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Poet John Hegley tells pupils about his schoolboy traumas. |
Fresh meals for pupils as poet tells how his school dinners weren’t winners!
ISLINGTON poet John Hegley has revealed how as a child he hated school dinners and, on one occasion, was forced by his teachers to sit and a eat a steamed pudding.
Memories came flooding back at the opening of William Tyndale primary school’s brand new £250,000 kitchen on Wednesday.
The event marked the end of lunches being transported in by outside caterers and kept heated in trolleys for up to two hours.
From next term the school in Upper Street will have its own chef, Mary Ofori, and a menu of fresh and nutritious meals that will change weekly.
The three to 11-year-old pupils will be able sit down to tasty meals that will include tortilla wraps, chicken stir fry and sautéed Savoy cabbage as well as vegetarian and vegan options.
Mr Hegley, whose daughter once attended William Tyndale, said his experiences with the dreaded steamed pudding at a junior school in Luton left a lasting impression.
“Nibbling it morsel by tiny morsel, I sat there for one-and-a-half hours being forced to eat the pudding,” he said.
“I later wrote a poem about it. When I’d finally finished the pudding the teacher said as special reward I could have a second helping.”
Islington Council leader Lib Dem Councillor James Kempton said he hated school dinners so much that his father would make him a packed lunch every morning.
“Dad would get up early and make soup and sandwiches to take to school,” he said. “Sometimes I’d come home for lunch – anything rather than eat school dinners.”
Tyndale’s headteacher Tanya Watson had fond memories of her school dinners – but she grew up in America where she said food was considered important to growing children.
“It was when I came to Britain in the 1970s that I realised how horrible they can be,” she said.
“The sea change in this country is partly down to TV chef Jamie Oliver.”
In addition to the newly fitted kitchen, paid for by the council, parents have funded a new £10,000 kitchen classroom, where children will be taught how to cook.
The school boasts 450 pupils who speak up to 55 different languages with 35 per cent receiving free school meals.
Zoe Anderson, a parent and member of the Family and Staff Association, has two children at the school.
She said: “This is very good news and we’re grateful to Islington for the kitchen. I think the school did have a kitchen about 30 years ago but it was taken out.” |
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