At Principals we are committed to teaching children where their food comes from, bringing our farmers and growers into schools to meet their customers. We also support our primary schools with vegetable plots, growing kits and even hen houses with chickens!

We have now designed a virtual farm trip for older children, complete with farming tales, the  journey from pasture to plate, and real time webcam streams direct from the fields. This will be on tablet computers in dining rooms so that children can follow the story of their food and  really understand what goes into making their lunch.

We’re also teaching this age group how to feed the family on a budget and giving them tips on reducing food waste; composting kitchen leftovers for vegetable growing. We will soon have a harvest of red onions, garlic, potatoes, mint and coriander and the next challenge will be for the students to compose a menu using only these items plus three secret ingredients, so watch this space!

We are setting the benchmark for other academies and secondary schools by creating a school of excellence, the first of which is in Hoo Academy in Kent.

Using skills honed in the world of business catering, we are bringing a new approach to school food, introducing on-trend ideas coupled with a contemporary look and feel for menus, point of sale, marketing and promotions so that pupils have a cool and exciting restaurant they can really call their own.

Our show stopping Urban Flavours street food bars bring the high street to the school yard, serving Moroccan sliders, folded calzone, peri peri chicken, authentic curries and hot wraps. Our Classic counter is more traditional, with Yard burgers and midweek roasts, noodles and stir fries, a hot deli, sweet treats and salads.

The first of many, this school of excellence represents our forward thinking outlook: constantly challenging ourselves, adapting to change and bringing verve and enthusiasm to everything we do.