Do you know about the Department for Education’s (DfE) School Food Standards and the work being done to support schools with compliance? Don’t worry, keep reading as we explain all this and more … 

What are the School Food Standards?

The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 introduced new School Food Standards in January 2015. 

The new standards deliver a full day approach to school nutrition which covers all food provided across the school day up to 6pm and includes: 

• Breakfast clubs 
• Morning break 
• Lunch 
• Afterschool clubs 
• Vending machines 

Who is responsible for schools complying with the Standards?

Many schools believe it is the responsibility of the catering company who they commission to deliver school meals, but this is not the case. 

The legal responsibility for compliance with the School Food Standards sits with the governing body and trustees, although a whole school approach and understanding can help a school to become compliant. 

How are we supporting your school on the journey to compliance?

Telford & Wrekin Council were part of a national Food Standards Agency pilot looking at compliance of the standards within schools across the country. The Council’s Environmental Health Team undertook this as part of the schools’ hygiene inspections which highlighted the support needed for schools to understand and meet the standards. 

Since then, we, the Council’s Healthy Weight Team, working with our Health Protection Hub and Environmental Health colleagues have developed some easy-to-use resources that will help schools understand their current compliance status and where they need to make changes. 

As part of this joint work, we have delivered information sessions to schools; providing an overview of the standards, the national pilot, and the local support on offer. Sessions have been recorded and are available as you start your school’s journey to compliance. 

Primary schools webinar: 

Secondary schools webinar:

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Other resources available:

Daily, weekly and tri-weekly checklists – are you providing the right amount of fish? Is there a variety of carbohydrates on your school menu? Are pastry items appearing too frequently at mealtimes? Use these checklists to easily identify areas for change. 

Top Tips posters – download and print these dedicated posters for Primary and Secondary schools to give providers and/or facilitators easy swaps they can make for mealtimes, including breakfast and afterschool clubs as well as morning breaks. 

FAQs – we have collated all the questions asked at our live information sessions to create a FAQs document where you can find the answers to any questions you might have, as well as some you may not have thought of. 

All of these resources can be found in the Food and Nutrition section of the Health and Wellbeing Toolkit, to which new resources are being added all the time.

We are also offering free one-to-one support to our schools, where a member of the Healthy Weight Team will come out to support with menus and highlight areas for change. The team can also look at identifying initiatives that schools can implement to engage children in changes to the school food offer and health and wellbeing environment.  

To find out more about this support email us at healthimprovement@telford.gov.uk