Catering staff and pupils at Barlby High School are celebrating after achieving a gold award for food hygiene.

Barlby High School, run by North Yorkshire County Council, is based in the Barlby area of Selby and is ahead of the game when it comes to food hygiene - being the first school in North Yorkshire to achieve a gold food hygiene award.

To achieve a gold award, schools must meet the following criteria:

A comprehensive, documented and up-to-date food safety hazard analysis system in place which demonstrates full safety controls and monitoring systems;

A satisfactory record of the cleanliness, structure, facilities, pest and waste disposal, with no more than two minor infringements;

All staff must be trained to at least level 1 in food hygiene, and level 2 for the manager or supervisor. All certificates and catering records must be available for inspection.

Councillor John Watson, the County Council’s executive member for schools and chairman of the catering board for North Yorkshire, said: “This award again reflects the hard work and devotion of our school catering staff, and that we are ahead of the game when it comes to providing healthy school meals for children all across North Yorkshire.”

County Councillor Brian Marshall, the member for Barlby in Selby, added: “It’s a great achievement for the caterers and demonstrates the high standards of the catering team in the way food is prepared, stored and served to the pupils. I feel very proud of the school.”

Dean Richardson, the principal environment officer for Selby district council, was also full of praise for Barlby High School. He said: “The district council had an enforcement roll to play. It’s very pleasing when we can recognise and record high standards of food hygiene as part of our educational role.”

Picture caption: Going for gold: (left to right) - Pupils Ben Anderson and Sophie Chambers; Dean Richrdson, environmental officer for Selby district council; cook Sue Lund; headteacher Rev Francis Loftus; County Councillor Brian Marshall and the rest of the catering staff celebrate the achievement.