29 June 2010 With the number of academy schools due to expand rapidly, Lauren Higgs visits Petchey Academy in east London to see how it is improving the prospects of its pupils.
The "family service", or lunchtime as it's known to most of us, is a lively affair at Petchey Academy. The bright modern dining room at the east London school is packed with children tucking into rice and curry and chatting about their day.
Instead of lunching with friends, pupils sit on designated family tables. Children from different years are mixed together and there is at least one adult on every table.
David Daniels, principal of the academy, located in a notoriously deprived area, believes family service is vital to his pupils' wellbeing.
"For a lot of our kids this is the one proper meal of the day," he explains. "We far exceed government guidelines on healthy eating. We have mixed religion tables and mixed age tables, so pupils have access to role models as well. Henry, a year 10 boy who is going to go far, is on a table with a couple of year 7s."
Daniels describes lunchtime at the academy as "a lock-down situation". Pupils are not allowed to bring any food or drink to school, except for water and fresh fruit.
Chefs, not school cooks, are responsible for the catering, which is generally well received. "Some of the boys have been caught sneaking sachets of ketchup in their socks," Daniels says. "They try and bend the rules, but they're inventive, which is a good sign of entrepreneurship."
By Lauren Higgs (Children & Young People Now)
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