Sausage rolls out as school brings in 'brain food'

A school in a seaside town known for ice cream and chips has banished "beige" food in a bid to help pupils eat more healthily.

Skegness Grammar School has ditched sausage rolls and pizza in favour of "nutritious" alternatives, such as smashed pea and feta pitta bread and waffles with fruit.

Head teacher Lorraine Walker said: "There was a lot of beige food on offer, and we wanted to support our students to get a balanced diet."

Not everyone agrees with the move, however. Chloe, a year nine student, said: "They've changed it to healthier, but it's not as good quality. Everyone's talking about it in lessons, that they don't like it."

According to Walker, the new lunch and snack menu offers good food at an affordable price.

She said she understood that the change was "a bit scary" for some students, but had been made because people needed to "look after" their bodies.

According to Walker, healthy food habits can be hard for young people to adopt in Skegness, as the seaside resort has junk food readily available.

"There's ice cream, there's burgers, there's fish and chips, there's the smell of doughnuts.

"That's on offer every single day for these students."

She said she was encouraging students to try the "nutritious" new menu, which includes items such as banana bread and scrambled egg croissants.

Tom, a year 13 student, said he found the food "very nutritious" and "tasty".

He had noticed a positive effect on his peers since the change.

"I see that students are concentrating more, they're not as hungry.

"You definitely don't see the sugar spike and the crash."

Some pupils did "miss" the old menu, he added.

"But they know it is for the greater good."

Isabel, the head girl, described the new menu as "brain food".

"I do a lot of extracurriculars after school," she said. "This nutritious food really gives you much more energy and it's also really nice... it genuinely tastes really good."

But while some students have welcomed the change, others would prefer some of the old options to return.

Cloe said: "I'm not picky, but I don't eat any of it. I've tried a couple bits of it and none of it I liked."

People on Skegness seafront offered a mixed response to the changes.

Mark and Sarah Wheatley, both 60, said the most important thing was to have a balanced diet.

"As long as they get the right balance of food, vegetables and mixing up a wee bit, I don't think we should ban it all entirely," Mark said.

Sarah added: "Some are quite fussy. And if they're not eating that, then they're not eating nothing, are they?"

Anne-Marie Renshaw, 35, argued the school should serve sausage rolls, if that's what the children wanted.

"I'm actually a school cook and you sell what the kids will eat," she said. "Fed is best."

But Claire Holmes, 44, said the change was "something that probably needs to be done".

She added: "To have a balanced diet is really important. Plenty of fruit and veg and making sure they're getting some protein and carbs."

According to the school, the menu is evolving according to feedback and students are allowed to take in packed lunches.

"So there are choices available for how they eat," Walker said. "We're listening to them, we're working with them."

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