"Delicious", "much better than when I was at school" and "a real improvement." That was the verdict of hungry local residents as they tucked into a healthy school dinner at a Northallerton primary school today (Jan 24).

Ten members of the local community took up the invitation to dine with youngsters from Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, in the first of a series of “community school dinners” planned for this year.

Roast chicken with mountains of fresh potatoes, vegetables, and lashings of lump-free gravy followed by home-made fruit crumble were all eagerly consumed by young and old alike.

County Councillor John Watson, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for schools, congratulated the school’s enthusiasm in embracing the healthy school meals campaign, which has seen and pupils returning to the dinner hall in their hoards.

“Sacred Heart’s efforts are a shining example of how school dinners should be… freshly produced, nutritionally balanced and extremely tasty.

“What’s more, meat is carefully reared by North Yorkshire farmers, showing the County Council’s commitment to the local economy too.”

Father Norman Jacobson, parish priest for Sacred Heart, welcomed the school’s pioneering move for more community involvement.  He, personally, has been joining the youngsters at dinnertimes over the past six years and has noted a real improvement in the quality of school meals, particularly in the last couple of years.

He said: “You would be surprised how different school meals are now, compared to when I was a kid and when most of these children’s parents were kids.  They’re much better now.”

“I can remember thick, disgusting gravy and potatoes, and prunes with lumpy custard when I was at school and I think that’s where my lifelong dislike of tapioca began.”

Head teacher Peter Griffin had long wanted to organise a community dinner, so that schoolchildren, parents and local parishioners could mix socially.  When the government announced extra funding to improve and market school meals, he seized the opportunity.

“The children benefit by mixing with people they don’t see very often and then there’s the benefit of mixing with people of different ages.  It’s also a great way of promoting school dinners and showing the community just how far they’ve come. 

“We’ve worked hard at changing the menu in line with national guidelines and the result isn’t just healthier school meals, but food the children will actually eat.  And there’s not a turkey twizzler in sight!”

Children enjoy a roast dinner every Wednesday and the school even continues the time-honoured Catholic tradition of serving up fish on Fridays.

And the children approve too.  If the pile after pile of licked-clean plates at the end of lunch break are anything to go by, school dinners in North Yorkshire have never tasted so good.