Food In Schools

Schools can play an important role in both providing healthier food and drink choices and promoting healthy eating habits to children from an early age.

Schools should strive to ensure that their young people have access to healthier food and drink choices throughout the school day and that these healthier choices are highlighted and promoted at any opportunity.

They should also embed consistent healthy eating messages into classroom lessons and ensure all contact with families, parents and carers feed forward healthy eating messages that can be taken home. This will in turn help to give our children and young people and their families the best possible start in life and will help to reduce diet related health inequalities.

The Public Health Nutrition Team, NHS Forth Valley supports this whole school approach to food, health and well-being and are concerned with all food and drink provision in schools and early years establishments, whether it be during the school day or out with for example during breakfast or holiday clubs.

We work with education departments, local authorities, catering services, staff, parents and pupils within schools, children’s and NHS services to ensure schools are supporting healthy food provision as part of the schools health promoting agenda.

In this section:

School Meals
Resources for teaching about food and nutrition
Growing in Schools
Cooking in Schools
Healthy Weight
National Documents around Food in Schools

School Meals

Find out more about the school meal service in your local area and how to access financial support.

Clackmannanshire Council – School Meals
Falkirk Council – School Meals
Stirling Council – School Meals

Parent Club – Have a section All about school meals.

Read more about Free School Meals on the Scottish Government website.

Resources for teaching about food and nutrition

Food a Fact of Life – Free resources for teaching young people aged 3-16 years about where food comes from, cooking and healthy eating. They have cooking skills videos, easy recipes, worksheets and much more to support teachers deliver their food and nutrition education programmes. These resources could also be used with adults.
Food Standards Scotland – Have a range of Education Resources – to support anyone teaching others about food safety and healthy eating. They have a range of online interactive games as well as group activity ideas, videos and information sheets to help teach how to get a balance of healthier and more sustainable food.
Eat, Move, Learn – World Cancer Research Fund – have some fun resources, recipes and activity ideas all about healthy living for teachers, children and families.
Veg Power – 80% of our kids are not eating enough vegetables. VegPower is on a mission to get the UK eating more vegetables! They have free downloadable posters and activity sheets and workbooks that can be used to make learning about healthy eating fun.

Growing in Schools

Visit our Grow and Cook webpage for simple Growing Guides and How to…Cook pictorial recipes and videos.
The Royal Highland Educational Trust have produced The Good Food Learning Resource – Seasons in Scotland – which is a great resource for schools, community groups or individuals wanting to start to grow their own produce.
Eat, Move and Learn – Helping children find out about healthy eating and staying active. They have Grow it instructions on how to grow herbs, fruit and vegetables on your window ledge or at your school.
Grow to School – Find out more about outdoor learning and food growing in schools.
Grow Your Own Potatoes

Cooking in Schools

Visit our Grow and Cook webpage for simple Growing Guides and How to…Cook pictorial recipe and videos.
Food a Fact of Life – These free education resources (activity sheets, quizzes, games, videos) have been developed to support teachers to stimulate learning and support children and the national curriculum, through an ages and stages framework of resources.

Healthy Lunch and Snack Ideas

School Play Pieces – NHS Forth Valley Leaflet
All you need to know about snacking – Parent Club
Healthy Lunchboxes – Food a Fact of Life
Healthier Lunchbox Recipes – Change4Life – Has loads of tasty and easy to prepare ideas that everyone can enjoy for lunch
Healthy Packed Lunches – British Nutrition Foundation
Healthy Packed Lunches – Factsheet – British Dietetic Association
School Packed Lunch Inspiration – BBC Good Food
Lunch and snack ideas for back to school – BBC Good Food

Food and Farming

Food a Fact of Life – This site supports children learning about where their food comes from and how it is farmed. They have video clips and presentations, posters, workbooks, editable resources, interactive whiteboard activities and curriculum links to support their theme Food and Farming.
Food for Life – Soil Association – Eat, Cook and Grow Good Food in schools

Food, Sustainability and Reducing Food Waste

Eco-Schools Scotland – Is an international programme designed to encourage whole-school action on sustainable development education issues. It is an environmental management tool, a learning resource and a recognized award scheme.
Eating Well Sustainably – A Guide for Early Years Settings – First Steps Nutrition Trust – This guide provides simple guidance on: planning sustainable menus, shopping for food, waste and storing food, cooking and preparing food and growing food.
Love Food Hate Waste – Are you a teacher looking for inspiration? – Love Food Hate Waste have a range of food waste fighting activities and curriculum-linked lesson plans to get your waste warriors geared up to make the most of the good food we love in Scotland.
Zero Waste Scotland – Information on waste management; includes advice on recycling, reusing, reducing rubbish, with news and links to public awareness sites.

Health and Nutrition Information

Parent Club – Has information on the changes to school meals as well as information on food and eating for the family, recipes and videos for families on how to make healthier changes to how they shop, cook and eat. They have easy recipes for school-night teas, handy hints for meal planning, cook along videos to try and information on dealing with fussy eaters. They also have a Family Support Directory to support parents and carers with information on benefits and signposts to local support organisations.
5 A DAY and Your Family – NHS – Provides tips and ideas on how to introduce more fruit and vegetables into your family’s diet.
Childsmile – Improving the oral health of children in Scotland.
Eat, Move and Learn – Helping children find out about healthy eating and staying active. They have Grow it instructions on how to grow herbs, fruit and vegetables on your window ledge or at your school.
Veg Power – 80% of our kids are not eating enough vegetables. Veg Power is on a mission to get the UK eating more vegetables! They have free downloadable posters and activity sheets and workbooks that can be used to make learning about healthy eating fun.

Healthy Weight

Focus on your Family – NHS Forth Valley – This webpage can help you and your family take small steps to become more active, eat better and feel healthier. At the bottom of this webpage you will find useful links, games, apps, recipes and family monitoring worksheets.
NHS Health Scotland – Healthy Weight for Children – Healthy Happy Kids – Simple steps for a healthy weight at home – Download free posters.

Other Useful Websites and Resources

British Dietetic Association – Food Fact Sheets for Children – such as Diet, Behaviour and Learning in Children, Healthy Eating for Children, Healthy Packed Lunches and much more…
Food For Thought – Exploring food and drink through curriculum for excellence – learning resources.
Veggie Kids Kitchen – The Vegetarian Society
Physical Activity for Children and Young People – Aged 5 to 18 Years – Children aged 5 to 18 years should aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day across the week.

Useful Covid-19 Resource

For Parents, Carers or those working with children and young people the Universities of Oxford and Reading have produced this resource with helpful advice around supporting children and young people with worries or anxieties about COVID-19