Warwickshire primary named school food champion
A Bedworth Primary School was named dish of the day when it scooped a national excellence in school catering award.
Head Cook Tracey Marshall and her team of master chefs from Newdigate Primary School beat off competition from schools across the county to win Educatering magazine’s Primary School of the Year Award 2010.
Newdigate received the award for demonstrating significant achievement in catering provision at the school measured by increased uptake and improved nutritionally-based menus, and Tracey collected the prize at a gala dinner at The Royal Garden Hotel in London last week.
Describing what this award means for the school, Tracey Marshall said: “I was so thrilled to be nominated for the catering excellence award and when we won it was just so fantastic.
“I am really proud to be a part of Newdigate Primary School and to be recognised for all the hard work that myself and my team do makes it all worthwhile."
‘Primary School of the Year’ was one of 12 awards handed out on the night. Describing the calibre of entries, a spokesperson from Educatering said: “We had had a staggering 300 nominations for this year’s awards, and our twenty-strong judging panel took several hours of deliberation to select a winner from each of the categories.”
Warwickshire was further represented at the awards by Chef Manager, Anita Hellyer from St. Benedict’s Catholic School, who was shortlisted in the final three for Secondary School of the Year. Unfortunately Anita’s team were pipped to the post by a school in Dorset.
Warwickshire County Council’s Head of Catering Sandra Russell said: “Well done to Tracey and her team who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to making food fun for pupils. The team are enthusiastic about all aspects of catering at the school and this award is truly deserved.”