is also an advert targeted at Primary School pupils. Students can watch this and see if it gives them any ideas. I am looking forward to seeing the winners as I am confident they will be very creative. We have already had some enquiries so let's hope we get lots more.

Colin is a real star

Wed, 11 Nov 2009

Cans of fruit, vegetables and beans will make great alternatives to dumbbells when students do the exercises in Colin Jackson's workout routine. You do not require lots of expensive equipment. By the way this probably explains why my stock cupboard is so low. Only joking! But I hope teenagers across the country will be taking part in the Get Active day. It is important to have a balanced diet but school caterers also need to promote the value of taking regular exercise and Colin does just that. Why not have a look yourself? In my opinion all this should be part of a whole school approach. This resource is available for the next few months so if you haven't used it this week you can do so at another time.

National School Meals Week gets off to a great start in Stockport

Wed, 11 Nov 2009

We have just received some fantastic photos from Solutions SK in Stockport. They were the 100th organisation to sign up for National School Meals Week and have planned lots of activity for the week - especially in Secondary Schools.

On Monday they launched National School Meals Week with a local band - The Harks. The Harks went to Marple Hall High School in Stockport and played a live gig over lunchtime while the children bought and ate their meals. Today the team are supporting the Get Active day by going to a Primary and a Secondary school with members of the Stockport County football team.

The Week in Video

Wed, 11 Nov 2009

We have been capturing the week so far in video. Check out these videos and see what has been happening in schools this week.

More videos will be added as the week goes on

Delicious and nutritious

Tue, 10 Nov 2009

A couple of months ago I went down to meet Debbie Mumford in Devon at her own school. I saw how she prepares her winning recipes because she is this year's LACA School Chef of the Year (SCOTY). This competition always amazes me because I see all the talent that exists in school kitchens across the country. Now you can watch Debbie hard at work. Not only does she prepare her winning recipes but she demonstrates how to make cottage pie, prepare vegetables and make a salad. This is a great way to get Primary pupils involved and start an interest in food. I am certain that the earlier this happens the sooner children will learn about a balanced diet with great tasting food. And the sooner they will start having a school meal.

Colin Jackson learning to cook

Great NSMW activity happening in Cambridgeshire

Tue, 10 Nov 2009

We're already hearing of some fantastic local activity happening this week. Please email us the details and your pictures so we can share your great work with others.

The organised by Cambridgeshire Catering and Cleaning Services as part of the National School Meals Week got off to a great start yesterday. All classes took part including the nursery.

Executive Chef, David Haw, visited Uppingham C of E Primary School and Brooke Hill Primary School in Rutland. The children had a great time helping David make bread and learnt lots about cooking. During National School Meals Week he is also visiting Hemingford Grey Primary School, Great Wilbraham C of E Primary School, Priory Park Infant School and Fordham C of E Primary School.

Aled Haydn Jones from the Chris Moyles show on Radio One gets involved

Tue, 10 Nov 2009

Radio star Aled Haydn Jones gets involved in National School Meals Week.

He tucked into a healthy plate of pasta at lunchtime after confessing he'd munched a chocolate biscuit for breakfast during the show today! Aled, who presents the Sunday Surgery and produces the Chris Moyles Show on Radio One, joined pupils from St Margaret Ward Catholic High School in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent as they tried out new, healthy additions to the school menu.

He said: "I was known for eating quite bland food but recently I have learned the importance of eating a healthy balanced diet and so I was interested to try out the new healthier school menu. I opted for Pasta with Vegetable Bolognese and it was delicious."

Aled spent more than two hours in the packed school dining room signing autographs and talking to pupils and staff.

He added "I was really pleased that the pupils took such an interest in what they were eating. Of course, we all like to have treats from time to time - like a choccie biscuit - but there's no doubting the fact that these young people are aware they should eat properly."

He also commented “I've recently come to realise how important good wholesome food is to a healthy body and mind. I would really urge young people to try the healthy options on the school menu. Even if, like me, it doesn't come easily to you, remember a good nutritious diet is really important to being fit and healthy.

The event was sponsored by The School Food Trust and marks the introduction of new healthier school meals in Stoke-on-Trent schools.

