What’s on the new lunch menu at Pool Academy, and who chose it

Ask a room full of teenagers what they want for lunch and you might expect a short answer. At one secondary school in Pool, the students were asked properly, and they got to taste the answers first.

Pool Academy has introduced a new menu built around healthy, seasonal food, and the school says it has led to more students choosing nutritious hot meals.

📷The kitchen team prepares food for students

What’s on the new menu

The menu at the revamped Pool Academy Kitchen has been shaped by feedback from students, who tasted new dishes and shared their views. It aims to cut out ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and uses local ingredients wherever possible.

Protein bagels and yoghurt with fruit compote have proved particularly popular, alongside dishes such as seasonal vegetable pasta and hearty stews. Each meal deal costs £2.75. And every pudding is made with 50% fresh seasonal fruit.

A taste of the three-week rotation

The menu runs on a three-week cycle, with a meat dish and a vegan option every day. Mexican chilli with sour cream sits alongside a five bean vegetable chilli, chicken balti next to a cauliflower, spinach and chickpea curry, and cottage pie shares the counter with a ratatouille pasta bake. Homity pie, beef lasagne, herb crusted baked white fish and a mixed bean burrito all feature too.

Sides lean on wholemeal rice, seasonal greens and roast potatoes. For pudding, think pear and blackberry crumble, peach and raspberry cobbler or a berry-banana smoothie pot. Filled jacket potatoes, hot sandwiches and a wholemeal pasta dish are available every day.

📷Pool Academy Kitchen staff prepare the day's food

A year of work behind it

The changes are the result of a year of work by staff and students to improve the food available at the school.

Year 7 students have explored food, nutrition and UPFs through the school’s Character Curriculum. Meanwhile, 12 student Food Champions have worked with the canteen through the CanTeam x Bite Back Challenge, which included hosting a community dining event for primary pupils and their families.

More recently, students took part in a special healthy eating assembly with speakers from healthcare, farming, sustainability and the food industry. Topics ranged from diet to food production and food marketing.

Breakfast is free for everyone

Pool Academy Kitchen also runs a free breakfast club for all students, serving toast and porridge with seasonal compote. A pastoral support mentor is on hand to support students with their overall wellbeing.

“Part of creating the menu”

Tegen Thompson, Interim Headteacher at Pool Academy, said: “We wanted to make changes that would give our students the food they need to maintain their energy and support their growth and concentration throughout the day.

“It was also really important to us that students had a say in what we serve. They have tasted new dishes and given us their feedback, so they have been part of creating the menu rather than feeling that something was simply being done to them.

“We are really pleased with the response so far and it has been fantastic to see students trying new foods and helping us create a healthier approach to food across the school.”

📷Pool student enjoys a fresh fruit dessert