Junk food in schools
Education secretary Ruth Kelly has promised to end the "scandal" of junk food in schools.
Speaking to the Labour Party conference in Brighton on Wednesday she announced that a ban on vending machines would be added to plans for improving school meals.
Ahead of the publication next week of the school meals review panel, she said was acting both to improve pupils health and education.
"I am absolutely clear: The scandal of junk food served in school must end," she said.
"So today I can announce that we will ban cheap bangers and burgers being served in schools from next September.
"And because children need to eat healthily throughout the day I can also announce that we will ban vending machines as well."
Opposition Response: The Conservatives
Shadow education secretary David Cameron said: "At the election ministers rejected Conservative proposals to extend a ban on junk food to vending machines, so this is a positive step," said the shadow education secretary.
"However, tighter standards are only part of the solution. They must be backed by sufficient resources for schools to provide the extra staff and kitchen facilities required - two crucial elements which are not being met in many schools.
"There are also significant challenges posed by rising numbers of pupils switching to packed lunches or absenting themselves at lunchtimes to buy junk food, and the government must address this too.
"We should perhaps consider the role that enforceable home-school contracts could play in ensuring parents take their share of responsibility for the food their children eat whilst at school, recognising the clear benefits that a healthy diet has for behaviour and levels of concentration."
Opposition Response: Liberal Democrats
Edward Davey, Liberal Democrat education spokesman, said: "This ban is welcome, but until we make healthy food more appealing to children it's a half measure.
"When some schools have switched from junk to healthy food, they've found children don't choose the fruit and vegetables. It's time more teachers and parents explained to our children why they should 'eat their greens'."
Stakeholder response: PAT
PAT general secretaryJean Gemmell said: "A good diet and good health go hand in hand. We welcome this as an important step to promote healthy eating. Schools can - and many already do - play an important part in encouraging pupils to eat more healthily.
"However, the promotion of healthy eating has to start in the home, with encouragement from the government through the media.
"Children eat a lot more meals at home and elsewhere than they do at school. Pupils can also buy junk food on the way to school so we would like to see restrictions on the promotion of junk foods to children.
"Exercise plays a key role too. Over the past 20 years, the proportion of children travelling to school by car has almost doubled and the proportion of pupils walking or cycling has decreased significantly, so it is not surprising that levels of childhood obesity have increased!.
"Obviously many children live too far from school to walk or cycle, especially in rural areas, but this is an issue which should be addressed. Statistics show that in urban areas at 8.50 am, one in five cars is taking children to school.
"The amount of time dedicated to school sports and PE has also declined in recent years because of the pressures of the curriculum and the government's standards and testing agenda."
Stakeholder response: SHA
SHA general secretary Dr John Dunford said: "Without a proper diet children cannot learn effectively. I therefore welcome today's emphasis on healthy foods in schools.
"However, a ban on unhealthy food in schools carries with it very practical problems of implementation. Pupils will continue to eat unhealthy packed lunches and visit the local chip shop.
"Schools, especially those in private finance initiatives, may be locked into long term contracts with caterers and vending suppliers. They may not actually have control over what goes in vending machines.
"Children eat over a thousand meals a year, but less than 200 of these are in school. We want to see more support for parents in improving children's diets at home and more pressure on the food industry to advertise responsibly.
"I am disappointed that the Secretary of State found it necessary to say again that Ofsted will be inspecting the quality of school meals. This is just silly. Food inspectors are not asked to inspect the quality of education and education inspectors should not be asked to inspect the quality of food."
Stakeholder response: NASUWT
Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: "The speech gave a well-rounded overview of the progress made in education during the Labour government. NASUWT supports the importance placed by the secretary of state on ensuring that every child is valued and has the best start in life.
"NASUWT welcomed the government’s initiative to promote healthy eating in schools when it was first announced. There is a clear link between behaviour and diet and therefore it is essential this is addressed.
"However, some schools are likely to need support to extricate themselves from any contracts with vending and catering companies which might restrict their ability to respond positively to this initiative.
"While overall the healthy eating initiative is good one, NASUWT remains sceptical about the appropriateness of Ofsted inspecting catering provision in schools.
"I welcome the fact that the secretary of state recognises the major contribution to the improvements in educational standards made by teachers, headteachers and other members of the school workforce.
"The speech also made absolutely clear the secretary of state’s determination to put the rights and responsibilities of parents firmly on the agenda. This is clearly the right approach.
"However, in targeting parents the secretary of state must ensure that she continues to engage teachers and headteachers who are crucial to the development of successful relationships with parents.
"The secretary of state has firmly backed in the speech her commitment to ensuring that every child is taught by a qualified teacher who maintains high professional standards by responding positively to the call made in February this year by NASUWT, other teaching unions and GTC England for the registration of teachers in city academies.
"I look forward to an equally positive outcome on the issues of union recognition and pay and conditions of service in academies raised by the Union.
"The secretary of state’s reference to the importance of learning representatives will be very helpful to the NASUWT’s learning representative programme which is rolling out across the country. We look to the secretary of state to support our ambition to have learning agreements with every local authority, providing facility time for representatives to enable them to support access to learning."
Stakeholder response: Which?
Sue Davies, chief policy advisor for Which?, said: "This is a very important first step in transforming food in schools.
"School meals can make a key contribution to children’s overall daily nutrient intake. But many children aren’t getting enough nutrients to be healthy and are getting too much fat, sugar or salt. The health consequences are already becoming clear.