Oh what a day!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009

After months of planning NSMW is off and running. The launch was fantastic and it was a great pleasure to meet Colin Jackson. He is a great ambassador and he was brilliant with both the media and all the young people he met. He announced Britain's favourite school meal which was a Roast dinner followed by sponge pudding and custard. We had that for a lunch and a special thank you must go to Morpeth Secondary School in Bethnal Green. Colin took part in a Get Active session where students did his online exercise routine that can be done at home or at school. He also helped to serve lunch and even wore a chef's jacket and hat. Finally he made some thank you cards for the caterers with pupils from a local Primary School. These are now proudly displayed on the dining room wall.

Off to London for launch

Fri, 06 Nov 2009

Just packing the bags as on Sunday afternoon I am off to Tower Hamlets for the launch of NSMW. I am really looking forward to it as there has been so much planning over the last 10 months. We all have a briefing on Sunday night with Arnold and his team. Hazel Green will be updating us on the traditional media that are involved and I am really looking forward to meeting Colin Jackson. I have heard so many positive things about him.

Look out for coverage next week and if you have any local news please let us know.

Have a great week.

Time to double check

Mon, 26 Oct 2009

For all those working this week can I ask you to check two things for NSMW? Firstly that you have told us what you are doing during the week. If you haven't, then please fill in the section under My NSMW on www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk. Secondly if you have not done it already please get everyone in the office, family and friends voting for their favourite school meal at www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk/vote. The vote closes on Sunday 31st so there is still time and every vote is important because it adds credibility to the results.

And if any of you have any final questions or comments then please let Arnold know at Arnold@avfmarketing.co.uk.

A time for reflection

Fri, 23 Oct 2009

As we all get ready for a great week can I ask you to think about how we can make things even better for next year? I think this year is the biggest and best NSMW ever but I do accept I am biased. We know it is the biggest but only you can decide if it is the best. In life we can always do things differently and LACA made major changes to the event this year. After the week we will be asking you to tell us what we should change or improve next year. So please make notes during the week and then let us know when we contact you. Thanks again.

Karen learns to cook!

Fri, 23 Oct 2009

What a fun day I have had. I taught the children how to film and they taught me how to cook! I have just got back from Gilbert Scott Primary School in Croydon where I was taught to cook by Debbie Mumford, School Chef of the Year and her very able assistants.

Whilst Debbie and the rest of the cooking team were preparing the food and getting all the equipment ready Leon Taylor and I talked to the children about TV and video filming. One by one each child mimed a cooking technique. The rest of us watched them through the camera TV monitor and guessed what they were doing.

Leon Taylor has lots of BBC TV experience so he was able to give expert advice on making TV programmes to the children. He ensured everyone was always smiling and explained what would happen if a child removed their jumper so far though filming i.e. we would have continuity problems with our edited videos!

Thank you so much to everyone involved in the Get Cooking Day filming. I am really looking forward to seeing the final videos.

Show you are proud to be involved in National School Meals Week

Thu, 22 Oct 2009

We have produced two graphics for you to display on your website. They are different sizes so you can decide which is the most appropriate for your site. The banners have been produced to standard display advertising sizes so they should be suitable for most websites. You can download the banners in My NSMW in the ‘Schools' and ‘Authorities' section.

200x26px

200x100px

And don’t forget to link the banner to www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk

Sumbit your plans

Wed, 21 Oct 2009

This year's NSMW is the biggest ever. It has more authorities and schools taking part. The previous best was 80 authorities and now there are over 90. Thanks must go to all of you that have registered, downloaded plans and got their teams motivated. Now I must ask for one more thing. Please submit your plans about what you are doing during this week. This will have two advantages. Firstly your local press and media can see what you are doing and we can use this information to tell the national press. So please take just a few minutes to do this. Thanks for your continued support.

Get teachers involved

Fri, 16 Oct 2009

At this year's LACA Conference the importance of headteachers came out very strongly. So much so that the Chair of LACA, Beverley Baker, has already made it one of her key objectives for the year. She said, "Where we have the support and commitment of the Headteachers we have a successful school catering service". This is why NSMW is so important as it is a great way of getting their support. There are lots of free activities. I hope that you will use them, not just in the week, but throughout the academic year ahead. I know that the more you get teachers involved the more children will have a school meal and we all know how important that is.

A round table discussion

Thu, 15 Oct 2009

I have just been to the round table discussion about NSMW and other key subjects for school caterers. It was organised by Mark Lewis, Editor of the Caterer and Hotelkeeper and Beverley Baker, Chair of LACA. The results will be published on Thursday 5th November so make sure you read a copy. It was a fascinating debate and included subjects like NSMW, what will happen after the next election and future funding issues.

