Dietitian Sharon Watters

Sharon is working with the Catering Team to further improve the acclaimed catering service. We are currently analysing the nutritional content of our weekly menus to ensure we are meeting the Government Guidelines and expect to achieve these ahead of the 2009 national target for secondary schools. Using this information we hope to help other schools to implement the new standards through our www.catering4schools.com website.

Sharon is involved in providing advice within the curriculum and in organising health promotion events throughout lunchtimes for students on current topical nutrition-related issues.

Over the next term we will set up a School Nutrition Action Group (SNAG) involving students, caterers, parents, teachers and health professions so everybody is involved in taking the School Food Policy forward. We will also be running a parents' night and training sessions for catering staff around nutrition in schools.

Here are a small selection of useful websites:

• The British Nutrition Foundation, which provides general information on nutrition
• The British Dietetic Association, which explains more about the role of a Dietitian
• Food in Schools, which has produced documentation addressing the subject of food in Schools.
• The Health Education Trust, which summarises the guidelines about school food, and gives advice and ideas to catering staff. It also describes St.Aidans "Best in Class” award.
  
• The Healthy Schools Website which gives guidelines to achieving healthy schools status in a number of different areas within school, e.g. healthy eating and physical activity
• The School Food Trust which aims to transform school food and food skills

If you would like to contact Sharon her email address is: dietitian@st-aidans.n-yorks.sch.uk