"To support today’s announcement, the government must urgently tackle the advertising and promotion of junk food to children. There's little point tackling it in schools if children continue to be bombarded with unhealthy messages when they switch on the TV."
Stakeholder Response: Business Services Association
Following the announcement by Education Secretary Ruth Kelly on tough new guidelines for school meals at Labour Party conference today, the Business Services Association, the representative of major outsourced service companies (including the majority of the large contract caterers) has warned that improving the standard of school meals is not necessarily quite so simple.
BSA Director-General Norman Rose said:
"It goes without saying that BSA and its members take seriously the responsibility to provide good quality, healthy food to the young people in our schools. However, there is a difficult balance to be struck between the idealism of the new food standards and practical realities.
"Long term sustainability is far more complex than the promotion of healthy eating by a celebrity chef. The reality is that many schools do not even have the facilities to prepare and serve ‘real’ food, and we have still to see how extra Government funding will really impact on the budgets set by individual schools ands local authorities for school catering."
Mr Rose warned that the necessary changes cannot be made overnight:
"Three key issues will need to be addressed – staff must be training to deliver the new-style meals rather than simply reheating ready-prepared dishes, kitchens must be re-equipped and refurbished and most importantly of all attitudes, both of students and their parents, will need to change. The influence of home will always be strongest and unless parents are willing to support the new-style provision, this initiative is bound to fail.
"None of this can be achieved quickly, and we hope that Government will continue to be willing to work with the experts in the catering sector to work out the best way forward in promoting quality food provision in schools, and across the public sector."
Stakeholder Response: ATL
Commenting on Ruth Kelly’s speech at the Labour Party conference, Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:
“ATL welcomes the vision of an education system which promotes greater equality for all. We recognise that this Government has invested in education – in school buildings, in increased funding for each pupil, and in teachers and support staff. These are all real and lasting achievements.
“However, clear challenges remain if the Secretary of State is to create an education system which is fairly funded, and with admissions systems which do not further disadvantage the most deprived pupils.
“If we are to achieve a fair admissions system we need to ensure that every local school is a good school. At present, schools choose pupils, rather than the other way round. The most disadvantaged pupils are left in struggling schools without the balanced intakes which help raise the achievement of all pupils, including the most able.
“If the Secretary of State is to achieve parity of esteem between vocational and academic qualifications, and if we are to retain more young people in lifelong learning, the funding gap between schools and FE colleges must be closed, FE lecturers need to be better paid, and have better job security and career prospects.”
Stakeholder Response: LGA
Cllr Alison King, the LGA’s Education spokesperson said:
“Ruth Kelly’s speech to the Labour Party conference is excellent news for pupils and parents because it gives them a champion in the form of local councils.
It should not only be the fortunate few who have “choice” and that choice must not be allowed to become the choice for schools to cherry-pick pupils. The LGA is delighted that Ruth Kelly shares our conviction that local people can depend on elected local representatives to ensure equality in education.
This is about providing the strategic leadership to enable schools to set their own direction in a system that is more than the sum of its parts. Some children would be left behind if schools were left on their own to provide the support and opportunities that the most vulnerable need to overcome learning obstacles.
This role for councils along with today’s news that Academy schools will have to register with the General Teaching Council is a significant step towards bringing what could be “fortress” schools into the wider children’s agenda and engaging the with the whole community."Cllr Alison King said.
Stakeholder Response: GTC
The General Teaching Council has welcomed the announcement by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly, that qualified teachers working in academies will in future be registered with the General Teaching Council, bringing them within the scope of the Council’s professional standards and regulatory framework.
The announcement by the Secretary of State came in response to the stated wish of academies themselves.
Commenting on the announcement, GTC Chief Executive Carol Adams says:
“This is a very welcome and important step forward which will bring benefits to pupils and teachers in academies and will provide assurance to parents that qualified teachers working in academies are professionally registered and of good standing.
“Academies are tackling an agenda which is central to the concerns of the GTC – raising standards of teaching and learning for underachieving children in some of our most deprived communities.
"Registration with the GTC, teaching’s professional body, will give academy teachers access to our research programme and to our professional networks and allow teachers to share their expertise across very different and often challenging settings.
“Our Achieve network will be highly relevant to teachers in many academies, because it works to support the promotion of race equality in schools and to tackle the underachievement of some black and minority ethnic school pupils.
"Our Connect network supports teachers leading continuing professional development. It is a valuable tool for teachers geared to raising standards of teaching and learning.
Judy Moorhouse, Chair of the GTC, adds:
“I am delighted that this move comes in response to the expressed wish of the academies themselves, who have recognised the importance of professional registration to safeguard the public interest and want to see their teachers benefiting from the resources offered by their professional body.
“We will be working in partnership with the Specialist Schools Trust to contribute to the drive to help teachers and schools deliver the best possible standards of teaching and the widest possible opportunities for children.”
Stakeholder Response: NUT
Commenting on the speech made by Education secretary, Ruth Kelly, NUT General Secretary Steve Sinnott said:
"Children - and their teachers - will be really pleased to hear that from
September they will no longer suffer from poor school meals that damage
their health and education. Parents will be delighted to hear that vending
machines selling products high in fat, sugar and salt will banned.
"It is good news for everybody that all teachers in academies will be
required to register with the GTC.
"The Secretary of State's confident speech gave great emphasis to building an education service offering equality to all children.
"Ruth Kelly has said she wishes to tackle disruption in school classrooms.
Now the Government should take action to introduce a specific legal
authority for teachers to discipline youngsters. This will assist in
dealing with the small minority of pupils who behave badly."
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