St Francis de Sales School Council has developed a local Select Committee based on the system used in the House of Commons.

St Francis de Sales School Council has entered the House of Commons School Council Awards. The competition is open to children across the country. We realise it will be very tough but we are very excited about how we have developed our Select Committee system. Over the next few months we will be interviewing people in our borough who are making important decisions on our future.

We regularly interview key people who make decisions about our school. This week we interviewed Mr Lane, the head teacher at St Francis de Sales School, about school dinners.

Do you ever eat school dinners at St Francis de Sales School?
Yes, when I am at school and not attending meetings outside school I enjoy school dinners. I think it is important for the head teacher to eat the food we are serving to our children.

What would you do to improve our school dinners?
I like the school dinners but Mr Chandler the deputy head is currently working with the School Council to identify who should have our school catering contract. Your input is so important. I think that our School Council Select Committee meetings are incredibly important.

Do you think there is a link between good food and educational attainment?
I think eating well is a very important part of preparing your brain and body to learn well. We need to ensure children eat nutritional food and drink lots of water.

You are looking at appointing a new catering company to our school. What qualities do you look for?
Well, we want good quality food and a reasonable cost which the children enjoy. That’s why we are asking you to help us make this important choice.

How much should pupils pay for a school dinner?
At the moment children pay £2.20. I think we need to make sure school dinners are affordable for all our pupils. But I appreciate you need to pay a reasonable sum to have good nutritional food.

Tottenham Independent: The School Council pose some tough questions to head teacher Mr Lane.

The School Council are tasting school dinners at local schools and advising on the best dinners. What should we be looking for on our visits?

We want your feedback. Be honest tell us what you like and what can be improved. This is a big responsibility on your shoulders and we want our children to have the best food. This Select Committee has a very important role in choosing the food we are going to eat.

We are interviewing you as part of our Select Committee model. What other areas of school life can we scrutinise?
Well I welcome the St Francis de Sales School Council Select Committee system. I think it is a great scheme and helps ensure children are at the heart of our decision making. I would like some help on behavioural policy so perhaps the School Council Select Committee could take the opportunity to look at this area.

We had an interesting visit to the House of Commons and met Mr Vaz MP who suggested we ask the catering company, “How will you deal with complaints?”
What question do you suggest we ask the new catering company?
I would like to know how they will ensure that food our students get is value for money and what will they be sourcing the food locally.

What is the best thing about being a head teacher?
I love helping all our children and want to work with our teachers, staff, pupils and Governors to ensure each child reaches their full potential.

What is your dream school lunch?
I love fish and chips on Fridays at school but at home I love Mexican food. Perhaps you can ask the catering company if we can have themed days for foods.

Tottenham Independent: St Francis de Sales pupils hard at work in the allotment.

We have a small allotment in our gardening area and this week we have been working hard weeding and looking after our potatoes, onions, strawberries and peas. The recent excellent weather has resulted in a lot of weeds growing and the children have been working hard as they tend to valuable crops.