Leon and Debbie show

Wed, 14 Oct 2009

This week further filming for NSMW took place in Croydon, but firstly I must say a big thank you to Allyson Lloyd who made all the arrangements. Leon Taylor who is a BBC Commentator and former Silver medallist at the Athens games in the synchronised diving was there to help with all the questions. He helped to keep everyone amused all day and he was brilliant with the children.

He also brought along his silver medal, which everyone wanted to hold!

Leon and Debbie Mumford, SCOTY winner, worked really well together with Leon acting as the presenter and Debbie demonstrating her cooking skills. She was brilliant and thanks also to her and Barbara, her contract manager, for coming up from Devon for the day. Debbie prepared her winning recipes and demonstrated a number of cookery skills. This was for the Get Cooking day on 10th November. I can say it will be a great success so make sure you use it to promote your school meals.

Four weeks to go and counting

Mon, 12 Oct 2009

We are now at four weeks and still counting down to the launch of NSMW. It is amazing how time flies and it feels like just a couple of months since we had the first presentation on NSMW by AVF Marketing. That was last December and so much has been going on since.
Just recently we have been busy filming and there are lots of new videos now on the site, including Karen Fewell, Beverley Baker and myself. And have you ordered your stickers. There are only a couple of days left to do so, order them now.

Another reminder to vote

Tue, 29 Sep 2009

The vote to find Britain's most popular school meal is well underway and there is just about another month to go. We want to make this a truly national vote so if you have not done so please vote, just follow this link www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk/vote.

We want to get more votes from Primary pupils so please can you encourage your schools to "Get involved" now. There is a draft letter you can download from www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk once you have registered on the website. You can edit and amend this to meet your needs.

Also, get your family, friends and colleagues to take part as it is the more the merrier.

Read all about the NSMW girls day with Colin Jackson

Mon, 21 Sep 2009

As you were all preparing for the pupils going back to school the NSMW girls were busy filming the Get Active day video with Colin Jackson. Getting ready in the morning we talked about how nervous we were. It is such a big part of the week we wanted to be sure it would all run smoothly. But there was no need to be nervous. Colin was a true professional! He was great fun, really kind (he even got his driver to take Nicola to the station) and made the whole event run smoothly. We think he will be a real inspiration to young people. He certainly inspired us!

We were lucky to have the help and support of Chris Lee from Trojan Training. Chris is a very experienced personal trainer and he put together all the exercises for the Get Active Day. Karen and Chris also went through all the coaching points beforehand so we could make sure that young people knew how to do the exercises correctly. Some of the exercises Colin hadn't done before so a lot of time was spent on Chris showing him the exercise first and then talking through the points that had to be put across. When we were filming Karen watched it on a screen, Chris checked the exercises were being done properly and Nicola checked all the points were being made whilst Nigel from Lancashire One TV filmed. It was a real team effort!

During the day we realised how much benefit there was to selecting an athlete who was used to being on camera. Colin came across brilliantly and his experience meant we got through it without there being too many takes. Of course, there were some outtakes and very amusing moments, some of which I am sure will stick with us for a long time. This included Colin getting his glutes and quads muddled up several times which caused much laughter.
We had a fantastic buffet lunch, which we made sure was very healthy seeing as we had a former World Champion to cater for. This gave us opportunity to get to know Colin better. He's speaking at the School Food Trust Conference at the end of the month and Karen is running a workshop there. We will also meet with him again at the launch of NSMW on 9th November.

In the afternoon it was straight back to filming as we were under a great time pressure as we only had this one day to get it all right. We all worked hard to have all the filming finished by 4.30pm and then we had to do photographs of all the exercises and stretches.

We learnt a lot about Colin during the afternoon. He can juggle grapes, is an expert with a skipping rope and struggled with the dance steps in the early days of Strictly Come Dancing (obviously he improved as he was 2nd in his series and won the Christmas Day special). We also learnt that Karen likes to pose in front of the camera and would make an excellent ring girl. Oh and that Nicola can't control her giggles at really inappropriate moments i.e. mid filming. Joking aside, it is thanks to Colin, Chris and Nigel we now have a fantastic resource that you can all use to promote your school meals during NSMW. We just can't wait to see the final version!

