Parents got a chance to sample dishes from the school’s new lunch menus and hear them praised by a nutritionist, at an event to officially open the school’s remodelled Dining Hall.

Finance Director of the Girl’s Day School Trust, Tom Beardmore Gray, unveiled a plaque in the impressive new facilities – comprising a glass Orangery café, renovated historic Dining Hall and state-of-the-art kitchens – at an evening reception on 28 April.

Headteacher Kathryn Pullen told guests that both the school and the GDST are firmly committed to ensuring students receive a high quality, nutritious midday meal to support their ability to learn and their social interaction.

Mrs Pullen also confirmed that the commitment to educating students about healthy eating goes beyond school lunch; it involves providing cookery life skills classes for students in Years 7, 8 and 12 so that the girls understand how to produce healthy food as well as choose it.  Cookery tutor Mikkaila McKeever-Willis, who used to work at the Dorchester and is better known to the girls as Chef, outlined what happens in the lessons and explained the importance of each girl using her own tasting spoon.

The skills learnt by students in these classes and in Bake Club were also on show, with live demonstrations in the Cookery Suite.

The evening finished with a healthy eating talk by nutritionist and author Fiona Kirk.  She also praised the school’s new menus along with the principle of a providing a good lunch to help ensure an important ‘energy gain’ in the middle of the day.

Click here to view a video of the official opening and Click here to view Fiona Kirk’s ‘Love your lunch’ talk.