School children across Gateshead will be helping to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday by sitting down to a special celebratory birthday feast.
Gillian Jarvis, Catering Manager at St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Gateshead, shows her customers the special celebration menu
Pupils at Kelvin Grove Primary School in Bensham will be taking a strictly traditional approach to the celebrations by tucking in to that all-time British favourite, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings.
Meanwhile, their counterparts at Bill Quay Primary, Dunston Hill Primary and nearby Brighton Avenue Primary school will be marking the occasion by suspending their usual healthy eating ethos by tucking in to that other classic Great British meal, fish and chips!
And at Clover Hill Primary School in Whickham, the children will be turning their backs on the school dining room in favour of a picnic-style Garden Party on the grass outside the school!
As usual, catering staff will be pulling out all the stops to make the celebration lunches a major event with silly costumes, Union Jacks and celebratory bunting very much in evidence. Vegetarian options will also be available to ensure that nobody feels excluded from the festivities.
Facilities and Catering Manager Michael Lamb says:
“We have a long track record of marking major national events with specially-themed meals in schools and they are always great fun and extremely popular. However this is probably one of the biggest events we’ve celebrated for some time.
“We knew that schools would want to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday so we offered them a choice of three Great British menus to help them celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday. Most of our schools have really picked up on it and we’re expecting a whole lot of celebrating on the day!
“Some schools will be taking it even further. For example, South Street Primary School in Deckham is expecting a lunchtime visit from Her Majesty herself – or at least someone who looks remarkably like her!”
Once the Queen’s birthday celebrations are over, catering experts at Gateshead School Catering will be turning their attention to creating a menu around the next major celebration – the 2016 Olympics in Rio!
Gateshead’s School Catering Service currently serves more than 11,000 meals each school day, with the majority of primary school children now staying for a cooked meal every day.
Around 75% of all main courses and desserts served in Gateshead schools are prepared freshly each day on-site by trained catering staff.