Those of you that have met us will know we don't let a good opportunity go to waste!! We didn't let Colin leave until he had posed for photographs with the NSMW Girls and signed some autographs for us. We also asked him to sign the exercise mat that was used for the filming which will be awarded as a prize during the week. Come back soon to find out more!

Off to Devon

Thu, 17 Sep 2009

Well I am packing my bags and off to Devon but not going for a holiday this time, much is the pity as we had a lovely family holiday in August. We are filming Debbie Mumford and her SCOTY winning recipes at her school in Ivybridge, Devon. On top of that we will be creating short clips that show off some basic cooking skills. These will be uploaded later and there will be a lesson plan to support the clips.

I think this initiative is really important. Firstly it promotes the skills of all our school caterers from across the country. We know how good they are but we need to make sure parents, teachers and pupils know just how much care and thought goes into preparing every meal.

The second and perhaps the most important is that we can stimulate an interest in food and cooking. This will give the young watchers a skill for life that will also help them enjoy healthy food to the full. The younger we start the better, in my opinion.

So please tell your teachers what is on the way so the video clips can reach the biggest audience.

Croeso Cymru

Mon, 14 Sep 2009

Well I am not sure if my Welsh above is correct but I do know that a lot of Welsh translation has been taking place. Firstly you can now download all the NSMW posters in the Welsh language so our colleagues in Wales can fully take part in the week.

The next area to go live is the Welsh version of the vote to find Britain's Favourite School Meal. It means we will have a Welsh regional result and that should make an interesting comparison with England and Scotland. And finally there will be a Welsh mini site for the week at www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk/welsh. The online videos and thank you cards will be translated so that all the Welsh language schools can take part.

This is the first time LACA has created a Welsh language version and was an urgently needed development.

Welcome back to school

Tue, 08 Sep 2009

As everyone was getting ready for the new academic year Karen and Nicola were filming Colin Jackson undertaking a wide variety of exercise routines. It is all part of the Get Active Day that is taking place on Wednesday 11th November. Apparently there were some amusing out takes but no secrets have yet been revealed. I will keep trying to find out more.

Nicola said: "We all had a great day at the filming. Colin was a very funny, professional and really nice person to work with. I am confident that we have created a great resource for schools and caterers to use during National School Meals Week so watch this space!"

Colin is talking at the School Food Trust Conference in Birmingham on 29th September so many of you will be able to hear him then.

You can also find out more about what happened at the filming in Karen and Nicola's blog, which will be live soon.

Hear some words of wisdom - join a NSMW Webinar

Mon, 07 Sep 2009

I received an email this morning saying thank you for the webinar I ran on Friday about digital marketing. This was one of two webinars that I ran with Arnold Fewell.

I enjoy speaking about digital marketing as I know everyone is very keen to learn the best ways to use the modern tools of marketing. I show some great case studies in my presentation and people soon realise how easy it is to get fantastic results or a complete failure.

We are running webinars right up until National School Meals Week. The best thing for you is that they are free. You can dial in from a conference phone so all your team can get free training. Just login to ‘My NSMW' and register for your chosen dates.

I look forward to talking to you soon

Karen Fewell, the older NSMW girl

Well done to South Tyneside

Wed, 19 Aug 2009

South Tyneside is the first authority to tell us what they have planned for NSMW so a very special well done and thanks to them. This is what they have told us they are doing:

On the Tuesday of NSMW we are inviting all our Secondary Schools to ask if they would like their cooks to work with them to do some cooking.

On the Wednesday, our school catering teams and some local Primary pupils are taking part in a Fun run/walk around Monkton Stadium in Jarrow in aid of a local Children's charity. (Last year we raised almost £800 during NSMW)

On the Thursday we are asking all our Primary and Secondary school cooks to do a fun lunch, dress up and do up their counters (photos of them and their counters to be sent in and judged for the best in each category and the prize for the winning kitchen teams to have a meal in the local college restaurant)

Finally, on the Friday of NSMW we are holding "a Design a thank you card for the kitchen teams competition" in the Primary schools, with certificates and a prize for the winning cards in each school who takes part.

We can now give South Tyneside PR and the sooner you tell us what you are doing the more we can help you.

Please get everyone voting

Wed, 12 Aug 2009

The vote to find Britain's most popular school meal and dessert is well underway and thanks to everyone that has voted. We still need lots more of you to vote so please get all your staff, family and friends involved. You could also put something in your bulletins to staff or on your Intranet. You will benefit in the long term because the more results we have in the local regions the more PR we can do on your behalf. So please get everyone voting now.

