Healthy Eating at the Bistro
Please follow the link to download our current menu.
In conjunction with ISS Facility Services, our Catering provider, with considerable investment we have developed a unique dining experience for the children of Brunswick Park. All food is cooked on the premises, and the kitchen is managed by a Front of House Co-ordinator. Examples of all the ingredients in the food for the week are displayed in the Bistro on a Market Stall. Ingredients are labelled so they can be identified by the children. On Fridays, special food tastings are organised for classes in rotation; so far they have included a variety of smoothies including spinach, kale and beetroot, and exotic fruit.
Seating
In the Bistro the children sit in groups of 8, and their food is brought to them by ISS staff and set down in dishes in the middle of the tables. ISS staff talk the children through all the food options that are available and every child is helped to have a balanced meal. School staff help the younger children to help themselves and to manage their cutlery, and with adult supervision, older children take responsibility for sharing their food between them. Adults monitor what is eaten.
Children use plates, bowls and napkins rather than airline trays, and the atmosphere is as you would find in a restaurant, rather than that found in a traditional school dining hall.
Good Table Manners
Good table manners and calm conduct are taught and reinforced by all staff working in the Bistro, and children whose manners are impeccable or who have improved their conduct significantly are rewarded with Dining Hall Stars Certificates in Achievement Assemblies. A team of pupil Dining Hall Helpers from Key Stage 2 support school and ISS staff to serve food, help children and reinforce good conduct, promoting a culture of collective responsibility, fairness and respect in the Bistro. Children are very keen to do this job, and there is a lengthy waiting list!
It is our aim that Brunswick Park becomes a Centre of Excellence for school food and dining, and that other schools can learn from our practice. Since the Bistro was opened in September 2015, feedback from children has been overwhelmingly positive and they really look forward to lunchtimes. Much more food is being eaten, and behaviour both at lunchtime and in the afternoons in lessons has improved significantly.
