The Impact of Food Discovery

28 April 2025

It's not my first visit to St. Luke’s, but it takes me a while to find my way to reception. I circle the school, surrounded by the tower blocks where most of the children who attend the school live. It’s a school with a real sense of community, in fact a number of school staff attended St Luke’s themselves. It’s easy to see why people would want to come back – last time I visited, a child described St. Luke’s to me as “a small school with a big heart”.

I meet Kirsty, Food Discovery Coordinator, to join her for a growing session, where the children are making paper pots and propagating mint cuttings to take home. “This is one of my favourite schools. It was one of the first schools I worked with at the Country Trust and Food Discovery was new for them too, so we were starting together.” I also feel like I’ve been with the school along their journey, and it’s amazing to see the difference that taking part in Food Discovery has had over the years when I visit today.

Also joining the session is Richard from IMPAX asset management, who have provided The Country Trust with funding to deliver the programme at St. Luke’s for several years. Richard is a big hit with the group. His mum worked at a different school in Islington, and it appears that engaging with children is something that runs in the family. He’s also a great student – making his own pot and dutifully writing his name on the paper bag, taking home the instructions so he knows how to care for his plant.

After the session, we go to meet with Assistant Headteacher, Keith, who is also a Year 6 teacher. As we enter his classroom, Kirsty is greeted with excitement by a group of Year 6 pupils who were the first group that she worked with at St. Luke’s three years ago. It seems that they remember every detail of what they did with her. “We made tabbouleh, that was great”. “I didn’t really like making the bird feeders, it was a bit messy and gross because we had to squish up a banana!”. I mention to Keith that I’m impressed by how much they remember. “They’ll remember it forever,” he replies.

Keith gives us a bit more context about the school and why experiences like Food Discovery are so important to them. “Children eligible for free school meals is well above the national average, which indicates that their parents/carers are on a low income. Some parents are working 2-3 jobs to make ends meet. This means that our pupils may miss out on opportunities that other children may have. Our ‘Disadvantaged’ pupils often have fewer opportunities to build general knowledge and experience in their broader lives.  Some of our children experience trauma in an ongoing way. This impacts on their mental and physical health and so their capacity to thrive in school. So, to counteract this, we are always seeking out additional opportunities to enhance their experience at school. The Country Trust programme gives the children the chance to excel and to escape the rigours and pressures of their young lives. Food Discovery is good for their wellbeing, reversing the high levels of mental health issues seen across the borough since the pandemic.

Keith continued, “You’ll hear from teachers up and down the country, that there is so much to fit into the curriculum, there is barely space to do anything extra – but we are going above and beyond to give children the best experience. We’ve seen a significant increase in children with Special Educational Needs (SEND) over the years – well above the national average, but not an increase in funding for more adult support – as an example, one of our classes has approximately 50% children with SEND needs. That’s an additional challenge for us when it comes to teaching, and another reason why support from external organisations like The Country Trust is valued by our school.”

Working with a school over a number of years, you begin to see the ripple effects of the programme. To me, it also demonstrates that as a school the more you put into the programme, the more you get back. Last time I visited, two class teachers told me about how they had started using food as a hook in their teaching – for example in history or geography – because they’d seen how engaged the children were after their Food Discovery sessions.

Keith expanded on this “As a school, we learn Spanish and as part of a whole school “Spanish Day” I made guacamole with the class. I was so impressed by their cooking skills, they approached it in such an organised way and were so efficient. I think that’s a legacy of their work with Kirsty, years before.”

In spite of the playground being entirely concrete with a few trees interspersed, the school has really made an investment in outdoor learning and growing in particular – in part due to seeing the impacts of the growing elements of Food Discovery. They have an “eco-pod” classroom, a pond (full of frisky frogs when we visited!) and other dedicated wild spaces. They also now have their own School Gardener, who works with other year groups and cares for the containers that have become such an important part of the school.

“At break times the children love looking at what’s growing, and they’re so keen to help with watering. Sometimes when there are flowers, they want to pick them – and I’ve heard some lovely conversations between the children and the staff at lunch at break about how the adults used to play, pressing flowers, making perfumes… It’s created some great moments for intergenerational sharing.”

I leave St. Luke’s with a spring in my step, as always. For me, it’s such a great example of a school who not only value the work of the Country Trust but also build upon it to make the impact even stronger. It’s also the story of a supportive funder in IMPAX asset management, who have supported The Country Trust’s Food Discovery programme across the country for multiple years - and as a result have enabled schools like St. Luke’s continued participation, and with that, their ability to build upon the benefits.