Don't leave it to the last minute

Mon, 03 Aug 2009

August can be a funny month for school caterers. In some ways it is the quietest and in other ways it is the busiest month of the year. If schools are closed then it should be quiet but August is probably as busy as any other time. Firstly many staff are on holiday but secondly it is vital planning time for the academic year ahead. New kitchens, recruiting staff, menu planning are just some of the jobs to do in August. If you are using it to plan your activities for NSMW then make sure you have two of the key downloadable resources.

If you did not get your "How to organise NSMW Guide" at the LACA Conference then you can download one from the "My NSMW Account" page once you have registered at www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk/Authorities/Register-now-for-NSMW/. While there make sure you also download the A3 planning tool. This is great to put up on the office wall so that everyone knows what is going on and who is responsible for each day.

Look at who is getting involved

Sat, 25 Jul 2009

The numbers of authorities and schools taking part in National School Meals Week (NSMW) are growing every day, we only launched the site two weeks ago and already have 37 authorities/DIY schools signed up. There are lots of advantages to registering and saying you are taking part in National School Meals Week. You get access to all sorts of tools to help you prepare for the event. Why not start by following this link and seeing who has signed up in your area.
http://www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk/Media/Who-is-Taking-Part/

You can register for the week from the Home Page of www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk. You will then have access to the following:

Downloads - such as posters, letters, planning documents and a How to Guide are all available to download from the site now. Over the coming months more and more tools will be made available to help you prepare for the week.
Webinars - you can sign-up to free webinars to find out more about the week and to listen to an introduction to digital marketing. The webinars are run by Arnold and Karen Fewell and are a great opportunity for you to pick their marketing brains!
Interact with others - share your ideas and plans for the week and help each other make this an amazing National School Meals Week.

If you haven't already, make sure you ‘Get Involved'.

Are you tweeting?

Sat, 25 Jul 2009

Check out the National School Meals Week Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/nsmw

It has also been integrated on the left hand side of every page. So as you move around the site you can see the most up to date news, as it happens.

If you are wondering ‘what is Twitter, tweeting and micro blogging?' then sign-up to one of the free webinars on digital marketing. All you have to do now is register for the session you want to join. Nearer the time, you will receive an email with a link to the interactive session and a telephone number to call. It really is easy!

We have some authorities leading the way with their own Twitter pages, take a look at Tower Hamlets who are tweeting away: http://twitter.com/LBTHCatering

If you tweet then drop us a line @nsmw or twitter.com/nsmw, we would love to follow your tweets.

See you all soon
NSMW Girls

Thanks from the NSMW Girls

Wed, 15 Jul 2009

Well were are back from the LACA conference and so pleased with the interest in National School Meals Week.

We wondered what Arnold was doing when he ordered us sashes to wear, but I have to admit he was right - they did grab everyone's attention. Whether we were wandering around the exhibition, ordering refreshments from the bar or stood on our NSMW stand we were being asked about National School Meals Week.

The designers did a great job and the stand looked great! I think they thought we were going overboard when we went clothes shopping to ensure we were dressed in the NSMW brand colours - but everything on our stand represented the new National School Meals Week brand and added to the impact.

The feedback we had at the conference, and are still receiving now is brilliant. So many people are excited about taking part in a digital marketing campaign. We have had some fantastic comments as authorities and schools register on the website and we will share these with you in another blog.

The guides to organising National School Meals Week were sought after, people were always coming to us asking for their own copy of the booklet. If you did not manage to collect your own, register for the week and download it from the website.

Thanks for making us both feel so welcome at the conference. We are glad you like the new look NSMW and are really excited about getting ready for the actual week. We have all sorts planned, including:

spending time with teenagers to plan the NSMW social networking activity
working with our fitness specialist to get ready for filming Colin Jackson
researching what children want to learn about cooking, in preparation for the Get Cooking day

Come back soon and read our updates on how preparations for the big week are going.

Karen and Nicola, known as the NSMW girls at the LACA conference

Colin Jackson CBE will launch National School Meals Week

Wed, 08 Jul 2009

I am thrilled that Colin Jackson CBE will be launching National School Meals Week on the 9th November. This was announced today at the LACA AGM. Colin is a fantastic role model for everyone. He was a World Champion at the 110 metres hurdles, he did very well in "Strictly Come Dancing" and has appeared in the genealogical programme "Who do you think you are". He also regularly commentates on athletics for the BBC. He will be well known to parents and teachers and he will be an excellent role model for students. Make sure you see how you can include him in your plans.

