Children: Nutrition

(asked on 20th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that children in Huddersfield receive the necessary nutritional support from educational bodies.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 9th January 2023

The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided by schools. Compliance with the Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, including academies and free schools.

The Government spends over £1 billion annually delivering free school meals (FSM) to pupils in schools. Around 1.9 million disadvantaged pupils are eligible for FSM, as well as an additional 1.25 million infants who receive a free meal under the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy. Together, this provides support to over one third of all pupils in schools.

Schools also provide children in Key Stage 1 with a free piece of fruit or vegetable each day through the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, jointly funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education.

In February 2022, the Levelling Up White Paper outlined what the Department is doing to strengthen adherence with the School Food Standards. This includes piloting work with the Food Standards Agency, investing up to £200,000 in a pilot Governor Training Scheme, and encouraging schools to complete a statement on their school websites which sets out their whole school approach to food.

The Department is investing up to £30 million in the national school breakfast programme until the end of the 2024 summer term. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low income families will be offered free, nutritious breakfasts. The Department is also investing over £200 million a year in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free holiday club places with healthy meals and enriching activities to children from low income families.

The National Curriculum sets the expectation that pupils are taught about the importance of healthy eating and nutrition. This is covered in the design and technology curriculum in Key Stages 1 to 3. The principles of a healthy and varied diet are also covered in health education, which became compulsory in state funded schools in England from September 2020.

Since September 2015, Ofsted inspectors look at how a school’s curriculum supports pupils’ knowledge on how to keep themselves healthy, including through exercising and healthy eating. The Department has also introduced a new food preparation and nutrition GCSE to teach pupils practical cookery and the underlying scientific concepts of nutrition and healthy eating.

The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to age five. There is a requirement within the EYFS that states where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, they must be healthy, balanced and nutritious. It is up to early years providers to ensure they are meeting this requirement.

Reticulating Splines