Jamie's meals help pupils simmer down

Jamie Oliver's healthy school meals are producing a remarkable spin-off by helping children to behave better, teachers claimed yesterday.

Schools offering the TV chef's menus said concentration during lessons has improved.

Pupils return from lunch ready to learn - and staff have to break up fewer fights. The most difficult pupils appear to have improved most.

'There has been a lot of improvement behaviour-wise' said one teacher in Greenwich, South London.

'Their reading and writing has really come up. Usually in the afternoons they lost concentration but now they carry on working.'

Greenwich was featured in the Channel 4 series Jamie's School Dinners, which replaced junk food with nutritious options prepared from scratch.

Viewers saw Oliver attack school meal fare such as Turkey Twizzlers and reveal that just 37p was spent on some dinners.

His exposure shamed ministers into pledging an extra £220million to improve meals.

Twenty Greenwich schools which tried out the chef's menus are reporting a marked change in children's behaviour.

Trisha Jaffe, headteacher at Kidbrooke School, a comprehensive, said: 'Sugary and processed foods have a high impact on children's concentration and we often found their behaviour would deteriorate in the afternoon.'

One primary, Our Lady of Grace School in Charlton, has reported fewer playground fights.

Greenwich Council now intends to offer the freshly-prepared meals in all its 13 secondaries and 65 primaries, setting aside £628,850 for the next academic year.

A spokesman said: 'Schools are reporting better behaviour - and sickness in kitchen staff has gone down. Staff feel more motivated.'