I must stress that we want people to take part. That does not necessarily mean doing everything in the "How to" booklet. You can pick and choose the ideas or do your own. It is up to you. But please share the work out with your team as I know this will reap the benefits in more meals served.

LACA Conference this week

Mon, 06 Jul 2009

It doesn't seem like a year ago we were all assembling in Birmingham for the LACA Conference. But it is!

The conference is a great time to meet up with friends old and new, catch up with the gossip and hear more about the latest challenges facing school caterers. They never go away and change is always around us. But that is part of the job and what makes it so fascinating to be part of the school catering industry.

It is also an important time for National School Meals Week as Arnold and Karen Fewell unveil the latest version of the website with much more information about the week. They are making a presentation to LACA members at the AGM on Wednesday 8th. I hope you will be there. It will soon be live so bookmark this page and come back soon to register that you are taking part.

If you can't get there the PowerPoint of the presentation will be on this website so you can download it easily. Why not share it with your team. You can also download the booklet called "How to organise National School Meals Week" and an A3 planning tool for your team. These are great resources so please use them. The web address is www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk.

One soon gets back into it

Fri, 03 Jul 2009

Well I had a great holiday but it was quickly back into National School Meals Week. Lots to read about and make sure I was happy with everything - and I was. I heard that Karen Fewell has just made a great presentation in Derbyshire to the Eastern Region of LACA. Her presentation went down very well and the audience was delighted to hear about how the plans for National School Meals Week were going. Arnold and Karen have said they are happy to attend other LACA regions if that is helpful. That sounds like a good idea to me. Why not email them at nsmw@avfmarketing.co.uk.

However, Arnold and Karen will be joined by Nicola Proud at the conference. Nicola is Arnold's middle daughter. You will recognise them as they are wearing sashes saying "Ask me about NSMW". So please do. They have a stand and they are happy to talk to you about both NSMW and how we are moving towards a digital marketing age. I find the transition fascinating.

User generated content works

Fri, 26 Jun 2009

Some authorities might be wary of starting down the route of user generated content. This is where customers are given the chance to pass comment online about the food or service that their children receive. I can understand this concern but it is important to remember that most negatives can be made into a positive. This is what we aim to do with complaints and I know from my own experiences that complainants can be made into loyal customers and supporters. So if we encourage more feedback from our online customers the stronger the service will become. For example one authority I know had a negative comment about school meals contributing to the obesity problem. The Head of Service responded online and soon attracted four supportive comments and the negative was dealt with and everyone can see it. That is why user generated content has a role to play provided you use it properly. Another benefit that a colleague mentioned was how it showed elected members the way the catering service was interacting with customers and voters.

There are lots of lurkers about!

Mon, 15 Jun 2009

No these are not potential burglars but people that visit social networking sites to browse through the content. A bit like you are doing now. The aim is to attract their interest and keep it for as long as possible. That is why one writes a regular blog. At present we are going through the "lurker" phase where people browse but don't leave a comment. This is while people gain confidence in the site. I hope it won't be long before we have more people leaving comments and suggestions. I look forward to reading them. In the meantime thank you to the many people who have phoned and email me. It has been great to hear from you.

Lots of Great News!

Fri, 05 Jun 2009

I am delighted to say that LACA has received financial support from the School Food Trust (SFT). This is brilliant news and I wanted to say thank you to everyone at the SFT for their contribution to the week. The money will be put to good use and help us improve the week still further. For example we can employ an athlete with a higher profile, increase the value or number of competition prizes and add more resources to the website.

I also want to say a big thank you to Mark Lewis from Caterer and Hotelkeeper and David Foad from Cost Sector Catering. They have agreed to support the week and promote the event via their magazines. A number of ideas are under discussion so look out for more information in the next few months.

A slight change of plan

Fri, 05 Jun 2009

One of the benefits of NSMW this year is the team of people that are involved. It means lots of ideas are fed into AVF Marketing to help with the plans. For example Hazel Green, LACA PR, suggested running the online vote to find Britain's Favourite School Meal before the week and announce the results on the Monday. Chris Wainwright, Communications Director from the SFT, suggested "Get Eating" as a theme. Both of these have now been incorporated into the plan. So if you have any more ideas then please let us have them.

