Link school food to Ofsted reports, says Cucina Restaurants director

27 June 2014 by
Link school food to Ofsted reports, says Cucina Restaurants director

The managing director and founder of foodservice company Cucina Restaurants has called for the government's school food standards to be linked to Ofsted inspections.

Steve Quinn, of secondary school caterer Cucina, praised the government's new school food standards, which were announced last week to come into effect in 2015, but advised that they should be linked to a "rigorous system of accountability" and monitored by Ofsted.

This would mean that meal uptake and nutritional standards would become a top priority.

Meal uptake should particularly be considered a factor in inspections, he said, because any nutritional programme would only work if students actually ate the meals on offer.

"Food is only nutritious if it is actually eaten. A school may produce the healthiest school meals in the country, but if nobody takes them up, they are not healthy," he said."If food service were to be integrated into the school inspection agenda, it would straightaway become a high priority for all schools."

He also advised that kitchens doing especially well could be used as examples to show inspectors and other schools what the highest standards look like. This would ensure "progress becomes achievable", he said.

Cucina Restaurants operates over 40 companies in UK secondary schools, with the most recent deals including Goff's School in Cheshunt, Haydon School in Middlesex, Sidcup Grammar, and St Catherine's Catholic College in Kent.

Quinn himself has worked in catering at hotel groups such as Thistle and Hilton, and foodservice firms including Sodexo and Compass UK.

Cucina signs £1.2m contract with Cheshunt school >>

School caterer Cucina wins new business worth £2.6m >>

Cucina's Steve Quinn to discuss school dinners on Channel 4's Dispatches >>

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking