Ex-pupil of St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School, Andy Simpson, 39, who now runs FASTSIGNS® in Leeds with his father Chris, was delighted when the school asked him to provide interior signs for the schools new state of the art dining area to promote its commitment to healthy, local and organic food.

Andy and his team provided graphics with natural images, such as fields of wheat and ears of corn, as well as motivational messages like ‘Jump into Healthy Eating’. FASTSIGNS offers a full range of custom signs and graphic products, including banners, posters and exterior and interior signage.

Andy said: “It’s been really great working with my old school.  They are doing an amazing job, getting the pupils interested in how their food is made and where it comes from. Healthy eating is really important to people of all ages but especially when you’re young and growing, and you have exams to deal with!”

The school is a member of the Food for Life Partnership project and is celebrating achieving the prestigious Food for Life Partnership Silver Mark, one of only three schools in the country to receive the accreditation. 

At a cost of over £300k the school has transformed its traditional assembly hall into a contemporary ‘eaterie’ with bright orange and green chairs, ‘Harry Potter’ style trestle tables, low lighting, new floors, a Deli Bar and a Chill Zone with computers.  The school is also introducing a cutting edge biometric fingerprint recognition system.  Parents can pay online into their child’s account and also see how they spend it!  To implement the new system the school has just completed finger printing all 1850 pupils and 300 members of staff!

The school sources all of its food from local suppliers, such as Hinnits bakery in Ackworth and Hoffman’s butchers for freedom food chicken and farm assured meat.

Kevin Walsh, Assistant Head at the school said: “Our catering team has shown total dedication in achieving the high standard of food that we have now in the school, and we are all committed to doing even more.  We now have our own organic garden, as well as 12 allotments we created by ploughing up part of our playing field, and we are starting to use this produce in the school kitchen. 

“The feedback from students is that they love the food and their new dining area. The signage really brightens the place up and reinforces all our messages.  We are delighted to be a Silver Mark School and we’ll keep going until we get to Gold!”

The Food for Life Partnership Gold Mark is the ultimate award that recognises schools, which use practical learning experiences to re-connect young people to the food they eat, following the journey from field to plate.

A delegation from the school will attend a ceremony on Wednesday 2 December at the Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre in Berkshire, where Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall will present the Silver Mark Award.   On the day students will have the opportunity to work together to prepare a delicious lunch and afternoon tea.