Eat Well Schools Award

The Eat Well Schools Award is for all primary, secondary, and special schools, both maintained schools and academies.

Schools play an important role in helping children, staff, families, and the wider community to live healthily.

The Eat Well Schools Award is for all schools. It's free to sign up.

To achieve the award, we expect schools to serve healthy food, and teach children about healthy and sustainable food.

Achieving the award is a great way to show that your school:

  • provides meals which meet the government's school food standards (which is a legal requirement for schools)
  • teaches children about the importance of healthy eating
  • supports children to make healthy choices
  • supports and promotes breastfeeding
  • is contributing to the changes needed to promote healthy weight and prevent obesity in the area

What the award includes

There are three levels of award - bronze, silver, and gold.

Bronze

To achieve the bronze award:

  • your school's menu must meet the government's school food standards
  • if your school has a breakfast club, all food must meet the school food standards
  • food must meet all cultural and dietary needs
  • you must have an allergens procedure
  • you must have a school food policy - at a minimum, it must cover the food provided, allergies, and any monitoring of packed lunches
  • you must provide an environment where children can focus on - and enjoy - eating
  • your school must promote school meals to all parents, especially those whose children are eligible for free school meals
  • you must make all school staff aware of the Eat Well Schools Award and what it includes
  • the head cook and assistant cook must complete all sessions of the school food standards training, either in person or online
  • children must take part in food education cooking activities which meet the curriculum requirements

Silver

To achieve the silver award, you must meet:

  • all of the bronze criteria
  • all of the silver criteria
  • 2 of the 'food quality' non-core criteria
  • 2 of the 'food leadership and culture' non-core criteria
  • 2 of the 'food and health education' non-core criteria

You must also include all of these criteria in your school food policy.

The silver criteria are:

  • you consult with children and parents about your menus
  • you do not use food or drink as a reward
  • all catering staff have completed School Food Standards training

Gold

To achieve the gold award, you must meet:

  • all of the bronze criteria
  • all of the silver criteria
  • all 12 of the non-core criteria

Non-core criteria

Food quality

  1. If children have to pre-order their meals, the menu must include photos of every meal.
  2. You must promote healthier options on menus and notice boards, and healthier foods should be displayed where students can easily spot them. For example, putting fruit in front of cakes.
  3. You should promote local and sustainable food where possible.

Food leadership and culture

  1. You should work towards providing healthier food options for occasions (like birthdays, end of term celebrations, etc.).
  2. Your school should sign up to the Welcome to Breastfeed scheme.
  3. School food is on the school council's agenda, or you have a focus group of children, parents, and staff to talk to about school food.
  4. You monitor food waste and work on reducing it.
  5. You collect food waste in a separate food waste bin to be recycled or composted.

Food and health education

  1. Your school commits to teaching children about oral health by signing up to the NHS tooth brushing programme for all eligible year groups.
  2. Healthy eating is included in PHSE (personal, social, health, and economic) education.
  3. You promote food and cooking education to parents (for example, through workshops or after-school classes, or through communications to parents like social media or newsletters).
  4. You provide opportunities for children to grow their own food.

Before you apply

Before you apply, you'll need to:

  • agree with your catering provider (if you have one) that they'll make any changes needed to ensure your menu meets school food standards
  • choose a member of staff as the key contact for the award

How to apply for the award

You must meet all of the bronze criteria at a minimum. You can find out more in the Eat Well Schools Award guide. If you're struggling to read the guide, email eatwell_award@middlesbrough.gov.uk.

If you do not meet the criteria, make the necessary changes before you apply. Email eatwell_award@middlesbrough.gov.uk if you have any questions.

If you meet the criteria, you can apply for the award when applications open soon. Or you can email eatwell_award@middlesbrough.gov.uk now.

Once we've got your application and looked at your menu, we'll contact you to arrange an audit at a time which suits you.

What happens next

If you pass the audit, we'll send you a certificate showing your award level. You can display the certificate in your school.

The award is valid for one year. We'll audit your school every year to make sure you're still meeting the criteria. We'll arrange this when we send your award.

If anything changes during the year, let us know by emailing eatwell_award@middlesbrough.gov.uk. For example, if there's a new key contact for the award, or you're struggling to keep on meeting the criteria.

If you do not pass the audit, we'll work with you on an action plan, and do another audit after 6 months.

Upgrading your award

If you want to upgrade your award level, we'll do another audit to look at criteria which would not have been assessed at your current award level. Check the Eat Well Schools Award guide to see what you need to do.

We can check these extra criteria during your annual audit, or you can email eatwell_award@middlesbrough.gov.uk to arrange an audit if you want to upgrade sooner.