Once you've found out who's responsible for meals in your child's school, how can you use your influence to improve the food?

 Find out how the land lies
 The next step
 What do I say to the headteacher or SA?
 What happens next?
 How can the chair of the governors help?
 I'm still not happy. What else can I do?
 I've done all that, but nothing's improved. What now?
 Where can I find more information?

Find out how the land lies
Don't dive in and tackle the meal providers straight away. You'll get far better results working with the school rather than setting yourself up in opposition.
Before you do anything else, talk to your own child or children. Find out if they're happy for you to wade in. Ask them if the Student Council has taken any action over school meals. Your case will be far stronger if pupils are raising concerns as well as parents.
Talk informally to other parents and carers to see if others are worried, too.
Raise your concerns informally first. Don't write or make a formal complaint without a real reason. Once things are 'on the record', it's far harder for either side to cool it, back down or compromise.

The next step
If other parents share your feelings, choose one or two representatives (not a big group) and arrange to speak to the head.
If you're a lone voice, ask your child's class teacher to pass on your comments or tell you who to contact. If you're not satisfied with the teacher's response, make an appointment to see the head.
You could also raise the matter with the School Association or Parents' Association, ideally by putting it on the agenda for a meeting which you can go to.
If you can't get to meetings, ask the school secretary how to contact the chair of the School Association (SA) and ask them to raise the matter for you.

What do I say to the headteacher or SA?
Before you meet with the head or SA:
• Prepare your facts. Don't act on hearsay.
• Bear in mind the school's perspective. Meals are just one of many concerns.
Explain the reasons for your concern and ask:
• Is the school satisfied with the current arrangements?
• If not, are they monitoring meals or can they arrange to do so?
• If so, have they surveyed the students or asked parents if meals are satisfactory?

What happens next?
The head or SA may give you helpful new information. Perhaps the Student Council, school management team or governors are already discussing problems with the catering contractors. If you're still not happy that the problem is being tackled, contact the chair of the governors (ask the school office how to contact them).

How can the chair of the governors help?
They can:
• Tell you about the complaints policy. Every school must have one, monitored by the governors.
• Organise another meeting with the head.
• Take your comments back to the Governing Body.

I'm still not happy. What else can I do?
If your school's budget is controlled by the LEA, the LEA website may have a section on meals policies where parents can comment and receive feedback. If not, find out the name of the LEA officer responsible for contracting meals at your school, by checking the website or phoning. Write to them, outlining the issues you want to raise and events so far.

I've done all that, but nothing's improved. What now?
If you believe that a governing body or LEA has failed to carry out a statutory duty, or has acted unreasonably, you may complain to the Secretary of State for Education.

Where can I find more information?
You can build your case by looking at Government guidelines on school catering.

Your questions may be answered at Parentscentre FAQs

The Department for Education and Skills publishes clear catering guidelines for guidelines for infant, primary and secondary schools.
If the staff of the school want to add their voice, there's information for teachers on provision of meals.

The Government is encouraging school Governing Bodies to establish whole-school food policies.

And if all else fails, you can contact the Secretary of State.

Secretary of State for Education
Department for Education and Skills
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
Westminster
London SW1P 3BT.
Tel: 0870 000 2288.
Fax: 020 7925 6000.
E-mail: info@dfes.gov.uk