"Five Foodie Days" Menu: Pilot in the UK

Food & Co, Sodexo’s new catering and dining solution for government schools, has been co-produced with pupils in KS2, 3 and 4.

​​​​​​The ‘Five Foodie Days’ menu is specifically designed for primary school children and offers a modern, fresh approach to school food.

A 9 week pilot was conducted at Oasis Academy Pinewood, for children aged 3–11. The team on site were given comprehensive training in the new menu, and how to implement the Agents for Change programme.

“I am proud to be an Agent because it makes me feel special. You get to go in the kitchen and talk to people, and you make new friends.” Agents for Change pupil, aged 9.

The ‘Five Foodie Days’ gives each day of the week a different theme: planet earth, street food, world food, originals and Friday favourites. These five themes are supported by a menu which has been nutritionally analysed to conform with the Government’s school food standards.

The Agents for Change programme gives pupils a voice and ownership of their food offering and dining environment. Five pupils were appointed as Agents for Change at our pilot school.

“Both the pupils and staff have welcomed the changes to the menu. Being able to try different food and tastes from around the world, helped to generate pupils’ interest and staff could leverage this by linking to the curriculum. I particularly like the Agents of Change initiative which provided an opportunity for pupils to learn how to be part of a team, build confidence and encourage pupils to talk to each other.” Ms Elliott, principal of Oasis Academy Pinewood.

The pilot was supported by a comprehensive evaluation framework that considered not just uptake but also the opinions of key stakeholders.

7% increase in uptake of paid school meals

Feedback from the pilot was overwhelmingly positive from teaching staff and pupils alike a 7% uptake in paid school meals over the 9 week period was also observed. A key learning has been to develop more parent communication about the new menu. These additional resources have now been created and included in the September 2018 roll out of the ‘Five Foodie Days’ menu to all 66 primary schools.