Schools are now closed for the summer and our education cooks and kitchen teams can take a well-earned break. Many of us are parents and grandparents ourselves and we understand how challenging the summer break can be when keeping little ones entertained. We have created some fun and free food-related activities for children to enjoy during the summer! We have three tasty recipes, a summer fruit wordsearch, a beach scene to colour in, design your dream school dinner plus a try new foods tick-list! These activities can be found here. Please do share any photos as we would love to see them!
For any parents, carers or guardians of reception children reading this, we understand what a big and exciting step it is for your little one to start school and we are keen to help your child settle in and enjoy their lunch experience with us. In preparation, we have created some ‘top tips’ to help them feel ready for school meals.
Before the summer break, our education Account Managers and Area Cook Managers were delighted to attend many school events such as parent evenings, open days, and new intake sessions. It allowed them to talk to our young customers, meet parents, share information on our school meals, and most importantly, provide some menu tasters too! From our feedback forms, a whopping 90% of parents are now more likely to choose school meals for their children!
As part of the Norfolk Day celebrations on Saturday 27th July, residents in our Norse Care Homes will enjoy a lunch that showcases Norfolk’s finest produce. The menu is honey and mustard glazed gammon or stilton and tomato quiche (recipe can be found here) served with new season potatoes, salad, baby beetroot, coleslaw and a homemade bread roll followed by Norfolk shortcake with strawberries and cream. We are looking forward to seeing photos!
Time for some BIG news…we are absolutely delighted to announce that we are the proud winner of the Marketing Award at the LACA Excellence Awards 2024. This prestigious award demonstrates our efforts in promoting school meals, engaging students in food and nutrition education, increasing meal participation, changing perceptions, and championing the standards of quality school food. Catering Marketing Manager Clare Jordan and Education Account Managers Amanda Cooper, Cira Leeder, and Sharon Simpson received the award on the night.
In addition, our catering team scooped five awards at the LACA Finishing Touches culinary competition. Judged by the Craft Guild of Chefs, LACAs Finishing Touches showcases craft skills among school chefs. Donna Amiteye, Cook Manager at West Earlham, received gold for her traybake and bronze for her biscuits; Nikki Barnard, Cook Manager at Queen’s Hill Primary, was awarded silver for her cake for a special diet and merit for her 50% fruit dessert; and Tania Machado received bronze for her cheesecake. We are thrilled with the results and super proud of our star bakers!
Looking ahead to September, it is British Food and Drink Fortnight from 20th September to 6th October and as part of our celebrations, we will be having a Best of British lunch in schools and care homes. School children will be sent some fun activity sheets to show them where key lunch ingredients come from, when their favourite fruits and vegetables are in season and why we support buying local!
And finally, we are excited to launch our new ‘Norse Group Big Tidy Up Competition’. We are inviting school children to design a poster that will encourage people to look after the world around them by litter-picking and recycling. First prize is a family pass to BeWILDerwood and a litter-picking kit for the school to start their own eco club! Deadline for entries is Friday 4th October and details can be found here.
Until next time,
Norse Group’s Catering Team
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