The suppliers' directory is a great addition this year..

Wed, 20 May 2009

Hi again,

Thanks to everyone who has read my blogs, left a message or sent an email. The interest has been fantastic. We are getting up a great head of steam that I am sure will be built up much further as we get closer to the week. Thank you also to the suppliers that have shown an interest and booked their place in the suppliers' directory. This is invaluable as it enables us to do more to promote the positive messages of school meals.

The suppliers' directory is a great addition this year as suppliers can promote their products and services online. There are three packages with different prices. The first is just for contact details (£100), the second allows two graphics and a page of copy (£250) and the top package allows a web contact plus a banner headline in the website (£400). These banners will rotate at random so the pages always look different. The big advantage of the top package is it gives the supplier another "in bound" link that will help their Search Engine Optimisation.

There are two questions we are wrestling with at the moment and perhaps you can help. The first is who should be the voice of the week? By that I mean which personality, athlete or celebrity should we have? It can't be a footballer because we can't afford it and more importantly whichever person we chose we would upset the rest of the football fans across the country and so be unproductive. Should it be an Olympian like Rebecca Adlington, the swimmer that one two gold medals in Beijing, or Rebecca Romero who has won a silver medal for rowing in 2004 and in 2008 she won a gold medal in cycling. Could it be someone entirely different? What do you think?

The second question is what are the ten most popular school meals main courses and puddings. The reason for asking is on the Monday of NSMW we are organising the "Big Vote" to find out Britain's most popular school meal. To do this we want to get people's top ten so please send them in. The vote will show regional variations so you can see what is popular in your area.

Just email me your ideas and thoughts at Irene@iloveschoolmeals.co.uk. I really look forward to hearing from you and as our strap line says I hope you "Get involved".

There is so much going on with NSMW..

Thu, 07 May 2009

There is so much going on with NSMW that it is difficult to know where to start. Marketing is changing as a result of the massive growth of the Internet. The role of paper based items is now to drive people to websites. There is also a huge growth in social networking as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter dominate more of our customers' lives. More and more people are creating their own content and letting it be read by the online community. This blog is a good example.

Our young customers and often their parents have embraced this technology and taken multi-tasking to a new level. They can talk on their mobile, send an email, go online in a chat room, listen to music and still have TV playing in the background. Communication is now on a different level. There are all the new media channels and whereas we often used to send letters that could take days and sometimes weeks, we now communicate via email, text or SMS and the response is often instant.

We need to understand, accept and use the new digital techniques. Let's start with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This is a technique to increase the page ranking of the website. By this I mean getting your website in the top three pages of Google and ideally on the first. Very few people go beyond page three when they put in a search item e.g. school meals. People surfing in this manner will be shown the results for both "natural search" and "paid search". Paid search is what it says on the tin, as Ronseal would say. Someone is paying for their website to be featured at the top or top right hand side of the page within a highlighted area. LACA is using SEO to raise its natural search profile via NSMW.

This means writing blogs, encouraging inbound links, using key words in the copy and writing copy in a specific way that reinforces the messages. Fortunately we have Karen Fewell to help us. Her success and use of SEO can be measured very easily. Just type in "Digital marketing consultant" into Google. I have just done it and Karen comes out Number 2 in the world and Number 1 in Europe. Thank heavens for that!

SEO is something that school caterers must be aware of. You should talk to your web providers and see if they understand how to use this technology. If they don't then you must find someone that can. We are caterers and long may that remain.

First Blog for Irene Carroll

Tue, 28 Apr 2009

Irene Carroll is co-ordinating National School Meals Week for the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA). Irene was formerly Head of Catering for the City of Southampton and National chairman of LACA 2006/7.

Well here we go with my first ever blog as we build up to National School Meals Week from 9th to 13th November. This event is very different from anything LACA has done before. We are moving into the digital age of marketing under the guidance and support of AVF Marketing.

It is a very exciting time and I am learning a lot about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Blogging, Pod and Vid Casts, social networking and much more. Over the next few months I will explain everything that is going on. So please bookmark this page and come back regularly to find out more.

On this site you can download a briefing document. There is one for school caterers and another for suppliers. Have a look at them now and start to think about how you want to "Get involved". If you have any questions then please email me at the address below.

irene@iloveschoolmeals.co.uk

The clock is counting down and the week will soon be here. It is a great opportunity to increase awareness and meal numbers so please take part.