5-a-day, the British way was the theme for the delicious lunch created by pupils of Spring Common School, a special school in Huntingdon.

Parents, families and selected guests were invited to the school, which was turned into a restaurant for the day, to partake in a carefully crafted lunch to celebrate British food.  Spring Common School is a community special school with approximately 127 pupils from the ages of 2 - 19.  The menu for the lunch was created using recipes from the school's own 5-a-day cook book, which was compiled by parents, teachers and pupils and launched at the local Farmers' Market.  The pupils unanimously selected the recipes for cottage pie with seasonal vegetables and blackberry and apple crumble. They decided to finish the meal with a local cheese board and Scottish oatcakes.

The vegetables, which included potatoes and carrots, were sourced from the school's own allotment. The minced beef came from East Anglian cattle, via the local butcher.  The blackberries were harvested by the pupils from hedgerows.  The apples came from the school's apple tree and from the local Farmer's Market. East Anglian butter was used in the mashed potato and to make the crumble.  The flour for the pudding was milled by the students on their visit to the National Trust's Houghton Mill.  During their visit, the pupils were given a milling demonstration, where they were shown how the flour is ground in the traditional way, by water-powered mill stones.  They then had the opportunity to have a go and were allowed to take the flour back to the school to cook with.  For the cheeseboard, the pupils had a trip to the local Farmer's Market where they selected specalities such as Cambridge Gunburner cheese and locally produced Stilton.

After a morning of decorating the hall, laying tables with red gingham table cloths and creating beautifully written menus, the guests began to arrive.  The pupils became waiters and showed the guests to their tables, took their orders and served them food and drink.  Every last morsel was devoured and the meal was enjoyed by all.

The activity not only incorporated numeracy and literacy skills from the national curriculum but also gave the pupils, who are predominantly autistic, some valuable practice in life and social skills.  The planning, organising, sourcing of ingredients and preparing and serving of the meal gave an insightful experience to working and potential future careers.  

For more inspiring ideas about how to integrate British food into the Curriculum, see the Love British Food resource guide Putting the Ooo! back into food click here.