A headteacher in Southampton has vented his anger to parents over the poor quality of food served by his secondary school’s contract caterers, saying: “I keep asking myself, how difficult is it to bake a potato?”
Jason Ashley, the head of Redbridge community school, sent parents photographs of school lunches served by Chartwells, the private catering firm, and said “numerous” meetings with the company had failed to bring about any improvements.
“Frankly, the food that is served in the canteen is completely unacceptable, so much so that if my children’s school served this I would be exceptionally unhappy,” Ashley said in a letter to parents sent on Tuesday.
“I am simply fed up with the lack of progress being made. We have concluded with our photographic evidence that Chartwells do seem to be unable to ‘bake a potato’ correctly. Our evidence shows that in recent times portions have gotten smaller, while prices have risen.”
Chartwells, a subsidiary of Compass, the largest contract food service company in Europe, apologised and blamed “unusual” operational challenges and staff shortages for the difficulties. It said its meal prices had not risen for two years.
Photos of recent lunches issued by the school showed a series of unedifying baked potatoes and other vegetables, alongside unidentified food items in takeaway containers.
“For many of our students, a school meal is so important to them but I can no longer tolerate, provide reasons or even justify to you the unacceptable nature of the food,” Ashley told parents. “Now, I could be completely wrong, misguided, fussy, difficult or on a different planet, so I will leave you to decide … I hope that you are as angry and disappointed as me.
“For those of you that pay from your hard-earned wages, I can only apologise and I am sorry. However, nothing I seem to do or say makes any difference and I feel you have the right to know. Finally, I keep asking myself, ‘how difficult is it to bake a potato’?”
Ashley said the school had no control over Chartwell’s contract. The school’s services are restricted by a private finance initiative (PFI) contract, with a management company outsourcing the school’s catering.
A spokesperson for Chartwells said: “We recognise the importance of school meals, and our teams work hard to provide good quality food every day. We apologise that in this instance our usual level of service has fallen below the high standards we demand. We are committed to working in collaboration with the school and are implementing an immediate action plan to rectify these issues.”
In 2021 Chartwells apologised after the footballer Marcus Rashford highlighted “unacceptable” food parcels being given to families of children on free school meals during the Covid pandemic.
